What to remember from Coup: HEAT closes the regular season in convincing fashion

1. While most of the media kept an eye on the national scorecards, all Miami had to do Sunday afternoon was take care of business against a Toronto team missing half its rotation and cross their fingers to get help elsewhere.

The early games on Sunday played out much like Friday's, with Toronto staying attached even though they didn't make a three, they were 1 of 13 at halftime and the HEAT looked a little sluggish until what both teams start going through bench rotations and the team with something to play starts. move away. Jaime Jaquez Jr. (18 points on 12 shots) had the juice, his steady attacks at the rim drawing several Toronto defenders into the paint, and with a burst of scoring from Jimmy Butler, all the interior work, to pair the Raptors n I didn't have the inner pressure to continue. Bam Adebayo worked as a semi-transition floor man, walking toward comfortable shots, and Tyler Herro casually and comically faked two defenders on a fast break before handing one over to Caleb Martin for a dunk. What could have been a tension-filled afternoon quickly turned into a loose affair, with Miami leading 67-46 at the break.

Gary Trent Jr. made things interesting for a few moments with three straight dunks in the third, Toronto just didn't have enough defense to keep Miami out of the paint, their efforts to prevent three dunks conceded and their efforts to wall the painting conceding three. Only a 14-point game, but as long as Miami kept its turnovers, the Sunday afternoon variety was under control, the drama was limited to what was happening in other games around the league, with results for Indiana, Philadelphia and Orlando in question.

Miami wins, 118-103, in a rout, having taken care of business in its last two games, but they still find themselves in the Play-In game against Philadelphia, going on the road Wednesday.

2. Miami didn't get the help they needed in the standings, with Indiana blowing out the Atlanta Hawks (they scored 49 in the first quarter) and Philadelphia minding its own business against the playoff-bound Brooklyn Nets. lottery. The deciding game, however, was Orlando hosting Milwaukee, with an Orlando loss needed in all scenarios for Miami to advance out of the Play-In. This one was a little close until a second-half Orlando run blew the doors open, ultimately a 25-point lead for the home team.

So in the end, everyone who was supposed to lose won, leaving Miami where they started on Sunday, as the No. 8 seed with Philadelphia at No. 7. There was also movement at the top of the rankings, where Milwaukee, New York and Cleveland all had a chance to move into second place. Cleveland, who didn't play their full rotation, lost to Charlotte to lock up the No. 4 seed, with the No. 2 seed tossing around whether or not New York could win in Chicago, that one headed into overtime before New York pulled it out. to take the No. 2 seed. If Miami wins on Wednesday, they will play a first-round series against the Knicks. If they lose and then win on Friday, they will play Boston.

3. Miami has won two of its four games against Philadelphia this season, with the 76ers winning the only game in which Joel Embiid played. There will be time in the next couple of days to take a closer look at this matchup, but with how much the 76ers have remade their roster, remember, they started the season with James Harden and are ending it with a host of new role players , including Kyle Lowry after signing following his trade with Charlotte, there will be a lot of unknowns.

For now, let's leave him with the thought that follows the trend we've been following for six weeks now, which is that the last time these two teams met, Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse used the same concepts of paint packing, doubling, and strong zone that so many opponents of the HEAT have used in recent times. Embiids' dropped coverage should give Tyler Herro space to work well and see if Terry Rozier or Duncan Robinson can get to the other end, while Nic Batum is an interesting defender to watch as he has been used as a primary on everyone from Robinson to Butler to Adebayo.