Hawks will be Heat’s Friday opponent for playoff berth with win Wednesday over Bulls

CHICAGO — Even though it has yet to start, the Miami Heat’s pathway to the playoffs is now set.

With the Orlando Magic defeating the visiting Atlanta Hawks 120-95 Tuesday night in the Nos. 7-8 Eastern Conference play-in game, the Hawks now will stand as the Heat’s Friday play-in opponent if the Heat win Wednesday night’s Nos. 9-10 play-in game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

By virtue of their No. 8 play-in seed, the Hawks earned the right with their loss to have a second play-in chance that the Heat lack, with Atlanta to host the 7:30 p.m. Friday night game.

Should the Heat defeat the Bulls, they then would have to win at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena to advance to a best-of-seven first-round series against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

As a No. 10 seed, the Heat are required to win twice without a loss in the play-in round to advance to the playoffs.

With a loss Wednesday night, the Heat would be eliminated from the postseason and move into the No. 11 seed in the random-but-weighted NBA draft lottery.

Should the Heat win Wednesday and lose Friday, they also would be eliminated from the postseason and be seeded No. 11 in the May 12 lottery.

If the Heat win Wednesday in Chicago and Friday in Atlanta, they would open the first round of the playoffs Sunday against the Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in a series to be played on a 2-2-1-1-1 basis, with Game 3 and 4 of that series at Kaseya Center.

By making the playoffs, the Heat would be out of the lottery, with their first-round pick in June then going to the Oklahoma City Thunder to fulfill that lottery-protected obligation from a previous trade.

The Heat last failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2019, landing guard Tyler Herro in that year’s lottery.

The Heat in each of the past two seasons have advanced to the playoffs as the No. 8, advancing by winning their second play-in game each year. This is the first year the Heat are not hosting a play-in game.

The Heat went 2-2 against the Hawks this season, finishing three games behind Atlanta in the standings.