Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks advance to win-or-go-home No. 8 seed games for NBA playoff berth
Davis (No. 3) was the Mavericks' top scorer as Dallas won their first play-in game.
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — The Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks, the No. 10 seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conferences respectively, were victorious in their first NBA play-in game on Wednesday, advancing them to a final win-or-go-home game for a playoff berth.
First, the Heat beat the No. 9 seed Chicago Bulls 109-90 in the Windy City and will advance to face the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Miami guard Tyler Herro scored 38 points on 13-of-19 shooting in a dominant performance by the 25-year-old as the Bulls defense struggled to contain him.
Andrew Wiggins – acquired midway through the season in a trade with the Golden State Warriors which saw former Heat star Jimmy Butler head to San Francisco – tallied 20 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Although it looked to be a tough match-up on paper for Miami, there was little jeopardy as the team raced into a 71-47 halftime lead and never relinquished the advantage.
It’s the third year in a row that the Heat have knocked the Bulls out of the play-in mini tournament, but head coach Erik Spoelstra says that after a tough regular season in which his team finished with a record of 37-45, they are not done yet.
“We’re only halfway there,” Spoelstra told reporters afterwards. “We didn’t have the luxury of having the one game and then you’re automatically in. Guys feel great about this win and really put a lot into this. This is not something that could just happen overnight. I feel like there’s been some good things happening the last several weeks.”
The Heat and Hawks will clash on Friday in Atlanta to determine the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed who will face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. The Hawks lost to the Orlando Magic in their first play-in game on Monday.
Mavs topple Kings for date with Memphis
In Wednesday’s second game, the Mavericks overcame the No. 9 seed Sacramento Kings 120-106 to earn a matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies for a playoff spot.
After what has been a difficult season for Dallas fans – mainly due to the team’s decision to trade away franchise cornerstone Luka Dončić – Wednesday’s victory meant that their season continues at least for one more game.
Anthony Davis – who moved to Texas as part of the deal for Dončić – led the way for the Mavs with 27 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
But it was a momentous game for Klay Thompson who scored 16 of his 23 points in a big second quarter for Dallas, as the team racked up 44 points to open up a big lead.
Thompson’s vital contribution came exactly a year to the day on from his final game for the Warriors, a game in which he missed all 10 of his shots as it signaled the end of an era for the “Splash Brothers” in California.
“Human nature, when you end a season on a sour note like that you want to come out and prove people wrong,” the 35-year-old guard told reporters afterwards. “But I thought I did a good job to start the game of trying to dish, rebound, play defense. The shots came to me after that.”
Thompson added: “We’ve had a tumultuous season to say the least. The injury bug has struck us like I’ve never seen before, but we’re still here playing postseason basketball. We can really give the city of Dallas some hope, especially if we go to Memphis and repeat this type of performance.”
The Mavs will face the Grizzlies on Friday for the Western Conference’s eighth seed and a chance to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
For the Kings, Wednesday’s defeat ends a disappointing season, one in which they fired head coach Mike Brown in December and traded away star point guard De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in February.
Shortly after the defeat, the Kings reportedly agreed to part ways with general manager Monte McNair.
No. 8 seed win-or-go-home schedule
All games take place on Friday
Miami Heat @ Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m. ET – TNT
Dallas Mavericks @ Memphis Grizzlies, 9:30 p.m. ET – ESPN
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