3 biggest takeaways for Sixers following critical loss to Heat

MIAMI -- The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Miami Heat on Monday looking to lock down another important win. In the midst of a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference, every game is important down the stretch of the season, but they came up short 119-109 as the Heat took the tiebreaker away from Philadelphia. Joel Embiid had 26 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for Philadelphia.

Tyrese Maxey had 23 points, nine assists, Paul George had 19 points and seven rebounds, and VJ Edgecombe had 13 and four assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 11 points and 11 rebounds while Quentin Grimes had 11 points.

Here are the three biggest takeaways after the loss on the road: George left on the sidelines The Sixers subbed Edgecombe in for George at the 7:24 mark of the fourth quarter and the 9-time All-Star did not return until the 1:35 mark. It's not like the Sixers didn't plan on having him return sooner. He was sitting at the scorer's table for quite some time, but he was unable to get in the game as there was not a dead ball situation for him to check back into the game.

The Heat then used a big surge late to take a 111-107 lead before George could return and it ultimately led to a Miami win. Coach Nick Nurse had timeouts, but he wanted to save them for the end of the game. "We were trying to get him in, obviously," Nurse explained after the loss.