The Miami Heat's grip on the East's No. 1 seed has evaporated after falling to the Brooklyn Nets 110-95 on their home floor.
Saturday's loss marked their fourth defeat in a row, following losses to the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers.
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Despite their rough stretch, Heat guard Kyle Lowry believes it's not time to panic just yet. Instead, he believes that there's plenty of room for improvement with the postseason looming.
“I think we’re at that point where we’re not concerned in the sense of like panicking but we have to fix stuff,” Lowry said postgame.
“This is one of those games where we really have to say alright we have to figure some things out.”
Their poor stretch of play was compounded by a heated courtside exchange between Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem and coach Erik Spoelstra during the third quarter of their game against the Warriors. Following that game, Lowry was quick to dismiss any concerns inside the locker room.
"We got great leadership, it won't affect us at all," he said.
"It happens. Honestly, it's not a moment of anything. For us, it's guys who really want to win basketball games."
With just seven games remaining on the regular season schedule for the Heat, they have time to reclaim their spot at the top of the conference. But with the top four seeds separated by just half a game, it's going to come right down to the wire.
2021-22 Eastern Conference standings, Play-In Tournament picture
(Through games played on Saturday, March 26.)
Team | W | L | WIN% | GB | |
1 | 76ers | 46 | 27 | .630 | — |
2 | Heat | 47 | 28 | .627 | — |
3 | Celtics | 46 | 28 | .622 | 0.5 |
4 | Bucks | 46 | 28 | .622 | 0.5 |
5 | Bulls | 43 | 31 | .581 | 3.5 |
6 | Raptors | 42 | 32 | .568 | 4.5 |
7 | Cavaliers | 41 | 33 | .562 | 5.5 |
8 | Nets | 39 | 35 | .521 | 7.5 |
9 | Hornets | 38 | 36 | .514 | 8.5 |
10 | Hawks | 37 | 37 | .500 | 9.5 |
Heat schedule 2021-22
Date | Opponent | Time (ET) |
March 28 | vs. Kings | 7:30 p.m. |
March 30 | at Celtics | 7:30 p.m. |
April 2 | at Bulls | 8:00 p.m. |
April 3 | at Raptors | 7:00 p.m. |
April 5 | vs. Hornets | 7:30 p.m. |
April 8 | vs. Hawks | 8:00 p.m. |
April 10 | vs. Magic | TBA |