After a rollercoaster season, the Miami Heat entered the Play-In Tournament hoping to do something no other NBA club had done before: become the first No. 10 seed to make the NBA playoffs. After defeating the Chicago Bulls 109-20 at the United Center on Wednesday, Miami headed to State Farm Arena to face the Atlanta Hawks on April 18. The Hawks rallied from a 17-point deficit to force OT, but the Heat eventually prevailed 123-114. The Heat, who became the first No. 10 seed to progress since the current play-in format began in 2020-21, will meet the No. 1 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Tyler Herro helped the Heat make history by scoring 30 points, grabbing 7.0 rebounds, and dishing out 7.0 assists. Bam Adebayo recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins tallied 20 points. However, Davion Mitchell’s brilliance in OT sealed Miami’s victory. He outscored the whole Atlanta squad by 9.0 points in overtime, setting a new postseason record for the Heat — almost. Unfortunately, his tremendous overtime performance will not go down in team history. Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reported the disheartening news on Friday night.
Reynolds wrote, “The terrible part is it won’t count, because play-in games don’t count. But Davion Mitchell set a Heat postseason record tonight by scoring 9 points in overtime. The previous record was eight, set by Dwyane Wade against Boston in 2012. One fan said, “Don’t worry. It will count in our hearts.” A different individual submitted:
“They need to adjust these to include in post season games, being that’s what they are.” Mitchell joined the Miami Heat after being sold by the Toronto Raptors in February for guard P.J. Tucker, a future second-round selection, and financial considerations. Mitchell ended the night with 16 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds.
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