Heat leaving higher math to others as they await opponent from play-in round; Butler doesn’t travel to Orlando

Erik Spoelstra is leaving the higher math to others. Tyler Herro is keeping an eye on the Brooklyn Nets. And Bam Adebayo already is studying ahead.

The Miami Heat not only have to wait until the completion of games on Sunday to see how the NBA play-in round will be seeded, but then wait for that preliminary postseason tournament to conclude on Friday before learning their first-round opponent for their playoff opener next Sunday at FTX Arena.

The Heat will face whichever of the four play-in teams exits that round with the No. 8 seed, with the Nets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets or Cleveland Cavaliers to be their first-round opponent.

“I was never good at math,” Spoelstra said with a smile. “And I’ve had everybody explain all the scenarios. That’s when you’ll lose me in 30 seconds.”

The Heat close out their schedule Sunday at 7 p.m. against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center. Games at 3:30 p.m. Sunday involving the Nets, Hawks, Hornets and Cavaliers will determine the seeding for the play-in round.

“All the other trigonometry, that’s for everybody else,” Spoelstra said of Sunday’s equation for Nos. 7-10 in the Eastern Conference. “It’ll play out the way it’s supposed to play out. That just confuses me.”

Most eyes are on the Nets, now that Kyrie Irving, even while non-vaccinated, has been cleared to appear in all games, giving Brooklyn a formidable 1-2 punch alongside Kevin Durant.

“I know how it works,” Herro said. “I’m not paying too much attention to it. Obviously, Brooklyn is the team that we’re looking at, seeing who they’ll match up against. I mean, whoever we’ll play in the first round, it is what it is.”

Kyle Lowry is of similar thought.

“Any team that we would possibly play would be a challenge,” the veteran point guard said. “It’s the playoffs. There are reasons that they’re in the playoffs. So whoever we match up against, we know they’ve going to give us their all, we’re going to play our best.

“But whoever we match up against, we have to go out there and still do our job, no matter what it is. It’s not going to be easy at all.”

That has Adebayo already going to school.

“I’m watching. I’m watching film,” he said. “I’m looking at guys’ tendencies, reading plays, seeing how they play in transition, how they play on certain schemes. So I’m paying attention.”

But also not getting caught up in the seeding possibilities.

“I mean, in the playoffs, you can’t run, anyway, in my opinion,” he said. “So you can’t try to duck somebody. If you win that matchup, you’ve got to play ‘em in the next round or the round after that. It’s like, you got to face that.

“So, you know, I don’t feel like anybody here is running from anything.”

Of the 16 possible permutations from Sunday’s games involving the Nets, Hawks, Hornets and Cavaliers, Brooklyn would be positioned to play for the No. 7 seed in all but two.

Butler doesn’t travel

Jimmy Butler and P.J. Tucker remained behind when the Heat departed Saturday for Orlando, with Tucker dealing with a calf strain.

The Heat listed five others as questionable: Dewayne Dedmon (ankle), Haywood Highsmith (hip), Markieff Morris (hip), Gabe Vincent (toe) and Omer Yurtseven (non-COVID illness).

The expectations remains that even though they traveled, Adebayo, Herro and Lowry will get the night off, as could other rotation players not on the injury report.

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