Just a few months back, the Panthers and Heat were making simultaneous runs to the finals
Just a few months back, the Panthers and Heat were making simultaneous runs to the finals
South Florida sports fans are enjoying one of the best and most successful runs of local sports that this area has ever blessed with.
While there have been no recent major championships (yet), we’re fresh off a year in which we saw the Florida Panthers and Miami Heat reach the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals, respectively, the Miami Dolphins made the playoffs and nearly pulled off a massive road upset without their starting quarterback, the University of Miami men’s basketball team AND Florida Atlantic University made it to the NCAA Final Four and the Hurricanes women’s team reached the Elite Eight as well.
Currently the Dolphins are viewed as a team that could compete for a Super Bowl, the Panthers and Heat are preparing to defend their conference titles with high expectations for both, the Miami Marlins are having a great season and are fighting for a rare playoff appearance, and it won’t be long before college football and basketball seasons get going again as well.
Then there's international soccer superstar Lionel Messi, whose move to Inter Miami this summer has shaken the sports world to its core.
Bottom line…it’s a great time to be a South Florida sports fan.
On Thursday, the NBA released the full schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
Something fresh on the minds of many fans when looking at the schedules for the Heat and Panthers is avoiding conflicts.
Sure, it really matters when it comes to the playoffs, but there are plenty of people who live down here that frequent both FLA Live Arena for hockey games and Kaseya Center for basketball.
Fortunately, when looking over the schedules for both teams, there are only a limited number of conflicting games.
They are as follows:
Monday, Nov. 6 the Panthers host the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Heat host the Los Angeles Lakers.
Saturday, Dec. 2 the Panthers host the New York Islanders and the Heat host the Indiana Pacers.
Friday, Jan. 19 the Panthers host the Minnesota Wild and the Heat host the Atlanta Hawks.
Wednesday, Jan. 24 the Panthers host the Arizona Coyotes and the Heat host the Memphis Grizzlies.
Tuesday, Feb. 6 the Panthers host the Philadelphia Flyers and the Heat host the Orlando Magic.
Tuesday, March 26 the Panthers host the Boston Bruins and the Heat host the Golden State Warriors.
Overall, the Heat and Panthers play on the same night 34 times this season, including on Feb. 29 (leap year day!) when Florida hosts Montreal and Miami is in Denver for an NBA Finals rematch.
Toronto fans should take note of both the Heat and Panthers closing out their respective regular seasons at home against the Maples Leafs and Raptors.
The Heat’s schedule concludes with back-to-back home games against Toronto on Friday, April 12 and Sunday, April 14, and then the Panthers play their final regular season game at home against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, April 16.
As for other Panthers home game conflicts with their South Florida sports neighbors, the Cats host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, Oct. 21, the same day the Miami Hurricanes football team host the Clemson Tigers at Hard Rock Stadium.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami also have a home game on Oct. 21, welcoming Charlotte FC to DRV PNK Stadium for the final match of the regular season.
The following Saturday, Oct. 28., the Panthers host the Seattle Kraken while the Hurricanes host the Virginia Cavaliers.
There are no home game conflicts with the Miami Dolphins.
If the Miami Marlins make it all the way to the World Series, the only potential conflict would be if they hosted Game 2, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28, when the Panthers will be hosting Seattle and the Hurricanes are home for Virginia. There could be other conflicts during the Marlins march to the series, though.