The Miami Heat are looking to make noise once again in the playoffs, but they first have to be in it as they face the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night in the play-in tournament. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and star Caleb Martin spoke about facing the Eastern Conference rival, how superstar Joel Embiid changes the complexion of the game, and the key for victory.
For Martin, he was a standout and crucial to the Heat going on that miraculous run last season where they ended up in the NBA Finals. While he appreciates the experience that the playoff run gave him and the lessons he learned, he said to ClutchPoints that “the past is the past,” but hones in on what he took from his impressive showing and is looking to do against Philadelphia.
“Just be aggressive, the past is the past, nobody lives off that, what’s done is done. So nobody cares about that starting tomorrow, or starting to begin this year and nobody cares about that including myself,” Martin said. “Obviously it’s great to have that experience and to be able to take lessons from those from those past experience moving forward. It’s a new year, new opportunity to continue to show people that you rise in those occasions and I’m just happy I get to be in another environment like this in the postseason.”
Spoelstra on the difference Embiid makes for Philadelphia
The 76ers ended the season on very high note as besides having a dynamic scorer in Tyrese Maxey, they got back their featured player in Embiid who missed significant time this year. On the season, Embiid had averaged MVP-type number with 34.7 points, 11 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 52.9 percent from the field in 39 contests.
Miami knows Embiid well as the two teams have faced each other a ton of times, but only saw the 30-year old center once this season on April 4 where he scored 29 points in 33 minutes. Spoelstra spoke after Tuesday’s practice and talked about the obvious difference when the 76ers have Embiid on the court versus when they don’t.
“It’s a big difference. But you can’t expect it to be easy. I mean, they’re a good team, we’re a good team,” Spoelstra said. “You know, he can score all three levels and draw fouls, that’s a ton of pressure on your defense. Defensively he does really good job of protecting the paint, protecting the rim so we have to be intentional. But again, we are who we are at this point they are who we are as competitors and we’re looking forward to it.”
Spoelstra on how Embiid changes the Heat’s defense
It’s always an exciting matchup between Embiid and the Heat’s star big-man Bam Adebayo as he’s one of the best defenders in the league facing a dynamic offensive player. There’s no doubt it will be on display Wednesday as it could be the storyline that defines the contest as Spoelstra talks about how Embiid changes the way Miami plays defense.
“It pulls your defense in a different way. So you invert it, obviously. And if you’re not extending your defensive three point line with him, he’ll make you pay just he did in the first half, the last time we played him,” Spoelstra said. “But he can do it with all facets. So in a one game sample, he can do it in the post, from out there, in pick and rolls, pick and pops, all of that. It has to be our best, most formative version defensively in whatever game he’s bringing.”
If there is a certainty about Wednesday, the Heat have their hands full as they have to maintain Embiid and Maxey. In the result that Miami loses, they host the winner of the 9-10 seed matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks Friday.
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