NBA Matchups: May 2

Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat

Team totals: 76ers 100.5, Heat 108

Injury report: Joel Embiid (O, concussion), Kyle Lowry (O, hamstring), Jimmy Butler (Q, knee), Tyler Herro (Q, illness), Max Strus (Q, hamstring), Charles Bassey (Q, shoulder)

76ers projected starters: Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Paul Reed

Heat projected starters: Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Bam Adebayo

Offensive ranks: 76ers 13th, Heat 11th (76ers 5th in halfcourt, Heat 11th)

Defensive ranks: 76ers 11th, Heat 4th (76ers 7th in halfcourt, Heat 5th)

Season series: 2-2

Noteworthy missed games: Joel Embiid (1 missed), Matisse Thybulle (1), James Harden (no games vs. Heat), Bam Adebayo (2), Tyler Herro (1), Kyle Lowry (1), Jimmy Butler (1)

Rivers quotes: Said the center minutes will be by committee and they may need all four backup center options (Reed, Jordan, Millsap, Bassey), said Paul Reed was terrific in Game 6 after they tweaked him to play some minutes with the starters, said the 76ers will need “great rollers” in this series against the Heat, said he expects Harris to guard Lowry, Butler, and Adebayo, said their zone coverages are going to get hurt without Embiid.

Spoelstra quotes: Said Victor Oladipo really stepped up when they needed him, said he wanted everyone living in the training room to get healthy for this series, said their development of young guys is fueled by the veterans leading/coaching, said he liked how ‘Dipo popped in the rotation for Jimmy’s spot.

Stats and Notes: 

*On the Philly side, we can pretty much throw out most of the notes/stats above (what a waste of time!) with Joel Embiid set to miss the first two games of this series. As much as we’ve poked fun at low-end centers ripping off big stat lines against Embiid, their defense undoubtedly takes a hit here and they just don’t have any reliable depth at center.

*Miami’s defense gets such a massive advantage here. They switch as much as anyone in the league (except maybe Boston), and now they don’t have to worry about a smaller guy switching onto Embiid. They can really stick to their defensive principles, and now Miami may not have to go bigger against ball-handlers. Although, losing Kyle Lowry is a small loss because he’s so good at guarding bigger guys, which would’ve helped in switches against Tobias Harris.