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The Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder face a conundrum for tonight's game against each other, with the possibility of losing this game turning beneficial for either end.
The Heat are tied with the Milwaukee Bucks with a 43-37 record, but possess the tiebreaker, currently in sixth place — but they could potentially slide to seventh if they lose against the Thunder, likely drawing a matchup against the wounded Boston Celtics.
The Thunder's situation is only slightly different in nature, as they currently boast a full game lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves and are in seventh place as it sits, likely able to keep up their spot and face the Golden State Warriors, who will likely be without leading scorer Stephen Curry for the majority (if not the entirety) of the first round.
Oklahoma City will need to be careful to avoid the red-hot Rockets, if they should fall to eighth place in the season finale, but judging by Russell Westbrook's personal history with Kevin Durant, it's unlikely he'll make the call to lose on purpose against the Warriors, even if it is in the regular season.
Miami dropping a game would be a smart move, avoiding a 3-6 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers and instead trying to navigate a series against a Celtics team that has no Kyrie Irving or Marcus Smart, left to rely on its young pieces for what's to come.
Ultimately, both teams have to be willing to roll the dice when it comes to dropping games on purpose, as there's very little they can do to predict the outcomes of games around them.
