When it came to scoreboard watching on closing night of the NBA season, it took until one final late result was in for the Miami Heat to get a definitive read on homecourt advantage in one element of the playoffs, while clarity on draft position was left unsettled.
The Golden State Warriors’ 128-107 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans impacted both of those elements, when it left the Warriors tied with the Heat’s 53-29 record.
Despite the tie, the Warriors would have homecourt advantage over the Heat in a possible NBA Finals matchup after sweeping the season series 2-0.
The Warriors won the season’s first meeting 115-108 on Jan. 3 in San Francisco, when the Heat were without Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and Dewayne Dedmon, among others. Golden State then swept the series with their 118-104 victory March 23 at FTX Arena, despite being without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, among others. That was the night that Heat forward Jimmy Butler got into his dustup with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat captain Udonis Haslem.
The Heat will hold homecourt advantage in every possible playoff permutation except against the Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies (56-26) and Phoenix Suns (64-18). The Heat split their two-game season series against both the Suns and Grizzlies.
The Warriors’ Sunday result also set up a random draw between the Heat and Warriors for the Nos. 27-28 picks in the first round of the June 23 NBA draft, with that draw to be held April 18.
As part of the 2021 trade that sent Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley to the Houston Rockets for Victor Oladipo, the Heat agreed to take the lesser of the 2022 first-round selections between the Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and themselves. That issue became moot with the Heat finishing with a superior record to Houston (20-62) and Brooklyn (44-38).
Unlike with playoff seedings, the NBA does not utilize tiebreaking procedures for draft positions.
The tie with the Warriors is moot for the Heat in the second round, with the Heat’s 2022 second-round pick belonging to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Heat also had held what turned out as the No. 53 overall pick in the second round, but that selection was forfeited because of an NBA ruling regarding the timing of the Heat’s free-agent agreement with Kyle Lowry in August.
Because the Heat’s 2023 first-round pick previously has been dealt, the Heat must exercise a selection in the 2022 first round (teams are not allowed to be without successive future first-rounds picks), but then can deal the selected player after the pick is made.
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