In their first of two meetings this season, the Philadelphia 76ers (2-11) met Monday at the hands of the Miami Heat (6-7). Blown out of the water in the second half, the 76ers lost 106-89. Still, Tyrese Maxey remained out, but his teammate Joel Embiid added to the injury report an illness and was deemed doubtful for tonight’s game.

Meanwhile, Miami returned home Jimmy Butler after he sprained his ankle. Neither team was happy with its start to the season, and after not collecting a win, both teams were looking for a win in the opener. But only one of those played like it down the stretch. The highlights are from the 76ers, who went toe-to-toe with the Heat.

Embiid’s Return Not Enough Against Heat’s Second-Half Surge

The 76ers simply have to start getting into game-to-game habits of being a competitive squad without and with the big man. Fantastic it was that Embiid stepped onto the court — but it couldn’t end there. He had to have an impact and his teammates were going to have to step up where they needed to. It just didn’t happen after halftime.

Embiid simply wasn’t physical enough to fight for the ball, go up strong for a shot, or go for contested rebounds. The Heat exposed the Heat’s more extensive ground-bound and tipped-away entry passes to easy breakaway scores. Embiid was nearly too big for Bam Adebayo to slam on a pull-up from the elbow, and he wasn’t about to stop his momentum on the shot.

Embiid got himself a bunch of double-teams from the Heat, despite his limitations. He wasn’t the direct passer but kept the ball moving to good shots for his teammates. What’s his best pass of the night?

An accurate, over-the-head pass to Jared McCain … that was neither caught nor rewarded, but the 76ers got easy shots time and time again when the big fella was on the floor.

The 76ers would have opened up a lead if they hit their threes in the second quarter. Of course, that didn’t happen. Philly had no answer and once the Heat tested Embiid more — when he was even more fatigued — the Heat won.

Caleb Martin was getting revenge on his former team with good defense and timely buckets within the arc. His ineffectiveness hurt his current team’s loss at shooting the three and his reluctance to shoot in other spots. McCain was the only one who hit from deep; Paul George struggled. But bad shooting luck was hardly the only culprit in this game.

Otherwise, Embiid had an unremarkable game, playing some solid defense in the fourth quarter. For me, any game he plays is progress, but for this one to end in defeat, and for him to fade down the stretch with me was a little disappointing. As Embiid gets healthier, the level the 76ers must win at grows ever higher and increasingly unrealizable.

76ers’ Rookie Making Early Case for All-Star Consideration

76ers fans have been saved from making the team completely tune us out. As expected, he has kept rolling, scoring at least 23 points on no worse than 43 percent shooting from the field in four straight. He had only 20 points in this one but nailed 8-16 from the field.

But McCain turned those turnovers into a basket. Then he turned around and had eight points in the next couple of minutes or so. The 44th overall pick of the 2024 draft went at him on offense and he was guarded by Pelle Larsson.

McCain returned the favor and worked him to the paint for a slick bucket. And even though that meant leaving a former MVP wide open, the 76ers’ rookie knocked down five of his first six shots and the Heat’s defense responded accordingly.

Half the reason for how good and consistent McCain has been for a stretch of games that nearly half the season to their point is truly becoming unbelievable. Even without Embiid, he’s played stellar, a sign of competence that’s been rare from a sea of role players, even veterans, over the years. Of course, he doesn’t turn 21 years old until February.

That’s if he keeps this up, maybe it’s not crazy to throw him into All-Star considerations.

Heat Rally After Sluggish Start Against 76ers Despite Back-to-Back Fatigue

They were given a bad performance by their opponent, to begin with in this one. They didn’t make enough of it as they should have, and they paid for it.

The sloppy play continued for the Heat though, with four turnovers in less than 3 minutes of game time granting the 76ers easy buckets. At home, playing the second night of a dreaded back-to-back that was showing in the tiredness but giving up as much as 19 points to Phil. They weren’t playing badly. The Heat had closed the gap. The Spiders just weren’t making their shots, with six points in the final six minutes of the half.

Guerschon Yabusele actually didn’t play like a backup center against Andre Drummond and he wasn’t terrible. Even blocking a layup attempt from Butler, he just did what he needed to do down low. The duo of double-digit leads for most of the second quarter gives Philly the lead. Then, remembering that they are a menacing defensive bunch, at halftime the Heat clamped down on the 76ers to come out of the break.

Heat Dominate Third Quarter as 76ers Struggle Without Embiid

The 76ers got a little bit of relief when a dud from Duncan Robinson on a dunk attempt gave the 6ers a moment of comfort as the Heat poured the first one on with a 14-4 run. Later in the period, Miami pushed its biggest lead of the game, going to a McCain-and-bench lineup featuring Jeff Dowtin Jr., Eric Gordon, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Drummond. Yabusele got his first minutes of the game.

In a handful of minutes, George got off to a much better start in this game, matching the field goal total from his last, and this one had some juice in it early anyway. He couldn’t get many looks out there to start the second half, as Tyler Herro and his 16 in the third made the game’s script flip. In the third, that’s how many points Philly had as a team.

A 19-point lead means a lot less than it used to, in an NBA where the shooting variance can flip games in an instant. After all, that’s the way of Philly this year when they lose it’s not just that they do it but how. Very painful to watch them letting their foot slip off the gas and getting smoked in the third quarter. But they’ve yet to win a game with Embiid this season.

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Krishanu

My name is Krishanu Das the founder of the Sports Dribble.
I am Accountant by profession but a Sports Blogger by passion.
I am passionate about sharing my all knowledge and experiences of sports, with my readers and every sports enthusiast.

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