ALL HEAT IN GAME 1
Tyler Herro had spent the last few days dealing with an upper-respiratory bug that disrupted his routine. So he arrived at Miami’s arena early Monday morning, 10 hours before game time, to get some shots up and restore his rhythm.
It worked.
And the Heat struck first against the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers.
Herro scored 25 points — the second most he’d ever had in a playoff game — while Bam Adebayo finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the top-seeded Heat ran away in the second half to beat the fourthseeded 76ers 106-92 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup.
Herro was 4 for 6 from 3point range; everyone else in the game shot a combined 11 for 64 from deep.
“He’s a worker,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s relentless.”
The 76ers were without Joel Embiid, the MVP finalist who isn’t even in Miami while recovering from an orbital fracture and concussion — injuries suffered in Philadelphia’s first-roundclinching win at Toronto. He’s not expected to play in Game 2.
And as would be expected, he was missed. Except by Adebayo, who barely missed anything. He was 8 for 10 from the floor, 8 for 8 from the line.
“I feel like I was just making plays,” Adebayo said.
Jimmy Butler added 15 points for the top-seeded Heat, who got 10 from Gabe Vincent and P.J. Tucker.
Tobias Harris scored 27 points for Philadelphia, which got 19 from Tyrese Maxey and 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists from James Harden.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Miami.
“I didn’t like how we
moved the ball,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought we passed late tonight. I thought the physicality affected us tonight and that had an impact. There were too many times, we’d take the extra dribble and by the time we passed it they got there.”
Suns 121, Mavericks 114: Deandre Ayton scored 25 points, Devin Booker added 23 and top-seeded Phoenix rolled over visiting Dallas in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Suns never trailed, jumping to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes and rarely let off the gas. They shot 50.5
percent from the field, won the rebounding edge 51-36 and beat the Mavericks for the 10th straight time, counting regular season games.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 45 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. It’s the first time Dallas has advanced to the postseason’s second round in Doncic’s four-year NBA career.
Doncic and Maxi Kleber looked ready for the challenge but the rest of the Mavs didn’t do much until it was too late. Kleber finished with 19 points.
Game 2 is on Wednesday in Phoenix.