The Miami Heat (39-28) are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, with a half game lead on the Boston Celtics. One projections site predicts they will stay there, while another predicts they will slide.
FiveThirtyEight.com has Miami beating out the Atlanta Hawks and Celtics for the third seed with a 48-34 record. Their numbers also have the Heat as a near-lock to make the playoffs with a greater than 99 percent chance.
However, ESPN.com’s BPI playoff odds has Miami finishing in fifth place in the East, with Atlanta grabbing the third seed and Boston in fourth.