Dwyane Wade drops ecstatic 4-word reaction as 10th-seeded Heat advance to playoffs

Dwyane Wade was fired up after seeing the Miami Warmth — the franchise he led to a few championships — climb from the No. 10 seed to No. 8 by profitable two straight play-in video games, organising a first-round matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Warmth punched their playoff ticket with a gritty 123-114 time beyond regulation win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, knocking them out of the postseason race within the remaining battle for the No. 8 seed. The Hawks had entered the play-in because the eighth seed however dropped each video games to overlook the playoffs solely.

Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell got here up clutch in crunch time, burying key 3s to carry off Atlanta’s rally. Herro led all scorers with 30 factors, including eight rebounds, seven assists and 5 3-pointers, whereas Mitchell scored 16 and knocked down three triples in time beyond regulation — drawing reward from Wade.

“HERRO!!!! MITCHELL!!! Straight hooping!” Wade tweeted.

With the win, Miami made historical past, turning into the primary No. 10 seed ever to advance to the playoffs through the Play-In Match. Simply two seasons in the past, they made a Finals run as a play-in staff, although they finally fell to the Denver Nuggets.

Past Herro and Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo additionally delivered, combining for 37 factors, 19 rebounds and 13 assists. For the Hawks, Trae Younger had 29 factors and 11 dimes, whereas Onyeka Okongwu chipped in 28 factors and 12 boards.

First Spherical Preview: Warmth vs. Cavaliers

The Miami Warmth now put together to tackle the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers within the opening spherical of the Jap Convention playoffs. Recreation 1 and Recreation 2 might be performed in Cleveland on Sunday and Wednesday, with Video games 3 and 4 shifting to Miami on April 26 and 28.

These groups clashed thrice through the common season. Miami took the primary assembly 122-113, with Tyler Herro dropping 34 and Duncan Robinson including 23. Bam Adebayo chipped in with 16 factors and 13 rebounds.

Cleveland bounced again to take the subsequent two matchups. In January, the Cavs dominated 126-106 behind 34 factors from Donovan Mitchell and a mixed 35 factors from Ty Jerome and Georges Niang off the bench.

Their third and remaining conflict got here in March, post-Warmth commerce of Jimmy Butler. Cleveland edged out Miami 112-107, with Mitchell scoring 26 and Evan Mobley posting 16 factors and 13 rebounds. Bam Adebayo had an enormous evening for the Warmth with 34 factors and 12 rebounds, although Miami hit simply 36.1% from past the arc.

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alt=”John Ezekiel Hirro” top=”72″ width=”72″>

John Ezekiel Hirro is an skilled NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda, with over 5 years within the discipline as a information correspondent, sports activities author, and Editor-in-Chief. His sports activities writing profession started in highschool, the place he garnered quite a few accolades, together with being named the nationwide sports activities writing champion in 2016.

He earned his journalism diploma from the College of Santo Tomas within the Philippines in 2024 and served because the Editor-in-Chief of The Varsitarian, the college’s official pupil publication, for 4 years—the longest in historical past.

A passionate basketball fanatic, he grew to become a fan of the OKC Thunder through the Russ-KD-Harden period. Russell Westbrook, his all-time favourite athlete, impressed him by stepping up as MVP after Kevin Durant’s departure. His present favourite gamers embrace Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who he believes are the way forward for the OKC franchise.

He excels in sport evaluation and speedy information story turnaround, drawing inspiration from the journalistic types of Woj and Shams. He emphasizes thorough analysis to make sure accuracy in his articles. One in all his most memorable moments is Russell Westbrook breaking Oscar Robertson’s document along with his forty second triple-double and securing a 106-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Exterior of writing, he enjoys listening to music and creating Spotify playlists.

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Edited by John Ezekiel Hirro