Passing a big road test
Heat make a statement, hand 76ers 1st home loss
PHILADELPHIA — This certainly is one convincing way to measure improvement: The last time the Miami Heat played the Philadelphia 76ers, they fell behind by 41 on the way to a 27-point loss.
This time? Among their impressive victories, particularly considering the circumstances.
Against a fully healthy 76ers roster, the
Heat, at the end of a three-game trip, overcame an early 12-point deficit for a dramatic 108-104 victory Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
With Kendrick Nunn scoring 26, Bam Adebayo 23, Duncan Robinson 15, Jimmy Butler 14 and Derrick Jones Jr. 13, the Heat this time stood up to the oversized 76ers, winning in the injury absences of Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow.
As a result, the Heat still have yet to lose consecutive games this season, stepping up after Monday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on the second stop of this three-game trip. It extended the Heat’s franchise record without consecutive losses to 28, with the previous mark the first 22 in 1997-98.
Five days after their 11-0 home start ended at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Heat handed the 76ers their first home loss. At 14-0, the 76ers had stood as the league’s final undefeated team at home.
It was a victory that further established the Heat’s resume, along with road victories over the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors and a home victory over the Houston Rockets.
The 76ers were led by the 22 points and 19 rebounds of center Joel Embiid. After scoring 32 on 11-of-15 shooting in his first
game against the Heat since being traded in the offseason for Jimmy Butler, former Heat guard Josh Richardson this time scored 17 on 6-of-17 shooting.
The Heat moved to a 16-point lead with 7:09 to play on a Nunn 3-pointer at the expiration of the shot clock.
The Heat’s lead still was in double digits when Richardson made a 3-pointer with 3:36 left to draw the 76ers within 99-91. Three Heat turnovers and another Richardson 3-pointer then got the 76ers within 101-97.
But with 67 seconds left, Jones restored order for the Heat with a 3-pointer for a 104-97 lead.
An Embiid putback and a steal off the Heat’s ensuing inbounds pass, the Heat’s 16th turnover, got the 76ers within 104-101 with 47.9 seconds left.
Butler then attacked Embiid, with Embiid called for a foul with 33.9 seconds left, 76ers coach Brett Brown challenging the call, with the challenge denied, cost Philadelphia its final timeout.
At 2 for 3 from the line to that stage, Butler made both for a 106-101 Heat lead.
A 3-pointer by Tobias Harris followed to draw the 76ers within 106-104.
That’s when Nunn was fouled and sent to the line with 12.7 seconds left, missing both. But that was followed by a wayward Al Horford 3-pointer that could have put the 76ers ahead.
Finally, with 1.5 seconds left, Adebayo drained a pair of free throws to close out the scoring.
Five degrees game: of
Heat from
Wednesday’s
1. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy: As could be expected, it again was a case of Butler overload and overkill as he made his second and final regular-season appearance where he spent most of last season.
Asked going in what he was expecting, Butler said told a Philadelphia reporter, “a basketball game.”
As for the jeers after leaving the 76ers in free agency, which were again robustly voiced Wednesday, he said, “Everybody wants to talk about some boos. It’s a basketball game.”
Butler spent eight months under contract to the 76ers, having been traded from the Timberwolves in November 2016. He now been under contract to the Heat for six.
“Pretty soon I’m going to be here longer than I was over there,” he said.
The game ended Butler’s run of nine consecutive games with 20 or more points.
2. Bam can: While his run of six consecutive double-doubles came to an end by a single rebound, Adebayo singlehandedly kept Heat afloat early, with 14 of the Heat’s first 29 points.
The Heat again tried to limit Adebayo’s fouls, opening with Meyers Leonard defensively on Embiid. Embiid opened defensively on Adebayo, but backed off, allowing Adebayo to utilize his jumper on the way to a 7-of-8 start from the field.
3. Zoning out: With Jones increasingly in the mix, the Heat have increasingly utilized zone defense, as they did for most of Wednesday’s second quarter, when they went from 12 down to their eight-point halftime lead.
Jones missed the morning shootaround due to a migraine, saying that light and noise still were issues. He also said that he has no trouble dunking with his eyes closed to alleviate the strobe glare, so there’s that.
4. Winning call: The Heat took their eightpoint lead into the fourth quarter after a successful Erik Spoelstra coach’s challenge with six-tenths of a second left in the third. tries to shoot in the final
On the play in question, Jones scored on a putback off an offensive rebound of a Nunn miss.
The play initially was called offensive interference, with Spoelstra then signaling for the challenge, which was upheld, returning the timeout to the Heat, but also eliminating the opportunity for another challenge.
5. And now, an exhale: After playing four games over a six-day span, the Heat play their next two (Friday against the visiting Knicks; Monday against the visiting Jazz) over an eight-day span.
It is a rest that will be embraced by a team that has played shorthanded most of the season.
“We have a great opportunity to get some rest and get some guys back right after this game,” Spoelstra said.