To fully appreciate this moment, the magnitude of this moment, this 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks is to appreciate the road, the recent rocky road, that led the Miami Heat to this moment.
On March 29, it was walking off the court at Madison Square Garden after a 101-92 loss to the New York Knicks, any shot of a top-five playoff seed all but gone as the losing streak reached three.
On April 7, it was a road loss with a shorthanded roster against the Washington Wizards that eliminated the possibility of a top-six finish, dropping Erik Spoelstra’s team into the harrowing play-in round for the first time.
On April 11, it was a humbling 116-105 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in opener that reduced the season to one final winner-take-all game in order to make the playoffs.
And on April 14, it was a fourth-quarter deficit to the visiting Chicago Bulls in that winner-take-all game before rallying for the No. 8 and final playoff seed in the East.
It was as if the end was near.
And now it is . . . in a way seemingly unimaginable, with a victory Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum, or in any of the series’ remaining games, moving the Heat into the second round of the playoffs and a meeting with either the rival Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It’s the makeup of this group,” Spoelstra said, while stressing that nothing is being taken for granted. “We have great competitors and you just keep on plugging away. Probably more games than not this season, we’ve had to win frustrated, or things not necessarily going in an incredible flow.
“We’re not one of those teams that we’re scoring 150 points and everything was aesthetically like beautiful. There was a beauty in the grind. And so we’ve had some of those habits.”
Spoelstra then paused, banged his fist on a table three times, and continued with the caution of, “But the series is still going and we have great respect for the championship DNA that that group has.”
Still, just to be at this juncture, at a point when many considered the Bucks already would have completed a 4-0 sweep, speaks volumes, particularly considering how the Heat lost starting shooting guard Tyler Herro in the first half of Game 1 with a broken right hand and then backup guard Victor Oladipo late in Game 3 with a devastating knee injury.
“We’ve got guys with chips on their shoulders,” point guard Kyle Lowry said. “We’ve got guys who want to continue to prove their worth. We’ve got guys in positions of leadership that won’t let guys give up.
“We just like to win basketball games and compete. And that’s one thing in this locker room, we don’t put our heads down in the dirt. We just kind of grind it down and compete.”
As they did from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit in Monday night’s thrilling 119-114 Game 4 victory at Kaseya Center.
“In many ways,” Spoelstra said, “for 40 minutes of this game it was frustrating. Things weren’t going our way. When it’s not going your way and you’re not in the flow, sometimes you feel like officiating is not going your way, it just shows you if you have the right grit and perseverance, you can win, find different ways to win, even if it’s ugly.”
Teams that lead best-of-seven series 3-1 go on to win such series 95.2 percent of the time, with a 258-13 record. The Heat have closed out such series all 13 times they previously have held such a 3-1 lead.
With one more victory, the Heat would become the fifth No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed, the first since the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012.
“I think we’re just resilient, man,” forward Kevin Love said. “I think at the end of the day we have guys that do a lot of stuff that may or may not show up in the stat sheet, but we’re all about winning. We all understand.”
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