SUNS ECLIPSE DONCIC HEROICS; SUPER HERRO FIRES UP HEAT
MIAMI—The Miami Heat exploited the absence of Joel Embiid to rout the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday in the NBA playoffs, but the spotlight was taken away by Deandre Ayton, who scored 25 points as the top seeds Phoenix Suns overpowered Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
Doncic led the scoring with a game-high 45 points but it was not enough to stop Phoenix claiming a wire-to-wire 121114 victory in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series opener.
Ayton shot 12-of20 from the field for Phoenix while Devin Booker added offensive thrust with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Chris Paul chipped in with 19 points and Cameron Johnson added 17 from the bench as six Suns players posted double-digit points totals.
Phoenix had sprinted out of the blocks to lead by 10 at the end of the first quarter and surged into a 69-56 lead at the interval.
They led by as much as 21 points in the final quarter before a furious late onslaught led by Doncic saw Dallas get to within five points in the closing seconds.
The Mavs rally ultimately fell short, however, leaving Phoenix 1-0 up ahead of Game 2 on Wednesday.
Tyler Herro scored 25 points from the bench as the Heat swept aside the depleted 76ers, 106-92, in their Eastern Conference series opener.
Herro led a balanced offensive effort as top seeds Miami pulled away after trailing at halftime to go 1-0 up in the best-of-seven semifinal series.
Philadelphia’s preparations were rocked on Friday after confirmation that star big man Embiid had suffered an orbital fracture and concussion in the Sixers’ first-round series-clincher against Toronto on Thursday.
“They’re a very good team even without Embiid,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We just were able to get organized in the second half. We did it with a little bit more thought and discipline, and just that extra effort ignited everyone on the team.”
Herro led the scoring for Miami despite starting on the bench, shooting 9-of-17 from the field including four three-pointers with seven assists.
“It’s always all hands on deck with us, next man up mentality no matter what,” Herro said of his contribution. “We just had to find a way to keep the offense going and guys stepped up defensively. We just want to keep playing well and keep things going.”