Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 99-79 NBA playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers:
– Everything looks better with Embiid.
– That was evident from the start with Joel Embiid back in the mix for the 76ers.
– No more pesky double-teams for James Harden to contend with.
– More shooting space for Danny Green.
– More threes from Green.
– More opportunity for Matisse Thybulle to be aggressive defensively on the perimeter.
– More comfort muscling up against P.J. Tucker.
– More chanting of “P.J. Sucks!” from the crowd.
– And plenty of deterrence in the paint.
– This wasn’t about Embiid’s statistics.
– It was about his presence.
– This time the 76ers looked like a team that finished a mere two games behind the Heat in the standings.
– This is what the Heat must contend with to advance.
– Something a lot different than those first two games at FTX Arena.
– Normalcy returned for the Heat, with Kyle Lowy back in the starting lineup alongside Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tucker and Max Strus.
– It was the first time that the first five were together since Game 3 against the Hawks in the opening round.
– That shifted Gabe Vincent back to the bench after starting the previous four games in place of Lowry.
– With the appearance, Butler moved ahead of Carlos Boozer for 90th place on the NBA all-time playoff list and tied Udonis Haslem and Sam Perkins for 88th on that list.
– Embiid was back with the 76ers’ starters, opening alongside Tobias Harris, Danny Green, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
– 76ers coach Doc Rivers spoke pregame about conditioning concerns with Embiid having missed a week.
– “In part, because of the concussion stuff, he couldn’t do anything,” Rivers said. “So he’s not been able to run and do any of the stuff that all of us great athletes would be doing.”
– Of course, Lowry, with his hamstring, had been off his feet for two weeks.
– And looked like someone largely immobile for two weeks.
– Rivers added of Embiid, “We just have to watch conditioning and how he looks on the floor.”
– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said nothing with Embiid’s return came as a surprise.
– “We started before Game 1 with that process, before we knew that he would for sure be out, at least just checking that box,” he said of Embiid preparations. “Then we just put it to the side for a couple of games.”
– Spoelstra added, “We don’t want to duck any kind of competition. We expected Philly to be at full health at some point and we wanted to take on that kind of challenge.”
– In a unique moment, a pregame announcement was made of “There are no injuries.” Cheers followed, as did an “M-V-P!” chant for Embiid.
– Embiid opened it for Philadelphia by being called for a charge. But his face remained intact.
– Vincent and Tyler Herro entered as the Heat’s first reserves.
– Followed by Dewayne Dedmon, who added needed beef against Embiid.
– Adebayo’s second steal moved him past Jamal Mashburn for 11th on the Heat all-time playoff list.
– Adebayo’s fourth free throw moved him past Mario Chalmers for seven on the Heat all-time playoff list.
– Butler’s second free-throw attempt moved him past RudyLaRusso for 69th on the NBA all-time playoff list.
– Lowry’s second assist moved him past Robert Horry for 48th on the NBA all-time playoff list.
– As part of the Heat’s 13-0 third-quarter rum. Butler passed former Heat forward Andre Iguodala for 96th on the NBA all-time playoff scoring list.
– Butler’s first assist moved him past Damian Lillard for 85th on the NBA all-time playoff list.
– Butler’s third assist moved him past Tim Hardaway for 83rd on the NBA all-time playoff list.
– Butler’s first 3-pointer moved him past Dwyane Wade for 88th on the NBA all-time playoff list.
– Seth Curry and Donovan Mitchell were among those in the crowd.
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