The Miami Heat Did Not Belong in the 2025 NBA Playoffs
As the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat went on an improbable run in the NBA Play-In Tournament to secure the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. That earned them a first-round date with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
If you haven’t been watching, the Cavaliers have been the most consistently dominant team in basketball this season. Led by new head coach Kenny Atkinson, the Cavaliers found an offensive identity while unlocking Evan Mobley and proving that Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland could coexist.
Sidelined with a toe injury, Garland didn’t even need to suit up for Games 3 and 4, as the Cavs dismantled the Heat in four games without their All-Star guard.
After winning Game 1 by 21 points, Tony Brothers made this series interesting for about three minutes in Game 2, which was as close as four points late in the game, but the Cavs found a way to win by nine.
All right, the Heat at least kept the pressure on and made things close, right? They certainly flipped the series back to their home floor and showed some fight, right?
Wrong. The Cavaliers dominated the Heat in Game 3, 124–87, in a game that was never close. Game 4 was somehow worse, and Heat culture is now being questioned, as Miami gave up in a 138-83 beatdown.
The Cavs have been doing this all year. They were the top offense in the NBA. They get in a certain groove and just have their way with opponents on a regular basis. The “Cavalanche” mantra has taken Cleveland by storm, as a flurry of offense quickly puts the opposition in a major deficit.
But at times, when their offense wasn’t on, they could look discombobulated. Miami never even sniffed a hint of that in all four games.
Mobley dominated. Jarrett Allen had the best playoff series of his career, and he badly needed it after the infamous “lights were too bright” comments and breaking his ribs against the Orlando Magic in the first round last year. Mitchell, who entered the NBA playoffs in a slight shooting slump, completely broke out of it, shooting the ball confidently early and often in ballgames.
The Heat never stood a chance.
After losing Jimmy Butler to an excessive amount of drama earlier in the season, it was hard to know what to make of the Heat. Tyler Herro did a lot of talking through this first-round series and simply was not good enough to carry the Heat to a win. He couldn’t even carry them to a close game.
Is the Heat this bad? Was the NBA Play-In Tournament that much of a joke? Or are the Cavaliers that much of a force in the Eastern Conference? The truth lies somewhere in the middle.
