NEW YORK — If this were the world of pro wrestling, then Friday night’s Miami Heat-New York Knicks matchup would be an NBA equivalent of playing for a berth in a WWE Money in the Bank match.
If the Heat win Friday night at Madison Square Garden, it will guarantee that a victory in Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks would award at least $50,000 in bonus money to each Heat player.
It might sound like the stuff of Vince McMahon, but when it comes to the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, the hype can be just as real.
Essentially, it comes down to this: With a Heat victory Friday over the Knicks, the Heat would improve to 3-0 in four-game group play of the In-Season Tournament (having previously won pool-play games against the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets). That would mean a victory over the visiting Bucks on Tuesday night would guarantee a quarterfinal berth in Commissioner Adam Silver’s effort to emulate international soccer-cup tournaments.
With a quarterfinal berth, each player is guaranteed at least a $50,000 bonus, on a scale that rises to $500,000 per player for winning the tournament.
Of course, a victory Friday night at Madison Square Garden, as with all In-Season Tournament games other than the championship game, also counts in the regular-season standings, which likely resonates far more with coach Erik Spoelstra, Heat President Pat Riley and those who abide by the Riley mantra of keeping “the main thing the main thing.”
Still, the Heat are on the cusp of the money-in-the-bank portion of the In-Season Tournament, which adds a dose of reality to the standings within the standings.
In the Heat’s East Group B, the Heat and Bucks are 2-0, the Knicks 1-1, the Hornets 1-2 and the Wizards 0-3.
While the Heat technically could win the group with one loss, the tiebreakers indicate otherwise. With head-to-head result the first tiebreaker, that would likely mean elimination before the quarterfinals with a loss to the Knicks or Bucks. And even in a three-way tie with New York and Milwaukee, the secondary tiebreak is point differential. Through two games for each team, the Bucks stand at +35, the Knicks (even with their one loss) at +16 and the Heat at +13.
That aspect reached the point last week where Bucks coach Adrian Griffin intentionally ran up the score in a 130-99 tournament victory over the Hornets, later attempting to explain to Charlotte coach Steve Clifford why he had his starters on the court longer than typical in a blowout win.
Spoelstra, by contrast, has put point differential to the side, at least until now. But he also said umbrage should not be taken either way.
“We will treat that appropriately and handle it,” he said. “And everybody is going to have to adjust, which I think is good also. The whole disrespect or respect thing, I don’t know when that started, and I never really understood about the disrespect part of it. You should be trying to play all the way through regardless of whether you’re up or not.”
So for the Heat, it’s back to the shiny vibrant colors of the special courts designed for the tournament, two regular-season games with the potential to cash in beyond the regular-season standings.
“We’re open to all of this,” Spoelstra said. “I think it’s good for the league. I think it’s good for the teams, the players. It keeps things interesting. Anything that sparks competition, I think is a great thing.
“And it sure would be a lot of fun to be able to get two more wins and get to the quarterfinals. Ultimately, every competitor in this league, whatever they think or say, you would want to be in Vegas to play for this.”
As in the semifinal and finals in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, when the money-in-the-bank accounts can be further boosted.
“We’ll figure it out as we play these next two,” Spoelstra said of math that will transcend even the scoreboard.