Heat step up with needed 119-109 victory over 76ers
MIAMI – For those insistent on postseason math, yes, the head-to-head season-series tiebreaker was at stake in this one. But for the Miami Heat this was about more than play-in math. This was about breaking out of a brutal late-season funk that included a road loss a night earlier to the NBA-worst Indiana Pacers.
So against the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, the Heat fought the good fight on Monday night at Kaseya Center, with only one win in their previous eight. And this time, enough fight was there, sparked by a pair of last 3-pointers from Tyler Herro, in what turned into a 119-109 desperately needed victory after losing seven of their previous eight. All but assured a fourth consecutive trip to the play-in round (they have clinched at least that much), the Heat showed the type of fight needed at that level of competition.
Herro led the Heat with 30 points, supported by 23 points and 14 from Bam Adebayo and 20 points from Pelle Larsson. Embiid led the 76ers with 26 points, with Maxey scoring 23 and George 19. Five degrees of Heat from Monday night’s game: — Game flow: The Heat went up 13 early and then took a 38-34 lead into the second period, with the 76ers pushing back to a 61-58 halftime edge.
The Heat shot 1 of 11 on 3-pointers in the second period, which contributed significantly to scoring only 20 in the quarter. From there, the Heat opened the third period on a 19-4 run, getting into the bonus early in the quarter. But after the Heat went up 15, the 76ers had their deficit down to 91-87 entering the fourth.
Later, it was tied 101-101 with 6:04 to play. The 76ers then went up six, before Herro, 1 of 8 on 3-pointers to that stage, converted two in a row for a 111-107 Heat. — Rotation alteration: With Norman Powell missing a second consecutive game due to an upper-respiratory illness, the Heat again opened with a lineup of Adebayo, Herro, Larsson, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell.