Heat schedule with an all-or-nothing aspect to star attraction – Reading Eagle

Once the NBA schedule goes down, as it did on Wednesday, so do the analytics for the strength of the schedule.

While it’s not like the NFL, where you don’t play most teams, the NBA schedule still has a lot of twists (back-to-back sets, teams in conferences that have only met three times, miles traveled) to add some the legitimacy of these ratings.

Based on the methodology of Positive balance (which takes into account opponent strength, rest and height), the Heat’s schedule ranks as the 12th strongest among the NBA’s 30 teams.

When it comes to perceived “scheduled wins,” a rested team facing an opponent on the second night of a game, the Heat’s schedule looks like a particularly tough one, the fifth-most difficult in the league.

As for the underlying strength of schedule (a bit of a misnomer since it’s based on last season’s record at this point), Tankaton ranks The Heat have the third-easiest schedule in the league (which is an added disadvantage at this point because good teams don’t have to play themselves).

And if we talk about analysts’ forecasts Ed Kupferwhich uses Vegas win total projections, the Heat are the sixth-easiest in the league.

It’s all just a game before a game that fills the August slump.

Instead, what should be most important to teams is, shall we say, the power of commitment.

Namely, the commitment of the league’s stars to play in the vast majority of their team’s games.

To that end, the NBA schedule release featured the following facts:

– The estimated average miles traveled for the 2022-23 regular season has been reduced to 41,000 miles per team, a record low for the 30-team, 82-game era. That represents a reduction of nearly 2,000 miles per team from last season’s previous all-time low of 43,000 miles. In total, NBA teams are projected to travel more than 50,000 fewer miles than last season.

– The absence of travel between games for away teams has increased by 66% compared to last season (88 from 53). The 88 shutouts include 55 consecutive road games against the same opponent and 33 consecutive games in Los Angeles (vs. Clippers and Lakers) or New York (vs. Knicks and Nets). .

All of which brings us to perhaps the most unique aspect of the Heat’s schedule, particularly the home schedule at FTX Arena.

In all, 12 of the Heat’s 41 home games, more than a quarter of the home schedule, are back-to-back series against the same opponent: the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 22 and 24; Charlotte Hornets Nov. 10 and Nov. 12; Washington Wizards Nov. 23 and 25; Milwaukee Bucks on January 12 and 24; Atlanta Hawks March 4 and 6; and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 8 and 10.

Yes, it cuts the commute.

And, yes, it’s similar to the approach the league took during the 2020-21 pandemic season.

The difference is that there were almost no visitors during the season due to COVID-19.

But this season is different, and that’s important.

Now, if an opposing player is sick when one of those teams plays for the first time of the season, it’s likely that he will also be out 48 hours later, and that will be his team’s only other visit of the season.

Yes, when it comes to Western Conference opponents, there has never been a fan turn, and these teams have only visited once.

But now, with the Heat slated for 2022-23, Bradley Beal’s sore ankle could mean the Wizards guard won’t be in Miami this season. Ditto if, say, Trae Young had a shaky knee during the Hawks’ lone visit, or Giannis Antetokounmpo’s tender elbow when the Bucks were in town for his lone time.

With a baseball-like schedule, there is almost always another visit to the same league during the 162-game schedule.

In the NBA, even with an 82-game schedule, it could be all or nothing for several NBA stars this season on FTX.

Which brings us back to the league’s reasoning behind the approach, which is that it will get players on the court more often, reducing the management load by reducing the load on the road.

If so, there will ultimately be something to be said for this approach.

Otherwise, nagging injuries can be a nagging problem for season ticket holders who want to see some of the NBA’s leading men at least once.

In ZAV

FAMILY MATTER: Dealing with his own time away from the court to deal with family ailments over the years, the Heat captain Udonis Haslem spoke last week about the fact that a teammate Kyle Lowry held last season. “My heart went out to Kyle as he dealt with this situation,” Haslem said. “I checked in with him almost every day. I understand what it is. I’ve been in a situation where we come from out of town, I fly in, and I go to the hospital and sit with my mom until two or three in the morning until the next day.” Lowry missed extended stretches twice last season and recently said the situation still has him waiting. “That’s my understanding,” Haslem said. “It’s hard to be the best version of yourself for your teammates and anyone else when you’re influenced by that shape, form and fashion. So my conversation with Kyle is, ‘It’s just basketball. It’s nothing. This is real life and that’s what you need to focus on.” “

HIGUDALA ON DURANTO: In recent seasons, including 2020 with the Heat, he became a free agent forward for the Golden State Warriors. Andre Iguodalaon the Point Forward podcast he hosts with a former NBA player Evan Turnerrecently gave his thoughts on what should be next for his former Championship teammate Kevin Durant. “I think he should stay in Brooklyn,” Iguodala said. “It’s such a big market. It’s good for the game. And just figure out how to make it work. Like everyone else, grow up and make it work.” The fact that Durant has four seasons left on his contract with the Brooklyn Nets, Iguodala said, also matters. “It’s a situation where it’s either, ‘Look man, just come in here and play,’ or don’t play because you’ve got four years, we’ve got you for a while, so it’s not like you’re out of contract and then you can just take the year off and we’ll just give up the year.”

THERE WILL BE MORE: At 33 years old and 7 1/2 years removed from his last game with the Heat, Norris Cole ongoing, was last week named to the roster to represent Team USA at the upcoming AmeriCup in Recife, Brazil, Sept. 2-11. Cole, who won championships in 2012 and 2013 with the Heat in his first two NBA seasons, has been out of the league since the 2016-17 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder after playing in Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Monaco, France, Spain and Puerto Rico. Other participants in the USA Basketball camp in Las Vegas for the tournament include the forward Zilan Cheathamwho was with the Heat on a 10-day contract last season, and former NBA players Gary Clark, Anthony Lamb, Patrick McCaw and Jodi Meeks.

NOT ALONE: With the Heat being the only team among the eight in last season’s conference semifinals not to participate in any of the league’s five Christmas Day games this season, the NBA relayed that fact as part of its explanation to the Sun Sentinel: “For the last 10 seasons there have been 10 conference finalists who weren’t at Christmas the following season, so that’s not an anomaly.” The league said the Miami Dolphins’ home game that day was also “one of many” factors in the absence of such a Christmas assignment.

NUMBER

17. Times the Heat will play on Wednesdays this season, the most games of any day of the week. In contrast, the Heat have 15 games each on the most popular Fridays and Saturdays, with seven on Sundays rounding out the weekend schedule.

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