What will be next for the Heat after play-in game vs. 76ers? NBA announces schedule details
Two of the NBA’s more battle-tested playoff teams meet in the Eastern Conference’s first Play-In game, with the 76ers hosting the Heat on Wednesday night.
Health is paramount for Philadelphia (47-35). Reigning MVP Joel Embiid played in just 39 games in the regular season, missing more than two months down the stretch with a left knee injury. But Embiid is back and, more importantly, looks like himself: In five games since returning, he averaged 30.4 points.
Now the 76ers, after holding serve without Embiid, can pair their bona fide superstar with their budding star, Tyrese Maxey. In his fourth NBA season, Maxey averaged a career-best 25.9 points per game, the 11th-highest mark in the NBA among qualified players.
The Miami Heat are no ordinary No. 8 team, and they’ve shown it over and over.
Erik Spoelstra’s team has infamously gone through the motions in the regular season, losing games they were supposed to lose, resting key players, and making sure to get healthy and right for when the playoffs come.
This team doesn’t care whether they play at home or on the road or whether they’re going against the No. 7 or No. 1 team in the league; they’ll go out there and compete like it’s Game 7 on every single possession.
That’s why former NBA player Eddie House believes they’re going to be ready to make a statement when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers tonight.
Talking on The Carton Show, House — who spent four years with the organization — stated that Heat Culture is actually a thing, and he knows the players will be locked in and looking to make a statement at Wells Fargo Center.
He claims that the Heat will make the Sixers play their brand of basketball and get a tough win out of the mud.
He also predicts they’ll use a lot of zone to slow the pace of the game down and avoid a lot of one-of-one matchups between Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo, and with the Sixers not being a great three-point shooting team, that could benefit Erik Spoelstra’s side.
This will be an interesting battle, for sure, and whoever loses should still be heavily favored to beat either the Atlanta Hawks or Chicago Bulls for the No. 8 seed.
Leave a Reply