MIAMI (SportsDirect Inc.) — The Miami Heat escaped from the tiebreaker scenario in the Eastern Conference at the top of the pack and will have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The third-seeded Heat ended up with the Southeast Division title and will host Game 1 on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets, who finished with an identical record but got the sixth seed based on the tiebreakers.
Miami, Atlanta, Boston and Charlotte all finished with the same record after the Celtics overcame a 24-point halftime deficit to defeat the Heat on the final day of the regular season.