- Heat center Dewayne Dedmon missed the team’s Game 4 against the Sixers on Sunday, as the team announced on social media. Dedmon was dealing with an illness, though he tested negative for COVID-19, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald tweets. Dedmon, the team’s backup center this season, has seen his production waver in recent months.
Heat starting power forward P.J. Tucker, now 37, has been his usual pesky self on the defensive end against the Sixers, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. It’s been a huge boon for Miami, which currently leads Philadelphia 2-1 in the teams’ second-round playoff series.
“P.J. does what he does,” Sixers starting small forward Danny Green said. “We don’t back down. But you’ve got to play smart. Don’t take any cheap stuff. Don’t give any cheap stuff. Be just as physical as they are. We’re going to check people, get into bodies. Let them know we’re here too. We’re here to win. It’s the type of basketball you want to see.”
Jackson noted that Tucker’s repertoire included a litany of hard screens and rugged on-ball defense. The veteran Tucker, who won a title with the Bucks last year, signed a two-year, $15MM contract with the Heat during the offseason. Should he so choose, Tucker could try to capitalize on his successful playoff performance thus far: he has a player option on the 2022/23 season.
There’s more out of South Beach:
- Heat Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro lit up the Sixers across Miami’s first two games in the series, both wins, scoring 43 points on 15-of-27 shooting. In response, the Sixers have opted to consistently trap the third-year guard, an issue for which Miami must now game-plan, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “That’s a sign of great respect, how important Tyler is to us,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of the new defensive attention.
- Miami’s $90MM man Duncan Robinson has fallen out of the club’s rotation with the ascension of Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Victor Oladipo on the Heat depth chart. The veteran forward is striving to handle the demotion with a positive attitude, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “It has been a challenge,” Robinson acknowledged. “But it comes with the territory. It’s part of being a professional.”
- With the return of starting Heat point guard Kyle Lowry into the lineup, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wonders if the moves of Oladipo and Vincent to the bench have hurt the reserves’ chemistry. Winderman postulates that Vincent may eventually feel the minutes squeeze as Lowry’s role increases.
Heat center Bam Adebayo dominated the first two games of the series against the Sixers, but Joel Embiid‘s return changed that, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. After averaging 23.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in Games 1 and 2, Adebayo put up nine points and three rebounds Friday night while shooting 2-of-9 from the field.
Embiid admitted being upset while watching Adebayo while he was sidelined with a concussion and a broken orbital bone and felt like he needed to make a statement in Game 3. Now it’s Adebayo’s turn to respond when the series resumes Sunday night.
“I still got to be aggressive,” Adebayo said after today’s practice. “That’s part of the game. You see different lineups, you see different personnel and then you’ve just got to adjust your attacks.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Poor team chemistry was among the things that sank the Wizards after a 10-3 start, but the organization believes it has already made moves to fix it, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Team president Tommy Sheppard thought the atmosphere in the locker room was better after Spencer Dinwiddie, Davis Bertans and Montrezl Harrell were moved at the trade deadline. More continuity next season could help, adds Hughes, who points out that Washington used a franchise-record 29 players this year and made significant roster changes twice in six months.
- Magic guard R.J. Hampton improved in some areas but regressed in others as he was asked to adapt to a new role this season, observes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. The addition of lottery pick Jalen Suggs and the late-season comeback by Markelle Fultz meant Hampton didn’t handle the ball as much as he did after Orlando acquired him in a trade midway through his rookie season. He also became less efficient in finishing at the rim, which caused his scoring average to fall to 7.6 PPG after averaging 11.2 PPG last year in 26 games with the Magic.
- The Hawks hosted six players in a draft workout Friday, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. On hand were San Francisco guard Jamaree Bouyea, Washington State big man Mouhamed Gueye and four wing players, Quenton Jackson of Texas A&M, Abu Kigab of Boise State, Kenneth Lofton Jr. of Louisiana Tech and Hunter Maldonado of Wyoming.
The Heat lost Game 3 at Philadelphia 99-79 due to a dreadful shooting performance and a strong fourth quarter from the Sixers, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami shot just 35% from the field and 23% from deep, and was outscored 31-14 in the fourth.
“We weren’t totally intentional where we were getting the ball and we paid the price for that,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Kyle Lowry struggled in his return from a strained hamstring, finishing with zero points, three assists and four fouls in 25 minutes, Jackson notes. Lowry had missed four straight playoff games during his two-week absence. He admitted he wasn’t full strength yet.
“I’m healthy as I can be right now,” Lowry said. “I had one good day of working out, kind of a half day. I just got to find a rhythm. I didn’t expect to be amazing tonight. [But] I didn’t expect to have zero points.”
Here’s more from Miami:
- Tyler Herro may desire a move to the starting lineup next season, but that might not be best for the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Herro is the team’s primary shot creator off the bench and plays starter minutes (tied for third in MPG with 32.6), so filling that void could be difficult. Victor Oladipo could theoretically slot into Herro’s place, but he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer and may desire a starting role himself, Winderman says.
