Without getting into all of the minutia, let's make it easy.

Who should Heat fans be rooting for, over the last three days?

MONDAY

-- Hornets at Celtics: HORNETS.

Yes, that would get Charlotte within .5 games of the Heat. But Miami has the tiebreaker on the Hornets, so that's not so worrisome, provided the Heat don't drop its final two contests. Boston losing would give the Celtics 34 losses, one more than the Heat, and that gives the Heat a little wiggle room in the Detroit game on Tuesday, so long as Miami beats Boston on Wednesday.

--Hawks at Cavaliers: CAVALIERS.

I know this would be much fun. But think of it like getting back on the bike that LeBron James rode for Critical Mass when he was a member of the Heat. The Cavaliers at least one more win, or one more Toronto loss, to claim the No. 2 seed, and Toronto's last two games are against the East's two worst teams (Philadelphia and Brooklyn). So Cleveland needs to take care of its own business, and that last game against Detroit could be tricky, with the Pistons playing to move up to the seventh seed. The Cavaliers are hapless without James, and need to give themselves two shots at one victory, which means that James almost certainly will suit up against Atlanta. Put aside any hard feelings, and pull hard for him.

TUESDAY

-- Heat at Pistons: HEAT

This probably went without saying. But get this game and Miami can be no worse than 5th in the East. And no, it doesn't make sense to dump it to drop to sixth and avoid the Cavaliers until the conference finals. You get the highest seed you can; you never know who will beat whom, and you may start a second or even third round series on homecourt after an upset.

WEDNESDAY

-- Heat at Celtics: HEAT

The weirdest of all scenarios: Miami loses here, dropping to 0-3 against Boston this season, then flies home, just to fly back to Boston for a Saturday start to a series. That's hardly ideal.

-- Hawks at Wizards: WIZARDS

If Miami beats Detroit and the Cavaliers beat Atlanta on Tuesday, and the Heat beats the Celtics, then this won't matter. Otherwise, it most certainly will. But can you trust Washington to compete at the end of a disappointing season?

-- Magic at Hornets: MAGIC

This likely won't matter to Miami. But it could, if the Heat loses to Detroit and Boston. In that case, a Hornets win here could be the thing that drops the Heat to sixth. Against which team? That depends on the games above. So expect another update here Tuesday.