Hot Wade leads Heat over Sixers
probably 10 or 15 categories, whether it’s closeouts, converting on defense, contesting shots, blocking out, pick and roll coverages, game plan situations,” Johnson said. “(Stackhouse) really embraced it.
“It’s a good metric in trying to hold your team accountable defensively.”
Offensively, Stackhouse’s G League team doesn’t play at a quick pace but his philosophy is otherwise attune with today’s NBA in that he prefers 3-pointers over midrange jumpers. It sounds like Stackhouse’s offense requires a ball handler who can break down the defense, and who can then find an open Kristaps Porzingis, for instance, either on the perimeter or around the basket.
The Knicks last season led the NBA in midrange jumpers, the game’s least efficient shot. Although he was deadly from midrange in his heyday, Stackhouse preaches a different philosophy.
“I probably wouldn’t like my game as a coach,” he said. “Midrange 2s – I tell guys, alright if it’s against the shot clock and the guy runs you off and you got to take a one-dribble pull-up, okay, do it.
“But otherwise, let’s try to get into the paint and find another trigger and find something else on the weakside. Or just sidestep the defender and take the 3.”
Stackhouse would become the first person to jump directly from the G League to a head coaching position.
“I think that says a lot about him not wanting to get the microwave effect, that he wants to sit down and learn and get on the bus and fly commercial on a bunch of smaller jets and pay his dues and prove to the world that he doesn’t want any royal treatment,” Johnson said. “That he’s willing to do whatever he has to do to reach his goal. I think that’ll speak to a lot of young players that you’re probably going to have on teams like this that are lottery teams that you have to develop discipline and encourage them to play their maximum potential. He’ll be able to speak on a lot of different levels because of his vast amount of experience.”
— with Frank Isola PHILADELPHIA — Dwyane Wade snuffed out one 76ers’ rally by popping a 16-foot fadeaway with the shot clock ticking down. Wade made a halfhearted attempt at reaching his hand out toward a fallen defender before he scooted on his way. Wade was up, the Sixers were down and suddenly, a series. The Heat had to have this one — a brooding Joel Embiid is angling for a comeback. Wade turned in a vintage performance, scoring 28 points to end the 76ers’ 17-game winning streak and lead the Miami Heat to a 113-103 Game 2 win over Philadelphia on Monday night and even the first-round playoff series. “It’s just in my DNA,” Wade said. “I love the stage.” The 36-year-old flashed the form of a three-time NBA champion with the Heat, not the journeyman who bounced around the last two seasons with forgettable stints in Chicago and Cleveland. Wade made 11 of 17 shots and put on a show in the second quarter and put it away in the fourth. “I saw moments,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s what defines Dwyane Wade.” The 76ers could soon get their defining Process moment from Embiid. The Sixers sorely needed Embiid, their All-Star center out with a broken orbital bone, to settle them as they fell in a quick a 16-point hole. The Sixers lost for the first time since March 13 to Indiana. They won 16 straight to end the regular season and the first game of the playoffs and played their 10th straight game without Embiid. “You need Joel Embiid,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said.
Embiid went on Instagram after the game and wrote, “sick and tired of being babied.”
Pack the black mask for Miami. “Joel is a superstar. Of course we’re missing him offensively, defensively,” Sixers forward Dario Saric said. “He’s a guy who wants to play all the time. I can’t wait for Joel to come back and help us because we’re a better team with him.”
Even without Embiid, the Sixers trimmed the lead to two points late in the fourth. Philly fans were going wild and suddenly the home-court edge that had made the Sixers unbeatable for a month seemed like it would perk the team back up for one more notch on the winning streak. Not so fast. Ersan Ilyasova made a tip shot to close to 98-96 but Wade answered and stripped Saric and finished on the other end with a basket that steadied the Heat. The series shifts to Miami for Game 3 on Thursday.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points and Klay Thompson added 31 as the host Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs, 116-101, to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 34 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs. Game 3 is Thursday night in San Antonio.
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has a left foot bruise and his status is uncertain for Game 2 of the Western Conference playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Mitchell left Oklahoma City’s 116-108 Game 1 win on Sunday after stubbing his toe in the third quarter, and he played sporadically the rest of the way. A team spokesman said Mitchell had an MRI on Monday, and the team will provide a status update on Tuesday. When asked if he was concerned about missing Game 2 on Wednesday, Mitchell said, “Not at all.”
“I can walk,” he said. “I think tomorrow will be the deciding factor, but I feel fine. I feel fine right now.”
Mitchell is one of the league’s top rookies. He averaged 20.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists during the regular season. He had 27 points and 10 rebounds in Game 1. — AP