- There are strong opinions regarding how Bam Adebayo should play, but his versatility is a strength, not a weakness, Winderman relays in another story. “We want Bam to be Bam,” Jimmy Butler said before Game 3. “And I think Spo says it all the time. And it’s funny to me, because like you’re kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If he’s being a playmaker, people are saying you want him to score more. If he’s scoring a lot, then you want him to be a playmaker.” After an awesome first two games against the Sixers, averaging 23.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.5 APG and 1.5 SPG while shooting 71.4% from the field and 89.5% from the line, Adebayo struggled in Game 3 upon Joel Embiid‘s return, recording nine points, three rebounds, three turnovers and five fouls on 2-of-9 shooting in 33 minutes.
- Backup center Dewayne Dedmon has seen his minutes reduced in the postseason due to both the Heat and opponents playing smaller lineups, but he’s ready to step in when his name is called, Winderman writes. “We’ve got crazy versatility on this team,” Dedmon said. “So being able to go small and match up with whatever lineup the other team might throw at us, that’s our talent.”
5:38: Embiid intends to return to action tonight, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Head coach Doc Rivers said Embiid might not play his normal amount of minutes due to conditioning, but he’ll be back for Game 3, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms (via Twitter).
10:54am: Sixers center Joel Embiid has cleared the NBA’s concussion protocol and is hoping to play in tonight’s Game 3 against the Heat, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Embiid participated in today’s shootaround, and although he is officially listed as out, his status could change before game time.
The team is currently optimistic that Embiid will be able to play, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Embiid is still dealing with a fractured orbital bone as well as a torn ligament in his right thumb. The team has prepared a mask that he will wear to protect his face if he’s able to resume playing.
Tonight’s game will tip off at 7:00 pm Eastern Time, so the Sixers have a few more hours to make a final determination on Embiid’s availability. If he’s not able to play, he’ll likely target a return in Game 4, which will take place Sunday night in Philadelphia.
After earning a spot as an MVP finalist during the regular season, Embiid continued to dominate in the first round against the Raptors, averaging 26.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per night in the six-game series. The Sixers will need him back on the court to overcome a 2-0 deficit against Miami.
5:33pm: Lowry is active and will start tonight, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
5:00pm: Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters, including Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel, that Kyle Lowry is nearing a return for Friday’s Game 3 against the Sixers.
“The intention is for him to warm up and play,” Spoelstra said.
The 36-year-old point guard has missed the team’s last four playoff games after suffering a strained left hamstring in Game 3 of Miami’s first-round matchup with Atlanta. Lowry had previously been listed as questionable, but barring any setbacks, it sounds like he should be available.
“Stylistically it will change things in the margins,” Spoelstra said of Lowry. “But obviously he’s a highly decorated, experienced, playoff-battle-tested guy. He’s the guy that all season long that we turned to get us organized, particularly in the moments of truth. You need as many guys that you can available during the playoffs, that goes without saying.”
Winderman adds that all of the other Heat players who were listed as questionable — Tyler Herro (ankle), P.J. Tucker (calf), Gabe Vincent (knee), Max Strus (hamstring), and Caleb Martin (ankle) — will be active on Friday.
Vincent had been starting in place of Lowry, and the team went 4-0 in his absence. If Lowry does play, he’s highly likely to return to the starting lineup, as he started all 63 of his regular season games, averaging 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.1 steals with a .440/.377/.851 shooting line.
The Bucks have confirmed that Khris Middleton will miss Games 3 and 4 of their series with the Celtics, but they’re not speculating about his availability beyond that, according to Steve Megargee of The Associated Press. A report last week indicated that Middleton was likely to be sidelined for the entire second-round series and could be in jeopardy for the conference finals.
“We feel really good about where he is,” coach Mike Budenholzer said after Thursday’s practice. “We continue to hope he makes progress.” Budenholzer responded, “We’ll see,” when asked if Middleton could possibly play against Boston.
Middleton suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee on April 20 during Game 2 of Milwaukee’s first-round playoff series against Chicago. An examination was set for this week to reevaluate his condition and determine when he might be able to return. He averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in two playoff games against the Bulls.
There’s more from Milwaukee:
- Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews have become the destructive defensive duo they talked about forming nearly five years ago, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. When Holiday was with the Pelicans and became a free agent in the summer of 2017, Matthews tried to convince him to join the Mavericks. However, New Orleans made Holiday a five-year, $150MM offer that was too good to pass up. “It was pretty close,” he said. “But I ended up staying with New Orleans. Money wins.”
- In an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Heat forward P.J. Tucker says he felt disrespected by the Bucks’ offer after helping the team win an NBA title last season. Tucker added that he loved playing in Milwaukee, but management wasn’t willing to risk going into luxury tax territory to keep him. “For me, it wasn’t even about money,” he said. “It was more about respect because they basically told me to go find an offer and they would match it. After hearing that for me, I’m not coming back even if I had to take less money. To me, that was disrespectful. So, as soon as they said that, I told my agent Andre [Buck], basically, ‘We are moving on, whatever we get out of that, that’s what we’re doing.’”
