Back and Forth
The Miami Heat came into this game still feeling the effects of the return of Joel Embiid. The first two games in the series were played in Miami and the Sixers didn’t have their superstar Joel Embiid. With “the mask” back in action, this series got a whole lot more interesting. Miami wanted to come out strong and beat Philly from the jump, but that was not the case.
The first quarter began and Philadelphia was roaring. Both teams went bucket for bucket for quite a while, showing how tough it’s going to be for either squad to pull away in this series. Miami was looking to push the pace the entire first quarter in hopes that the Sixers wouldn’t retaliate. Sure enough, as soon as Miami would hit a fastbreak layup, James Harden was right there hitting three-pointers from deep, keeping both teams at bay.
Not Backing Down
The second quarter came around and Tyler Herro came out firing. Herro hit a couple of big shots that kept the Sixers from gaining all the momentum. Jimmy Butler put Miami on his back the entire game. Butler was getting to his spots consistently and hitting at an efficient rate. Jimmy Buckets finished the evening off with 40 points on 13/20 shooting. Butler showed that fire and grit that we’ve seen and other teams don’t want to. Philadelphia answered back and was picking apart the Heat’s small-ball lineup. When Bam Adebayo wasn’t on the floor, it was almost guaranteed that the Sixers were looking to feed the big man in the post. This leads to Philly out-scoring the Heat and taking the lead going into halftime at a score of 64-56.
It’s Personal
The second half started and Jimmy Butler showed no signs of slowing down. Butler came out with tenacity on both sides of the basketball. Jimmy was slicing through Philadelphia’s defense and racing around on defense in hopes of “stopping the bleeding” and keeping Miami close. For a large majority of the third quarter, Miami was in the driver’s seat and looked as if they could run away from the Sixers. The third quarter came to an end and the Heat had all the momentum. However, vintage James Harden decided to make an appearance and said otherwise.
Harden’s Back
The fourth quarter began with Harden picking apart Miami’s defense and finding the open man on almost every possession, which created a fluidity within the offense. Harden then came out firing deep shots and connecting on nearly all of them, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The Sixers got out to a 14-point lead at one point and it looked like Miami’s night was all but over. Jimmy Butler put in one last push in hopes that they could chip away at the lead. Miami gave it all they had but ultimately fell short to a scorching hot Sixers team who had everyone playing at a high level in this game.
Out For Revenge
The Heat are back at home for game five on Tuesday night. Needless to say, you won’t want to miss this one.