Miami Heat: Will They Earn the East's No. 1 Seed?

The No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference was originally designed as a throw-in for the Miami Heat when the season began.

After all, with the team they had put together that summer, they were supposed to run through not just the Eastern Conference, but the NBA all together en route to winning the easiest NBA championship any team had ever conceived.

The only problem was that we failed to realize that teams usually need more than three players, no matter how talented, to run through the NBA and eventually win a title.

The Heat were always in contention for the number one seed and actually held the top spot for awhile before a five game losing streak deterred them.

It knocked them as far back as three games behind the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics, who were in their own fight for first place.

Miami has caught up to within half a game of the second place Celtics, who have faltered of late, but are still two-and-a-half games behind the Bulls for the first seed.

The Bulls and Celtics both hold tiebreakers over the Heat with each team already winning the season series over Miami.

Miami could have had a chance to overtake the Celtics for second last night after beating the Washington Wizards, but couldn't capitalize in Cleveland the day before.

As you can see from the past two games, Miami hasn't exactly had the toughest of competition. They've played Detroit, Philadelphia, Houston, Cleveland and Washington, winning in four of five of those games.

Luckily for Miami, the Celtics late-season struggles have allowed the Heat to creep back into the race for the one seed.

Following last night, Miami is now tied with the Celtics for second place after the Heat win and the Celtics being idle.

They couldn't pick up a game on the Bulls however, who beat up on the Minnesota Timberwolves and still have cruise control on the No. 1 seed, with a two-and-a-half game lead.

Miami has been able to catch up on Boston, but they haven't made too much ground on the Bulls who finished 13-3 in the month of March, with quality wins against the Heat on the road and two wins against the Atlanta Hawks.

The NBA regular season is now coming down to it's home stretch after an extremely long wait from the faithful of the playoff contenders.

Heat fans have been waiting at the edge of their seats to see what this big three is made of in the post season, the Chicago community is waiting to see how far their future MVP Derrick Rose can take them, while Celtics fans are idly waiting and watching for the veteran core in Boston to pull off another feat like they did last post season with expectations of better results.

For the month of April, Miami has seven games left on its schedule, Chicago with eight and Boston with nine.

The second seed at the moment is appearing to be the most likely for the Heat, considering that their schedule consists mostly of lower tier teams, while the Celtics still have a few teams ready to make a post season run on its roster.

The main concern for the Heat though is the number one seed that the Bulls have a firm grip on.

Chicago's April schedule is a mix of the upper and lower tier teams with a few stretches of difficulty and a few that consist of easy wins.

They start off the month with a game on the road against Detroit before coming home to take on Toronto the very next night.

The next few games are crucial for the Bulls, who will take on a few teams that are ready to make post season runs.

They take on the Suns, who are in dire need of a win to obtain a playoff spot, the Celtics and the Cavaliers on a back-to-back and then finish off the last week with road games against the Magic and Knicks before ending the season at home against New Jersey.

There are four very winnable games for Chicago, but there are also four games against teams that either want a playoff spot, a statement heading into the postseason or wanting to make up some ground.

The Heat have less to worry about with their schedule. Even with the defensive struggles and the lack of effort, they could easily run the table in the month of April.

They finish off their four game road trip with games against Minnesota and New Jersey and then come home to take on Milwaukee and Charlotte, two teams who are also in desperate need of making up some ground for an eighth seed.

The last week however won't be as easy as they take on the Celtics at home and the Hawks on the road in a back-to-back before ending the season in Toronto.

The game against the Celtics will be crucial for the Heat, as it represents the possibility of them being in a late-season run for the first seed, but it's just as important if they can make a statement against the team that has now tormented them for two seasons while also avoiding a series sweep.

Miami has the talent to beat them and they are developing the chemistry to make a deep run in the post season, but they need to overcome this hurdle if they want to advance to their primary destination.

As everyone knows, the road to the Finals through the East still runs through Boston, and the Heat will probably have to take them on to get there.

It makes it even more important for the Heat to secure the one or two seed if they do meet up to give the Heat valuable home-court advantage.

Down the road, the Heat are going to need the Bulls to falter. It's not as if the Bulls are unstoppable force either considering that two of their losses in March came against Indiana and Philadelphia.

In both games, the opposition held a big lead before allowing the Bulls to make a run and a fierce comeback until the Sixers and Pacers eventually pulled out wins.

Losses against the Suns, Celtics, Magic or Knicks are highly possible, but also highly unlikely for a team that has been on its biggest tear of the season.

Miami is most likely to take the second seed considering that the C's still have to take on six post season teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.

They have a few cake walks against Detroit and the Washington Wizards twice, but it's going to be a tough stretch for Boston if they look to hold on to the second seed or even take the one seed.

The possibility of the Heat taking the No. 1 seed is possible, but also highly unlikely.

Miami will pretty much need to win out with no room for error while also hoping for the Bulls to lose nearly half of the rest of their games.

Chicago has shown some flaws in the few losses that they have had over the past month and anything is really possible when it comes to an NBA game.

Even the worst of teams find reasons to give an effort, whether just to make a statement against the top teams or to end their season on a good note.

The Heat have dug themselves into a hole and don't appear too concerned with obtaining the No. 1 seed with the way they have been playing lately.

However, the Celtics and Bulls have much more difficult schedules compared to theirs and now would be the time for the Heat to take advantage of beating up on the lower teams of the league.

The loss to Cleveland was only their fourth to a team with a record of .500 or lower, and five of their last eight games are against teams with the aforementioned records.

When it comes down to it though, the better team will outright win in the playoffs. No matter how high or low of a seeding or whoever has home court advantage, the better team will always win.

With the season coming to a close, the Miami Heat need to make sure that the NBA world knows that they are the real deal and they are ready take on the Bulls and Celtics of the league in order to secure a title.

It's either that or the longest three months of their collective lives.