The NBA season is boiling up for an exciting finish to the main season. Of the six Divisions, only two have clear leaders as February approaches. The rest are close and that’s definitely the case in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference.
It’s a three-way battle between the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. All three sides have had their problems in recent weeks. It’s almost as if none of them want to go clear and win the division.
The Atlanta Hawks finished third in the Southeast division last season. They were well behind the top two and lost to Chicago in the play-in tournament. With 36 regular season wins, they were 10 behind Miami and 11 adrift of divisional winners Orlando.
This season has gone better for them and it’s extremely tight in this division. Any of Atlanta, Orlando and Miami could run out winners of this division.
February is going to be a crucial month with each of the three contenders facing each other. Atlanta ended 2024 strongly with eight of their matches played in December ending in victory. It was the first month this season in which they won more matches than suffered defeats both at home and on the road.
2025 hasn’t been so good though with their first three matches of the new year all ending in defeat. They did recover with a three-match winning run (including two wins on the road) but are still struggling for consistency.
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Up until the end of December 2024, Orlando Magic had been impressive on their home court but lost too many matches on the road. That has changed in January though with just one of their first five home matches being won.
2025 has seen Orlando battling to find some consistency. Their first 11 matches of the year saw them fail to win two in a row with eight defeats. That’s hit their chances of winning the division and has them heading for the play-in places.
Miami Heat struggled in the early months of this 2024-25 NBA season. Five of their first eight matches were lost, including a run of three successive defeats in early November. The month ended better though with four wins out of five. That saw them end November with a more comfortable 9-8 season record.
December began with two defeats though and back to a negative record. Four successive victories – with Tyler Herro top-scoring in three of them – breathed some life back into their challenge for the division title but then they lost their next three games.
2024 saw them end the year with a 16-14 season record after winning three of their final four games of the year. This is such a tough division in which to be consistent, hence the close three-way battle for the title. January got off to a poor start for Miami with two home defeats but then they won three in a row, all on the road, only to lose the next three.
February will be a key month in this division. If one of the top three can have an excellent month, then their title chances will improve significantly. The two matches between Atlanta and Miami on February 24 and 26 will be so important.
What if the division goes right down to the wire? Atlanta’s last match sees them host Orlando at the State Farm Arena. Could that yet be a title decider?
Orlando Magic are the favorites with US sportsbooks to win this division with current odds of -175. Atlanta are +250 with Miami at +550. When it comes to who will win the NBA Finals, it’s the Boston Celtics who are the favorites with sportsbooks, just ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Orlando Magic are only tenth on the list at +5000 with both Miami and Atlanta at +15000 at the time of writing this article. Miami are the fifth favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Those odds will fluctuate in the coming weeks and months in this intriguing battle for the Southeast division.
