Heat begin with a Bam to lead 2-0
Adebayo makes the most of Embiid’s absence as Miami cruise
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 a minute later.
Joel Embiid could complicate those plays — and the Miami Heat are heading north expecting that he will be waiting for them.
Adebayo scored 23 points, Butler had 22 points and 12 assists, and the Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-103 yesterday for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Tyrese Maxey scored 34 points for Philadelphia, who got 21 from Tobias Harris and 20 from James Harden.
“We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board,” Maxey said.
A 10-0 run in the fourth quarter 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 tomorrow in Philadelphia. And now, the Heat will hope history holds — and the 76ers will hope it doesn’t.
Miami have 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 have dropped the first two games of a matchup on 19 other occasions, never recovering to win the series.
The question going into tomorrow 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 been severely missed by the 76ers.
“We just don’t have a big man right now,” Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers lamented.
Adebayo surely isn’t complaining. He was eight for 10 from the field and eight for eight from the line in Game 1; he followed that up with a sevenfor-11 night from the floor yesterday.
But he said he’s preparing as if Embiid will play tomorrow. 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.”
Rivers, however, didn’t sound optimistic about the possibility of Embiid being ready. “He’s got so many steps to go through,” Rivers said. “I don’t think he’s cleared any of them right now.”
It wasn’t just the absence of Embiid that hurt Philadelphia. The 76ers were awful again from three-point range, shooting eight for 30 in Game 2. They’re now 14 for 64 from deep in the series.
“When it comes down to it, you’ve
We just don’t have a big man right now.
76ers coach Doc Rivers
got to make shots, especially when you’re on the road against a really good team,” Harden said. “It’s pretty simple.”
Danny Green was one for 10 from the field — the second time in his playoff career that he had that many attempts and shot that poorly in a postseason game. The other? A onefor-12 effort for San Antonio in 2013, also in Miami, the night the Heat won their third and most recent NBA title.
The Heat aren’t close to that yet. But they are two wins from the Eastern Conference finals.