Can Miami Heat take solace in lack of East dominance?

Q: Ira, what Knicks-Pacers is showing is what the entire East playoffs have shown me (after Cleveland was blown out and Jayson Tatum went down): The East is not very good and should not be feared by any team, including the Heat. Not saying we’re going to zoom to the top, but as you watch there also is not fear. – Andrew.

A: Which can both tempt and tease. Yes, it’s not as if you’re trying to pass the Jordan Bulls or the LeBron Heat/Cavs. But on the other hand, it’s also not as if the Heat have any type of pathway to a top seed ahead of what already is in place in Cleveland, Indiana, Boston, New York and maybe Detroit and a few others. What you can’t do is delude yourself with the old saws of simply needing to be healthy or being one piece away. Unless a star falls into your lap, you don’t simply go from three years of play-in to homecourt in the latter stages of the playoffs. Yes, regardless of which wins the East, Indiana or New York hardly have cast a long enough shadow to create long-term fear. But the strides of others in the East continue to put distance between themselves and the Heat. That is the real reality.