76ers vs. Heat instant breakdown: Philly beats Miami in critical win

The Philadelphia 76ers (38-30) faced the Miami Heat (37-31) in a game that was pivotal for playoff seeding. With Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler out for the third time for this matchup this season, the Sixers played some of their best Embiid-less basketball and held on to win, 98-91.

Let’s break down the latest Sixers-Heat clash.

76ers player notes:

Tyrese Maxey: 30 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 11-24 FG shooting

This was quite the opposite of his Christmas Day stinker. Maxey took no time to heat up in this one, torching the Miami defense with 17 points on 6-9 shooting in the opening period. His scoring didn’t remain that hot but his aggression and his comfort creating in the mid-range remained sizzling. He was also a pest on defense. His near-triple-double stat line speaks to his well-rounded, immense impact.

Heat player notes:

Bam Adebayo: 20 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 8-10 FG shooting

Adebayo was a force, simply put. On the boards, as a playmaker, as a one-on-one scorer, as a play finisher, he was tremendous. The big man even hit a pair of threes! His impact was diminished in the second half but, especially without his co-star, everything ran through him for Miami.

Game recap:

The 76ers needed to beat the Heat in order to prevent Miami from securing the head-to-head tiebreaker over them. Both teams settling into a seed range that could easily put them in the play-in make all-the-more important tiebreakers, though Miami has several other advantages over Philly. The Sixers’ best bet is simply to have a better record than their conference rival, though it doesn’t seem likely with Embiid still a ways away from returning.

Along with the respective faces of each team, Tobias Harris, Tyler Herro and Kevin Love were among the many players out for this game. Former Sixer Haywood Highsmith remained in Miami’s starting five while Philly once again rolled with Nico Batum in Harris’ spot.

1st half

Bamba started the game off on a nice foot, shooting the ball with confidence (though he did smoke an open layup after posting up a smaller defender) and swatting a layup attempt. He spoke earlier in the day about how starting can help him get a more natural feel for the game. The Heat’s ball movement was crisp, leading to several open shots, while Maxey gave Terry Rozier fits on defense, pressing the rim constantly. Miami moved the taller, longer Highsmith onto him but couldn’t stop him from getting into his pull-up shooting.

Adebayo, as either the scorer or passer, was responsible for all of the Heat’s first seven buckets. Maxey was similarly responsible for a lion’s share of the 76ers’ points, scoring 14 of their first 19 points. Cam Payne continued to give Philly some great minutes off the bench, allowing Maxey to get some off-ball looks. Simply having another on-ball scoring threat from the guard spot proved to be huge for the Sixers. It benefited their defense, too, by limiting Heat fast breaks.

The offensive rhythm slowed way down to start the second quarter, allowing the Heat to find gaps to exploit early in the shot clock. Nick Nurse surprisingly turned to KJ Martin as the backup center with the Sixers having not scored in over two minutes. The added agility and mobility did not overcome the lack of size and Miami tied it back up as Maxey checked back in. Philly remained very small with Payne and Lowry rounding out the lineup with Martin and Batum.

Adebayo’s size advantage over Martin was tough for the Sixers’ defense to overcome and Martin’s lack of on-ball skills on offense hurt them there, too, with dribble handoffs generating nothing. The Heat took the lead until the Sixers scored on a 5-on-4 fastbreak when Caleb Martin argued with and bumped a referee, earning himself a technical foul. In fairness, Lowry jarred the ball loose from him on a fast break and it looked like he got away with a foul.

More chaos ensued when Batum blocked a shot from behind and Lowry caught a long outlet pass from Maxey, hit a layup, got tripped up (by perhaps jumping in the direction of a player on the ground) and hit the deck. Adebayo’s size continued to torment the Sixers even with Bamba back in. His presence on the boards and on face-ups outside the paint were tough to deal with.

At the half, the Sixers led 51-49 after Maxey dimed up Kelly Oubre Jr. on a corner three before the buzzer.

2nd half

Lowry started the second half of his revenge tour against his former team by connecting with Bamba on an alley-oop. Maxey grew his lead of drawn goaltending calls with 19 after Adebayo was too late to get to one of his layups. The closest payer to him is Pascal Siakam with 11. The 76ers burst out of the third-quarter gates with a 12-2 run, taking their biggest lead of the game at 12 points.

The Sixers continued to cook, kicking the ball out to shooters (like Maxey in the corner courtesy of Oubre) and getting stops on defense (like when Maxey tipped a pass away for an open layup and helped shut down Rozier on a drive). No. 0 was excellent but the whole lineup was buzzing, pushing the lead up to a whopping 17 as the Heat managed two points in five minutes. Bamba even hit Oubre on the short roll for a dunk.

The Heat turned the pressure up with a full-court press, slowing the 76ers down immensely. Lowry dove over the scorer’s table trying to get an errant Maxey pass that the pressure forced and was able to stay in the game. The Sixers maintained a solid lead by getting the ball more into the hands of inferior scorers like Highsmith and Delon Wright. Batum’s efforts all night long to shut off Duncan Robinson’s off-ball scoring worked wonders. Paul Reed provided a solid stint in the third quarter as Philly led by 14.