Heat defeat 76ers, take 2-0 series lead
MIAMI – Bam Adebayo caught a lob for an alley-oop dunk midway through the fourth quarter, then threw a lob to Jimmy Butler for another dunk about a minute later.
Both were very easy.
Joel Embiid could complicate those plays going forward – and the Miami Heat are heading north expecting that he might be waiting for them.
Adebayo scored 23 points, Butler had 22 points and 12 assists, and the Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119103 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“It’s always nice to win,” Butler said. “We just did what we’re supposed to do at home.”
Victor Oladipo scored 19 points on his 30th birthday and Tyler Herro added 18 for the Heat, the East’s No. 1 seed. Oladipo had 10 of those points in the fourth quarter.
Tyrese Maxey scored 34 points for Philadelphia, which got 21 from Tobias Harris and 20 from James Harden.
“We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and try to figure it out,” Maxey said.
A 10-0 run in the fourth turned an eight-point Miami lead into an 18-point edge, sealing the win and ensuring the Heat would hold home court before the series shifts north. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.
And now, the Heat will hope history holds – and the 76ers will hope it doesn’t.
Miami has taken a 2-0 lead in 18 previous series, including the first round this season against Atlanta, and won the matchup every time. The 76ers’ franchise has dropped the first two games of a matchup on 19 other occasions, never recovering to win the series.
The question going into Friday will revolve around whether Embiid could be ready for Game 3. The league’s scoring champion and MVP finalist is recovering from an orbital fracture and concussion and has, not surprisingly, been big-time missed by the 76ers.
“We don’t have a big man right now,” Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers lamented.
Adebayo surely isn’t complaining. He was 8 for 10 from the field and 8 for 8 from the line in Game 1; he followed that up with a 7-for-11 night from the floor on Wednesday.
But he said he’s preparing as if Embiid will play Friday. And Butler, who is close with Embiid from their time together as teammates in Philadelphia, is hoping his MVP pick can play in the series.
“I want to compete against him,” Butler said. “I really do.”
It wasn’t just the absence of Embiid, though, that hurt Philadelphia. The 76ers were awful again from 3-point range, shooting 8 for 30 in Game 2. They’re now 14 for 64 from deep in the series.
“When it comes down to it, you’ve got to make shots, especially when you’re on the road against a really good team,” Harden said. “It’s pretty simple.”