- George Hill is making progress toward returning from an abdominal injury, Nehm tweets. “He’s getting close. We’ll see how he responds to today,” Budenholzer said on Thursday. “He pretty much did all of practice and did some extra, a play group, afterwards. I think we just gotta see how he comes out of that.”
Joel Embiid is listed as out for Game 3 against the Heat on Friday but the availability of the Sixers All-Star center could change before game time, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
With Miami up 2-0 and the series shifting to Philadelphia, Embiid must be listed as out since he’s still in concussion protocols, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com tweets. Listing him as “out” does not necessarily mean he will be sidelined for Game 3, but it means he hasn’t cleared protocols yet, Neubeck explains.
NBA injury list rules would allow the Sixers to update his status over the course of the day on Friday, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets.
Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and mild concussion when he was struck by Pascal Siakam in the late going of Philadelphia’s first-round clincher against the Raptors. The Sixers have been encouraged by Embiid’s progress this week.
The Heat have listed six players as questionable for Game 3, the team’s PR department tweets. Kyle Lowry (hamstring), Tyler Herro (ankle), Caleb Martin (ankle), Max Strus (hamstring), P.J. Tucker (calf) and Gabe Vincent (knee) hold that designation but are all traveling to Philadelphia this afternoon. Lowry hasn’t played since Game 3 of the first-round series against Atlanta.
Heat forward P.J. Tucker has been tasked with guarding top players throughout his long career, and this year’s playoffs are no different. After hounding Trae Young in the first round, Tucker is now guarding former teammate James Harden, who has been contained by Miami through the first two games of their second-round matchup with the Sixers.
Despite the grueling physical toll that comes with covering great offensive players, Tucker says he feels like he’s still in the midst of his prime, as Marc J. Spears of Andscape relays in a lengthy interview with the veteran.
“I told [my agent] that I feel better now than I felt when I was 31 and 32. And he was like, ‘Yo, what?’ I feel like during those two or three years I hit my prime. I’m still in the middle of my prime,” Tucker said. “From my body to my mind, and the way I play the game and understanding how to win, to be a real winner, I feel like I’m hitting my prime, and it’s crazy, man, to be 36, about to be 37 [Tucker turns 37 on May 5] and still feel like that. It’s crazy.
“I’ve spent a ton of money on my body, therapists. I take care of my body and I have my whole career. So, that’s a blessing to still be able to be out there and play whatever amount of minutes and do what I do and [put] my body on the line nightly.”
Here’s more on the Heat/Sixers series:
- Kyle Lowry, who missed Game 2 after suffering a strained hamstring in Game 3 vs. Atlanta, is eager to return to action, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, but the Heat are being cautious with their starting point guard, leery of the possibility of him aggravating the injury. “We’re not basing any of these decisions on whether we’re winning or losing,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said on Tuesday after practice. “This is what we think is best right now.”
- After an inconsistent regular season and having his minutes gradually reduced in the first round, Heat guard Duncan Robinson has been out of Miami’s rotation completely in round two, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscriber link). “It literally can change next game. It’s a playoff rotation,” Spoelstra said of not playing Robinson on Monday. “He’s stable enough, he’s ready enough and it might just be some moments where he really can change a quarter or a game and just be ignitable. It’s just the way we went tonight.”
- Joel Embiid‘s status remains up in the air for Game 3, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. When asked if Embiid could play on Friday, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said he was uncertain. “He’s got so many steps to go through. I don’t think he’s cleared any of them,” Rivers said after Game 2’s loss on Wednesday. Embiid is expected to be reevaluated on Thursday.
- Sixers forward Georges Niang fouled out in just ten minutes of action in Game 2’s 119-103 loss and he’s apparently been limited by a knee injury. “(Niang) hasn’t been 100 percent for awhile,” Rivers said (Twitter link via Tim Bontemps of ESPN). Niang has been playing through the injury, but it’s a situation worth monitoring because he’s a key bench contributor and was the team’s second-best three-point shooter during the regular season at 40.3%.
Suns assistant Kevin Young, Bucks assistants Darvin Ham and Charles Lee, Celtics assistant Will Hardy, Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic, Heat assistants Chris Quinn and Malik Allen, and Warriors assistants Mike Brown and Kenny Atkinson are among the assistants around the NBA who are viewed as potential head coaching candidates by league insiders, according to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz (Insider-only link).
A number of the names on Arnovitz’s list have been linked to one or more of the NBA’s three current head coaching openings. Ham and Brown, for instance, all believed to be under consideration by all three of the Hornets, Lakers, and Kings.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Harvard senior guard Noah Kirkwood, who declared for the 2022 NBA draft as an early entrant, has decided to remain in the draft and go pro rather than using his final year of college eligibility, according to agent Ronnie Zeidel (Twitter link via Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports).
- Rockets forward/center Usman Garuba said in an interview with Spanish outlet AS.com that he’s committed to representing Spain at this year’s EuroBasket competition, as Eurohoops relays.
- In an intriguing bit of international basketball news, an RMC Sport report indicates that Sixers center Joel Embiid is exploring the possibility of obtaining French citizenship and representing France in future international events. Embiid was born in Cameroon, but has family from France and has never suited up for the Cameroonian national team.