After defeating the Atlanta Hawks in five games, the Miami Heat will now face off against the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
The Heat are continuing to pursue the franchise’s fourth championship by trying to push past a Philadelphia squad that has looked talented all year.
Take Advantage of Embiid’s Absence
Joel Embiid has been on a mission since the playoffs began and he was lights out in the series against Toronto. The veteran big man had three 30-point performances. He also had a double-double in five out of the six games in the series, getting hefty amounts of rebounds throughout the series.
However, the Sixers primary big man is deemed out indefinitely and this creates a huge opportunity for Miami to take the series. The Heat really had little size to match up with Embiid’s size combined with his uncanny versatility. It would not be a bad idea to get Bam Adebayo some touches down low. Bam had an excellent game five against the Hawks, recording 20 points and 11 rebounds. Bam definitely has a shot to build off that game and have a great second round against Philadelphia. It may even be enough to help propel the Heat into the conference finals.
Let Jimmy Butler Continue to Do His Thing
Although he was inactive for game five against Atlanta, Jimmy Butler was a force to be reckoned with in the first four games of the first round. Butler finished with 21, 45, 20, and 36 point showings in the series’ first four games, respectively. Now for Philadelphia, they are most definitely going to need an answer for the veteran forward that wants to avenge the Heat coming up just short of a title in the bubble back in 2020. But for the Heat, they need to continue to feed Butler’s hot hand, even after he missed game five.
Butler also was a menace on the defensive side of the basketball. Against the Hawks in those four games, he averaged nearly three steals a game, showing his quick hands that not only created shot opportunities for himself, but also for his teammates. He averaged around five assists a game as well, showing that he can get the other talented players on Miami involved. Butler has this series in the palm of his hands if he makes it that way and continues to play like the perennial All-Star he is.
A Tyler Herro Playoff Revival?
We all remember Tyler Herro’s insane playoff heroics in the bubble for the 2020 NBA playoffs. It helped lead the Heat to the organization’s sixth Eastern Conference title and helped him get his name into the sports world as a whole. As a rookie, Herro averaged 16 points a game, five rebounds, and four assists in the playoffs and had a monster game four in the Eastern Conference finals in 2020 against the Boston Celtics were he dropped 37 points.
It will be interesting to see if Herro can recreate that same kind of magic here in this round against the Sixers. He had a decent series against Atlanta, averaging 13 points a game. Herro did record some steals; the steals should keep coming especially if Spoelstra really wants to shut down some of the bigger players Philadelphia has such as Tyrese Maxey and James Harden. Simply put, it would be wonderful for the Heat to see Herro have an explosive series as if it was 2020. It could catch the 76ers by surprise and could push the Heat onward. If the Heat defeat the Sixers, they will face the Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics.