Pistons legend believes Heat will stretch the 1st round playoffs vs Cavs

After the Miami Heat clinched the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot by defeating the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament, Isiah Thomas saw potential in the team to put up a fight against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

During Friday's segment of "Playoff Central Live," Thomas said that the Heat may stretch their upcoming first-round series against the top-seeded Cavs to up to seven games.

His take goes against the popular opinion that expects Cleveland to make light work of Miami and move to the second round.

"Cleveland is definitely the favorite. However, Miami has won two road games, and they're playing good basketball right now," Thomas said. "So I think this goes six or seven, I don't think this is gonna be a laydown for Cleveland. I think Miami is gonna give them all that they want."

Thomas' take seemingly stunned Vince Carter. While he agreed with Zeke that the Heat are playing well, Carter doubted that the playoff series would stretch that long, as he leaned more towards five games.

After finishing 10th in the East in the regular season, the Miami Heat kept their season alive by winning do-or-die games against the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks on the road in the play-in tournament. They secured a thrilling 123-114 overtime victory against the latter on Friday to book their spot in the playoffs.

However, the Cavaliers had their best regular season in 16 years, maintaining the top spot in the East since the start, and finishing with a 64-18 record. It will be a stern challenge for the Heat to stretch their first-round series against the Cavs, who have been dominant this season.

Miami Heat vs Cleveland Cavaliers Head-to-Head

The Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers have met 133 times in the NBA regular season, with the Heat up in their head-to-head with an 80-53 record. However, the upcoming series will be the first time the teams face each other in the playoffs.

In the recently concluded regular season, the Cavaliers went 2-1 against the Heat in their season series after winning their final two meetings. Here are the scorelines of their regular-season encounters this season:

• Cavaliers 122-113 Heat, Dec. 8, 2024
• Cavaliers 126-106 Heat, Jan. 29, 2025
• Heat 107-112 Cavaliers, Mar. 5, 2025

The Cavs will host the Heat on Sunday for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.