Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Out of gas in Philly, again
Short-handed Heat fade down the stretch against 76ers
The Heatles? Now that was a thing, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh leading the Miami Heat to four NBA Finals and two championships at the start of last decade. The Eightles? Not so much. Down to the NBA roster minimum for the second time in as many games due to pandemic protocols, the Heat this time found themselves unable to sustain the good fight.
Not when the opposition was bolstered by contributors returning from those protocols.
So make it a 4-6 start to the season for the Heat after Thursday night’s 125-108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
“Our young guys will bounce back,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We have a very talented young group of players.
“We just need to get home, get healthy and get ready for the next one.”
Again with only eight players, the Heat lacked the depth to match the effort of Tuesday’s overtime loss to the 76ers.
That was particularly evident with Philadelphia regaining the services of Tobias Harris, Shake Milton and Matisse Thybulle for the first time in a week.
While Thursday’s loss ended the Heat’s trip, already back in South Florida were Bam Adebayo, Avery Bradley, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Maurice Harkless, Udonis Haslem, KZ Okpala and Kendrick Nunn.
In addition, Meyers Leonard again was out due to injury.
That left the Heat to mix and match with Precious Achiuwa, Tyler Herro, Andre Iguodala, Kelly Olynyk, Duncan Robinson, Chris Silva, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.
By halftime, the deficit was 15. After three quarters, it was 20.
“We didn’t do enough good things defensively to keep the game close, and you have to credit Philly,” Spoelstra said.
Robinson led the Heat with 22 points, with Vincent adding 21 and Herro 17.
There also was Achiuwa closing with his second consecutive double-double, the first two of his rookie season, with 10 points and 11 rebounds, as well as eight assists apiece from Iguodala and Vincent.
Ben Simmons closed with a 10-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double for the 76ers, with Milton scoring 31 and Harris 18.
Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday’s game:
1. Signs of hope: The next marker in the Heat’s hope of restoration could come with Friday’s 5:30 p.m. NBA injury report, when the team is required to update the roster status for Saturday’s 8 p.m. game against the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena, the first of consecutive home games against Detroit.
Players sidelined through contact tracing can return within a week, which could have the majority of those sidelined back for Saturday.
Those testing positive likely face a two-week absence, which could be the case with Bradley.
Spoelstra said uncertainly remains with how the roster might shake out for Saturday.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said. “I really don’t at this time.”
2. Herro ends ailing: If nothing else, the Heat at least provided entertainment in the form of the early play of Herro, whose 17 first-half points included a triple-pump, duck-in basket in the first quarter and then a step-back 3-pointer in transition in the second period.
Herro was 7 of 12 from the field in the first half, which ended with the Heat down 73-58. He scored 11 in the second period.
But that also is when Simmons upped the defensive ante against Herro, applying the clamps in what proved to be a scoreless, 0-for-4 third period for Herro, his only action in the second half.
Herro sat out the fourth quarter with back spasms.
“It’s nothing major,” he said. “Just something I’ve been dealing with throughout the week. It just tightened up on me throughout the course of the game.”
Of Herro drawing Simmons’ attention, Spoelstra said. “Great compliment, because Ben Simmons is one of the best defenders in this league, and that was borne out of Tyler playing really well the previous game, but also in the first half.”
3. Passing fancy: By the midpoint of the second period, Iguodala had passed both Doc Rivers and Nate McMillan for 67th place on the NBA’s all-time assist list.
Working most of the first half at point guard, Iguodala went into the intermission with seven assists, after averaging two over his first eight appearances.
Iguodala set his previous season high with seven assists in Tuesday’s loss to the 76ers.
“He can play any position on the court,” Spoelstra said.
“He has already done that for us. He’s played the five, the four, the three. And then when we’ve had so many guys out, plug him in without any thought and literally just play him at point guard. But he’s a world champion for a reason.”
4. Plan B: The Heat drafted Achiuwa out of Memphis at No. 20 in November’s draft, one selection of guard Tyrese Maxey, who was taken out of Kentucky at No. 21.
Maxey closed Thursday’s first quarter with 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting, helping the 76ers take a 38-30 lead into the second period, after closing the first quarter on a 14-1 run. Maxey finished with 15 points.
As for Achiuwa, he wound up outscoring Joel Embiid 10-9 and outrebounding him 11-5, albeit with Achiuwa playing four more minutes.
“The more games that I play, the more comfortable I get with the system and players,” he said. “It’s just a continuous process.”
5. Vincent again: Vincent again showed promise beyond his two-way status, running the offense for the starting unit and showing an NBA-level 3-point stroke, in going 4 of 11 from beyond the arc.
“I think these minutes, while they came in an unfortunate circumstance, were huge for me,” he said. “One thing I needed to do was just get some experience, playing.”