Heat deliver rugged lesson about playoff reality
PHILADELPHIA » The 76ers rolled into the playoffs and extended a winning streak to 17, swishing 3-pointers as if by magic, blindly tipping in rebounds, watching the Miami Heat miss 41 shots.
Easy. That’s how it looked, one game into the postseason.
“Offensively,” Ben Simmons would conclude, before the next game, “we’re not really worried about scoring.” Easy. But that was the Sixers, and it had been for weeks. They were winning and, usually, winning at their leisure. They were up 41 on Milwaukee last week, in a game the Bucks needed for playoff-seeding purposes. And the Sixers celebrated it, too, their backup players high-stepping along the sideline, roaring in delight with every fortunate play.
By the time they thumped Miami by 27 in their playoff opener, the Sixers were convinced of their own excellence. There is a value to that. But there was something about the way Miami coach Erik Spoelstra buzzed onto and off of the postgame podium, politely answering what he had to answer, yet making certain to punctuate his appearance with one vital point.
“We have to go to work,” he said. “We have some work to do and our guys understand that. They don’t get two wins. They don’t get three wins for this. It’s one win.”
With that, there was one remaining mystery in the series: Did Miami have the energy to challenge the Sixers in Game 2, and, it would follow, re-write the theme of the series? Would the Heat play defense not from 15 feet, or from the three-point arc, but from the other baseline? Would it make adjustments and challenge shooters?
Would it show some pride?
The answer was in the Game 2 final score: Miami 113, Sixers 103.
“This game equals the NBA playoffs,” Brett Brown said afterward. “It’s a snapshot of what to expect when a team has the chance to go down, 2-0, if it doesn’t win.”
Not that they hadn’t earned the attitude, but the Sixers had begun to consider themselves whole. Brown, who long had been around NBA postseasons on Gregg Popovich’s bench, knew better, saying and repeating that it would all be much different than his young players might have expected. Matchups would change, he said. Game plans would be adjusted. Competitive spirits would be inflated.
That was what happened between Game 1 and Game 2. The Heat responded, making some subtle changes, including starting James Johnson on Ersan Ilyasova. And Dwyane Wade responded, showing what was left of his Hall of Fame form, shooting 11-for17 for 28 points.
“This,” Spoelstra said, “is a competitive series.”
And the Heat came to compete. Yet even with Miami’s additional defensive thrust, the Sixers were fine early. That was until they continued to try to prove how alert they were to move up in the last draft and make Markelle Fultz the top overall pick.
Though Fultz recovered late in the season to add some value to the winning streak, Brown had warned before Game 1 that the rookie would be challenged in the playoffs, characterizing them as a “professor” capable of giving any rookie an education.
With the Sixers frolicking in Game 1, connecting on 18 of their 28 three-point attempts, almost anything could have been camouflaged. That included the play of Fultz, who was 1-for-4 for five points and slowed the Sixers’ offense with his indecision and inefficient plunges into traffic.
Monday, though, he was unprepared for the new fury of the Heat, playing 3:12 in the first half and ably inviting Miami back into the game. By the time Fultz turned it over with 10:40 left in the half, Brown nearly pulled three muscles ordering Ben Simmons and T.J. McConnell into the game and pulling Fultz and Marco Belinelli. Fultz did not return.
“They were bending us backward,” Brown said. “And I went to him for that reason.”
So the Sixers didn’t extend a winning streak to 18. Few teams do. They were going to lose. But what they didn’t need was to lose because they suddenly looked unprepared for the moment. The Sixers were beaten by a more seasoned team that was a little desperate.
The Sixers’ bodies were beaten, and so were their newer beliefs.
“We will learn more than we did in the regular season,” Brown said, “and in real time.”
The Sixers learned that Fultz is not ready for postseason fury.
They learned that they need Joel Embiid back, and they need him back soon.
They learned that offense is something they should be concerned about, that they are not going to shoot 64.3 percent from the arc every game, and that some night they might just shoot 7-for-35.
They learned that the Heat did have something remaining.
“It’s not easy,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not supposed to be easy in the playoffs.” The Heat knew that. The Sixers either have found that out, too, or they soon will wish they did.
Contact Jack McCaffery@jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @JackMcCaffery.