On March 25, Beijing time, the Miami Heat now ranks first in the East, and Stephen A-Smith, known as "American Yang Yi", believes that if the Heat encounter the Raptors or the Nets in the first round, the Black Eight miracle is expected to reappear. Smith believes both the Raptors and the Nets have the strength to eliminate the Heat.
The Heat have been in poor shape lately, losing four of their last seven games, fighting against the Warriors, and infighting on the sidelines. Jimmy Butler, Haslem and coach Spollstra had a heated argument.
"If the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds do end up being the Nets and the Raptors, the Heat's first-round opponents are likely to be one of them," Smith said. ”
The US media analysis said that the throne of the first place in the east now seems to be less attractive. Unlike previous years, this year's lower-ranked teams have rather difficult opponents, such as the Nets, who are currently ranked eighth, and the Raptors, who are seventh. Especially the Nets, Irving has been allowed to play at home, from part-time to full-time, he and Durant joined forces, enough to make any opponent dare not underestimate, if the Nets enter the playoffs as the eighth seed, no matter which team becomes the first in the East, it will face a bitter battle, and it is possible to be black eight.
Based on the current record, there are four main teams that could be in the first place in the East, with the Heat taking a temporary lead, while the 76ers, Bucks and Celtics all have only a 1.5-game gap between them and the Heat.
There have been five "black eight miracles" in NBA history, most recently in the 2011-12 season, when the eighth-placed Philadelphia 76ers eliminated the then-number one Bulls by an aggregate score of 4-2. The Heat once suffered a "black eight" in their history, and they lost to the eighth-place knicks in the first round of the 1998-99 season.