Heat clinch playoff berth with win over Hawks

And just like that, the Miami Heat are back in the playoffs.

After defeating the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, the Heat officially clinched their eighth playoff berth in 10 years - also their first since 2016, when Miami fell to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Heat barely missed the playoffs in 2017 after a late surge turned their season upside down. They went 30-11 to finish at .500, but the Chicago Bulls held the tiebreaker for the eighth seed.

Heat leading scorer Goran Dragic will make his second playoff appearance in his four years in South Beach, and just the third appearance in his 10-year career. Dwyane Wade, on the other hand, will be in the playoffs for the 13th time in his 15 seasons - all but one with the Heat.

Miami is now fighting for positioning with the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks for the final three spots, and the Heat own the tiebreaker against both squads. The Detroit Pistons sit 4 1/2 games behind the Bucks, and those are the only two Eastern Conference teams that have yet to learn whether they'll play in the postseason.