It was as if an entire new sequence opened Friday evening.
The Miami Heat are actually hoping that doesn’t proceed to show the case.
With Joel Embiid again for the Philadelphia 76ers and Kyle Lowry for the Miami Heat, the groups’ best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal sequence took a flip towards one thing grittier.
After romping to a 2-0 sequence lead, stress and questions have entered the equation for the Heat with a 99-79 loss at Wells Fargo Center.
Jimmy Butler proved as much as the 76ers’ pushback, with 33 factors, however discovered little in assist, no teammate with greater than 14 on an evening the Heat shot .351 from the sphere and seven of 30 on 3-pointers.
“At the end of the day, defensively, that’s what you hope to expect on the road,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra stated. “Offensively, we were just very poor.”
This time the boards belonged to the 76ers, who provided the kind of muscle coach Doc Rivers had implored within the sequence’ first two video games, muscle Embiid supplied in Game 3.
Embiid, who had missed the sequence’ first two video games attributable to a concussion and orbital fracture, arrived masked and motivated, closing with 18 factors and 11 rebounds.
“You add Jo to any team, home or away,” Butler stated, “the sport, the scouting report, it adjustments drastically.
“But that’s not the reason we lost. We didn’t get back, stop the ball, we fouled.”
Embiid was supported by 21 factors from Danny Green, 21 from Tyrese Maxey and 17 from James Harden.
Beyond Butler, there was little of substance for the Heat, with Lowry scoreless on 0-for-4 taking pictures, after lacking the earlier two weeks attributable to a hamstring pressure.
“I had one good day of working out, kind of a half day,” Lowry stated. “I just got to find a rhythm. I did not expect to be amazing today. I did not expect to get zero points.”
So make it 2-1 Heat, with Game 4 at 8 p.m. Sunday again on the 76ers’ court docket, earlier than shifting to what now’s a required Game 5 Tuesday evening at FTX Arena.
“Our offense,” energy ahead P.J. Tucker stated, “was bad tonight.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s sport:
1. Closing time: The Heat trailed by 4 on the finish of the primary quarter and 7 at halftime. But from 14 down earlier, they then tied it halfway via the third quarter, earlier than going into the fourth down 68-65.
The 76ers then scored the primary seven factors of the fourth to go up 75-65, shifting into the bonus with 9:21 to play, after 4 early Heat fouls within the interval.
Later, Green’s seventh 3-pointer pushed the 76ers to an 89-76 lead, successfully ending it. Green closed 7 of 9 from past the arc, a part of the 76ers’ 16 of 33.
“He’s a great shooter,” Spoelstra stated of Green. “He did get some good looks early. And that can always change the complexion of things for a shooter.”
2. Butler time: The Heat not solely had a 13-0 run within the third quarter, however at one stage of the interval Butler accounted for 13 consecutive Heat factors, scoring 10 and helping on a 3-pointer.
“Jimmy’s the only one that got it going,” Tucker stated.
After an uneven begin, Butler performed in assault mode each on offense and on the glass, having settled for 4 3-point makes an attempt earlier (he then made his fifth try).
It was just like his scoring binges within the first spherical in opposition to the Hawks, this time with 14 third-period factors.
Butler’s effort pushed him previous Goran Dragic for eighth place on the Heat’s all-time playoff scoring record, his evening additionally together with 9 rebounds.
“I got to find a way to get everybody else involved,” he stated.
3. Rough begin: The Heat opened 3 of 16 from the sphere, 1 of 6 on 3-pointers and a couple of of 6 from the road, ending the opening interval down 21-17.
Tyler Herro (3 of 5) was the lone Heat participant to make a couple of shot within the first quarter. It took till 7:46 remained within the second interval for Victor Oladipo to affix Herro as the one Heat gamers to make a couple of shot.
The Heat trailed 41-34 at halftime, with the 34 factors the fewest scored by the Heat in a playoff first half since 2010.
“We did not really work possessions,” Spoelstra stated. “We had a whole lot of one-pass, zero-pass fast pictures that type of fed into their momentum.
“I just don’t think we got to the necessary layers of our offense.”
4. Both again at it: Embiid performed the primary 10:26, as much as seven factors and 4 rebounds at that stage.
The Heat had been 3 of 11 from the sphere within the first half when Embiid was the first defender. Then once more, that wasn’t a lot worse than their general .326 within the first half.
“They got Jo back,” Tucker stated. “You know they’re going to be more aggressive.”
Embiid’s influence might need been most telling in opposition to Heat middle Bam Adebayo, who was restricted to 9 factors on 2-of-9 taking pictures and 5 rebounds.
Lowry, in contrast, eased his means again in, the 2 weeks off his toes but to have him in control.
In addition to going scoreless, he had 4 rebounds and three assists in his 25 minutes.
“You’ve not going to have perfect set-ups or a perfect ramp up or all that,” Spoelstra stated. “But we need him. And he was able to get this game under his belt.”
5. New (outdated) norm: With Lowry again within the beginning lineup, it led to a shakeup of the Heat bench rotation.
Gabe Vincent, who had began the earlier 4 video games instead of Lowry, entered for Lowry with 5:56 left within the opening interval, with Herro additionally coming into through the first Heat set of substitutions. Vincent proved as ineffective as Lowry, scoreless in his 14:55.
Dewayne Dedmon then adopted, with Oladipo making it 9 deep.
That left Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson out of the rotation. Robinson didn’t play, with Martin enjoying solely the ultimate 2:05.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com