With the second round of the playoffs underway, no series seems as complex as the matchup between the Sixers and the Heat. With Joel Embiid out for the first two games of the series, Miami took advantage of the short-handed Sixers. In Game 1, Miami was able to find success in the paint. With Deandre Jordan guarding him, Bam Adebayo dominated, ending with 24 points on 80% shooting along with 12 rebounds. Tyler Herro added 25 points and the Heat cruised to a 106-92 victory.
Game 2 seemed to be going mostly the same way as Game 1, except Miami was also finding success from three. The Heat shot 14/29 from three in this one, while the Sixers were 8/30 from three. At this point in the series, Philly was shooting 14/64 from three through two games. Without the presence of Embiid in the paint, Miami put more focus on their perimeter defense. While Tyrese Maxey ended with 34 points, it wasn’t enough for the Sixers to pull out the win. Adebayo had another good performance with 23 points and 9 boards, and Jimmy Butler ended with 22 points and 12 assists to put Miami up 2-0 in the series.
Game 3 saw the return of both Joel Embiid and Kyle Lowry to their respective teams. This is where the momentum for the series seemed to completely flip in Philly’s favor. Miami suddenly couldn’t convert from beyond the arc, and the Sixers started shooting lights out. Even with Butler’s 33 points, the rest of the Heat team couldn’t get their shots to fall. Behind a 21-point game from Danny Green and Joel Embiid’s 18 points and 11 rebounds, the Sixers took this game 99-79.
Miami needed to turn it around in Game 4 to steal a game on the road. Instead, they had a similar shooting performance from Game 3. Through these last two games, the Heat shot 14/65 from three. Butler had another outstanding performance with 40 points, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. However, it again wasn’t enough as other Heat players aside from Bam failed to convert most of their shots.
Despite a late push by the Heat, Philly came out with the win and tied up the series at 2-2. Lowry hasn’t appeared fully healthy, shooting 3/14 throughout the two games he’s appeared in. Duncan Robinson has played a total of 1 minute in the entire series, even with Miami’s shooting issues. The Heat will need to figure out their offense before this series gets out of hand.
