Despite having their seven-game winning streak snapped last week, the Miami Heat are still considered among the NBA’s top 10 teams.
They appeared at No. 10 in the latest power rankings at NBA.com. They were one spot ahead of the Indiana Pacers and one behind the Dallas Mavericks. The Boston Celtics held the No. 1 spot.
‘Tyler Herro remains out, but Eastern Conference finals hero Caleb Martin returned from a 10-game absence last week,” wrote NBA.com’s John Schumann. “That means the Heat are a little more whole as they continue a five-game trip that began with the loss in Chicago on Saturday.”
The Heat got back in the winning column with Sunday’s 118-100 victory against the Chicago Bulls. They won despite Jimmy Butler sitting the entire fourth quarter.
“We set the tone our last game too, we just let up a little bit, so I’m glad that we did not do that,” Butler said. “I love that. Let my teammates be great. They can have all the minutes and I’ll sit back and relax and enjoy the show.”
The Heat (9-5) sit atop the Southeast Division standings entering Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Sometimes you do have the opportunities to get better from tough losses,” Heat coach Erik Spolestra said. “We were all very disappointed with how the fourth quarter went the other night. We felt that we were in control for a large part of the game and wound up losing the game. That can humble you.”