Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers
Team Totals: Heat 106.5, 76ers 103.5
Injury Report: Kyle Lowry (real Q, hamstring), Joel Embiid (maybe real O, concussion)
Heat projected starters: Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Bam Adebayo
76ers projected starters: James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Paul Reed (Doc can’t do it again, right?)
Spoelstra quotes: Said Oladipo’s presence is valuable against the Maxey and Harden combo, said they’ll continue to build on Oladipo, said Bam has more responsibilities than Lowry does.
Rivers quotes: Said he liked the shots they got but “it’s just tough” to go 8-of-30 from deep, said they need someone else who can put the ball on the floor with space and that’s why he went with Furkan Korkmaz, said Embiid still has so many steps to go through, said Matisse Thybulle looked like himself in Game 2.
Stats and Notes:
Note: The 76ers have Embiid listed as out, so I’m going to believe them here based on that and some of the reporting on it (will talk about it on the injury show).
*So many things are working against the 76ers here. They’re not getting anything on putbacks, they’re only getting 10 wide-open 3-pointers per game, and they’re at just an 85.3 O rating in the halfcourt. They’re also not getting enough 3-point volume, but they have been able to produce at the basket against a good Miami defense. Still, it’s not great for the Philly O with Embiid likely out. Miami’s offense has been pretty solid thanks to smashing on the glass with an outstanding 39.4 ORB% and 37.1 putback points per 100 misses. Miami is winning the wide-open 3-pointers battle at 13.5 per game, as well. The Miami starting lineup has smashed with a +32.8 net rating in 31 minutes while the Philly one has been roasted at -48.8. Wonder why?
There’s really not much to add here on the Miami side. Jimmy Butler was ultra efficient on his drives with 11 points on his 16 drives after two points on 17 drives in Game 1. Jimmy is going to see a lot of Tobias Harris again, but the 76ers may also have to go smaller to put some weaker defenders on Jimmy. I’d expect a pretty strong Jimmy game regardless of Lowry’s status.
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