After Miami beat the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Sunday, the upcoming week will be vital in stacking up wins in the continued goal of avoiding the play-in tournament. There’s no denying that the goal for the Heat is to avoid the tourney, as many within the team have made it public, with them being sick and tired of fighting their way into the playoffs for the last three seasons.

With the team being in Miami until the March 17 contest against the Charlotte Hornets, that means the team will have been at home for seven of its last eight games, having already beaten the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets twice. After the Pistons on Sunday, the Heat will face the Washington Wizards, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Orlando Magic.

Looking at the Eastern Conference standings, it’s very tight, leaving little room for error, as from the fifth to the 10th seed, it’s only separated by four games. Besides handling business against low-ranking teams in the conference like the Wizards and Bucks, though each has stars like Trae Young and Giannis Antetokounmpo, respectively, those are contests that Miami expects to win.

The most important game will be Saturday against the Magic, since they’re right next to each other in the standings as before the Pistons contest, Orlando was sixth, to Miami’s seventh spot, only separated by a fraction of a percentage point. Depending on how long Powell and Wiggins are out, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and others will need to carry the weight.

How the Heat have played at home thus far 

As the Heat push for the playoffs, the road to the postseason isn’t easy, as looking at the middle of the Eastern Conference teams, Miami has the toughest schedule left in terms of winning percentage, according to Esfandiar Baraheni. Including Sunday against Detroit, 10 of the remaining games are at Kaseya Center, where the Heat have a 21-11 record on their home floor.

Besides the overall goal of playing well at home, there is an added pressure of every game counting due to the standings, which head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about wanting his team to “enjoy these matchups.”

“We’ve known for all season long how important it is to establish home spirit and the feeling like you don’t want this to be a place where people want to arrive, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints before the win over Detroit. “But more importantly, it’s just the opportunities as competitors, these games have a little bit more context to them, and that’s what you have to love about this time of year…we have our motivation, which is trying to get to another level as a basketball team, but as competitors. I want our guys to enjoy these matchups in this time of year.”

Asked Erik Spoelstra about the urgency to take care of these home games w/ the standings close.

“We’ve know for all season long how important it is to establish home spirit and the feeling, like you don’t want this to be a place where people want to arrive…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/Eu78RuXXPr

https://twitter.com/ZachWeinberger/status/2030745004839190611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2030745004839190611%7Ctwgr%5E96a94b348371e701722f35f3da34ed47fbb5d859%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fnba%2Fmiami-heat%2Fheat-news-why-miami-must-protect-house-in-crucial-week-make-or-break-season

If there is one thing that Miami needs for the rest of the schedule, it’s momentum and energy, the exact thing that the home crowd can give.

“I mean, being able to get in front of our home crowd and build that energy, keep this winning streak going. And you know, when we get home, I feel like we can begin to score 140,” Adebayo said after the team’s win over the Hornets on Friday.

“That it’s nice, it’s sunny, get to go to the beach, you know, you get to just be home. I think that’s the most important thing. We love our fans, so to have that home stretch is going to be crucial for us. We want to make the most of it,” Jaime Jaquez Jr. said.

At any rate, Miami has a five-game winning streak after the Pistons game, with the team at a 36-29 record.