1992–93 Miami Heat season

The 1992–93 Miami Heat season was the fifth season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The Heat had the twelfth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Harold Miner from the University of Southern California.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team acquired John Salley from the Detroit Pistons; Salley won two NBA championships with the Pistons between 1989 and 1990.^[5][6][7]

Despite the addition of Miner and Salley, the Heat struggled with a 6–17 start to the regular season, and later on held a 10–25 record as of January 20, 1993. The team dealt with injuries, as second-year star Steve Smith missed the first 31 games of the season due to a knee injury,^[8][9][10] while Kevin Edwards only played just 40 games, and was benched after starting in 30 of them,^[11][12][13] and Willie Burton only appeared in just 26 games due to a wrist injury.^[14][15] The Heat struggled in the first half of the season, and held an 18–31 record at the All-Star break.^[16]

With Smith back in the starting lineup, the Heat played solid basketball posting a six-game winning streak between February and March, and winning 18 of their 28 games also between February and March. However, the team lost six of their final seven games of the season, finishing in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, and in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 36–46 record.^[17] The team finished five games behind the 8th–seeded Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Heat, 94–88 at the Market Square Arena on the final day of the regular season on April 24, 1993, to gain the final NBA playoff spot in the East.^[18][19][20]

Glen Rice averaged 19.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and led the Heat with 148 three-point field goals, while Rony Seikaly averaged 17.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, and Smith provided the team with 16.0 points and 5.6 assists per game in 48 games. In addition, Grant Long averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, while Edwards contributed 13.9 points and 1.7 steals per game, and Bimbo Coles provided with 10.6 points and 4.6 assists per game. Meanwhile, Miner contributed 10.3 points per game off the bench, while Salley averaged 8.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in only 51 games, and Brian Shaw provided with 7.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.^[21]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Miner won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[22][23][24] The Heat finished 17th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 614,915 at the Miami Arena during the regular season.^[21][25] Following the season, Edwards, who was one of the few players left from the team's inaugural season, signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets.^[26][27][28]