The Sixers and Heat will tip off Game 1 of their second-round series on Monday in Miami. Both teams are coming off wins against talented teams, the Raptors and the Hawks, and the clubs will meet in the postseason for the third time in the last 11 years.
Miami finished as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season at 53-29. Meanwhile, Philadelphia ranked fourth in the East at 51-31 and went 14-7 in the games James Harden played. Both clubs should be considered legitimate title contenders.
However, both teams are currently dealing with injuries. The Sixers will be without Joel Embiid (mild concussion and orbital fracture), though he could return later in the series. Miami has several players who are listed as questionable for Game 1 (including Jimmy Butler) and won’t have starting point guard Kyle Lowry to open the series due to a hamstring strain.
When examining the rosters, Philadelphia has the edge with its starting lineup at full strength. Tyrese Maxey, Harden, Tobias Harris and Embiid combined to score 84.3 points per game in the team’s first-round series. The next-highest scorer was Danny Green (9.0 points), who started every game. Teams have also struggled to keep Harden and Embiid off the line. They combined to attempt 17 free throws per game in round one.
Miami’s strengths lie in its defense and depth. The team effectively took Trae Young out of its first-round series, forcing Young to average 15.4 points and 6.2 turnovers per game on 32% shooting. The Heat held Atlanta to an average of 97.4 points across five games and took advantage of its elite bench, receiving 23 points from Victor Oladipo to close the series. Oladipo played alongside Tyler Herro, the front-runner for Sixth Man of the Year.
Which team will win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals? We want to know what you think. Vote in our poll, then head to the comments section and weigh in with your thoughts!
Go Sixers…
Sixers in 7
Sixers in 6
Embiid is the anti Simmons isn’t he? Dude will play through anything now.
Sixers in 8
As a Heat fan, I have spent years specifically wanting to avoid Philly, besides maybe 1 of those years where they ended up not facing them. 1 of the 3 teams I just did not want to see in these playoffs, including Cleveland and Toronto…it is going to come down to who plays for Philly/if Doc Rivers messes up again, and whether or not Harden gets his usual bail out calls. He doesnt typically get them in the playoffs, but he did last year, so we’ll see how that goes. Heat usually guard him well, but if certain people play for Philly, it might make it more difficult with a more open floor, without Embiid. Obviously Embiid is a tougher matchup for the Heat, but I think it presents other issues. If Embiid plays eventually, we could see Yurtseven, as he looked pretty decent against him earlier in the season
Gabe Vincent has had his best games against Philly, and he didnt play in the games the Heat lost to them, but I dont necessarily put top lunch into that. The Heat need Lowry against their guards. Also, ultimately the Heat need to knock down shots in this series. I think Danny Green, Niang, Isaiah Joe/Korkmaz, and Paul Reed/Millsap, as well as Tobias Harris are really important in this series for Philly. I feel like those are guys that are potential matchup issues.
I think this will either be a long series or there will be multiple extremely close games that may go 1 way to make it shorter than it probably should be
I’m also begging the Heat to be healthy 1 time in the last 8 years. The only time they were even relatively healthy they made the Finals, before the whole team got hurt in that series too, but obviously health is just a crapshoot at this point in the season for everyone
This won’t be a walk in the park for the HEAT.
No Embiid means more movement, more freelancing from Harden & Maxey, more shots for open shooters for the SIXERS – Green is still reliable from the corners, Niang & especially Milton can get hot fast.
Besides, HEAT are a small team. I expect this to be series to be as competitive as can be, still HEAT in 6.
How do you feel about still starting Strus over Duncan Robinson in this series? I think it’s better to go back in this matchup
Strus has solidified his starting spot over Duncan, clearly because of better defense and better shooting.
Duncan has been shaky all season. Not to brag, but I had a feeling that this will be the case once he signed that new contract, seems to be a common story these days e.g. Bertans
That’s not to say that Duncan made no improvements in defense, he has actually – but at this point, it’s a bad combination of still using his arms (much like CELTICS’ Theis), being targeted by opposing players and his reputation, the refs just don’t give him and Tyler any breaks on the defensive end.
Besides, Strus is on a good streak, Spo is right to ride this streak until something drastic happens.
Ya I’m just saying matchup wise, I’m not sure about it. I also feel like Strus would be more valuable off the bench against them than Duncan would be, so I think switching it back for this series would better use both of them, which they really need in this matchup
Also, I feel like that’s the narrative on him, but not what actually happened outside of the first 12-23 games of the season, and a tiny stretch at the very end. Otherwise his numbers are right where they always are, and he has improved in every other area, besides getting called for really ridiculous fouls as you mentioned
Duncan is completely flat-footed, but has improved on his lateral movement. The thing is, he has this nasty habit of sticking out his arms when defending, which makes it that much easier for the refs to blow the whistle ALL the time.
He and Tyler just don’t get any breaks from the refs. It’s a foul every time.
I’m not sure if Spo had ever spoken out on this. If not, he should.
Ya I know exactly what you’re talking about…I essentially think a bench unit of Oladipo, Strus, Martin, Herro is better than replacing Strus with Duncan Robinson there in this matchup, at least while Lowry is still out as well.
Spo gave Duncan more than enough leeway to pick up his shooting, it’s been erratic at best. Opposing teams hunting him more at match-ups didn’t help either – you can see games wherein PJ would shout at Duncan for bringing out those arms the last second or he had poor rebounding position.
Strus is on a nice streak on both ends of the court, Spo will ride him til necessary.
Vincent has been doing a decent job when Lowry’s out, though the HEAT would want Lowry back and healthy if it makes the East Finals or the NBA Finals.
Lakers in 5…. Iverson will steal a game for Philly
Such a shame that Boston are playing Milwaukee in the semis, that should be a conference finals matchup.
It matters not who wins this series – they lose to the winner of Celtics/Bucks.
Heat in six. Embiid or not, it doesn’t matter
Sixers had no problem handling the Heat without Embiid OR Harden in their last game
With Embiid out its gonna really open up under the basket. 76ers must play fast and limit turnovers to keep pace and keep score close. Heat have a much better bench. With both teams having injuries this could go 6 or 7 and either way. Maxey must shine for Philly to have a chance.
I changed to Miami bc they seem happier, and also Embiid’s problems. Tucker did well covering Trae Young… Maxey too?— hard to believe.
Trae is not as fast as Maxey- Tucker better get his roller skates on!
It will be a SWEEP. Maybe 5 so that the league can make more money.
Heat finished regular season only 2 games better than 76ers. I think this was always destined to be a great matchup. Lowery & Embiid’s injuries are bad timing. I would really liked to have seen them both at full strength.
Embiid about to become a french player ?