What went wrong for the Heat’s offense, and other takeaways from Game 3 loss to 76ers
Five takeaways from the top-seeded Miami Heat’s 99-79 loss to the fourth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center. The Heat still leads the best-of-7 second-round series 2-1, with Game 4 set for Sunday in Philadelphia:
The Heat’s offense was bad, very bad.
Even with 15 second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds, the Heat still turned in one of its worst offensive performances of the season in Game 3. Miami totaled just 79 points on 35.1 percent shooting from the field and 7-of-30 (23.3 percent) shooting on threes on Friday.
“We did not really work possessions,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We had a lot of one-pass, zero-pass, quick shots that kind of fed into their momentum and weren’t totally intentional where we were getting the ball and we paid the price for that.”
The first half was especially brutal, as it scored just 34 points on 14-of-43 (32.6 percent) shooting from the field and 2-of-16 shooting on threes in the first two quarters to enter halftime trailing by seven. It marked the second-fewest points that the Heat has scored in a first half this season and the fewest it has scored in any playoff half since 2013.
The 79 points were the second-fewest points the Heat has scored in a game since the start of the 2016-17 season. It’s also the fewest points the Heat scored in a playoff game since 2013.
Jimmy Butler injected some life into the Heat’s offense in the third quarter with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the period. As a result, Miami totaled 31 points in the quarter to enter the fourth behind by just three.
But the Heat’s offense again looked shaky in the fourth quarter, scoring just 14 points on 3-of-15 (20 percent) shooting from the field in the period.
Butler finished with 33 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 shooting from the foul line. The rest of Miami’s roster combined for just 46 points on 27.3 percent shooting from the field.
“A lot of holding the ball,” Butler said of the Heat’s offensive issues in Game 3. “Starting with myself. I think we got to move the ball around, make them guard more than one action and get our shooters more involved. That’s on myself, that’s on Kyle [Lowry] to make sure that everybody was involved and we got to get back to really moving the ball.”
Bam Adebayo, who averaged 23.5 points on 71.4 percent shooting from the field in the first two games of the series, was limited to nine points on 2-of-9 shooting and three rebounds in Game 3.
Tyler Herro, who averaged 21.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 63.6 percent on threes in the first two games of the series, was held to 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting in Game 3.
The Heat ended with an offensive rating of 89.8 points scored per 100 possessions. It marks Miami’s third-worst single-game offensive rating of the season and its worst single-game offensive rating since a 95-78 loss to the Boston Celtics on Nov. 4.
According to Cleaning The Glass, the Heat also scored just 75 points per 100 half-court plays in Game 3.
The Heat fell to 9-17 this season when finishing with a half-court offensive rating of worse than 90 points per 100 plays. Meanwhile, Miami is 27-1 when finishing with a half-court offensive rating of better than 105 points per 100 plays.
“Offensively, we were just very poor,” Spoelstra said following Friday’s loss.
As expected, the return of All-Star center and MVP candidate Joel Embiid helped the 76ers on both ends of the court.
After missing the first two games of the series with a right orbital fracture and mild concussion, Embiid played in Game 3 in a protective mask to finish with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting, 11 rebounds and one assist in 36 minutes. Embiid cleared the NBA’s concussion protocol on Friday morning and was listed as doubtful for the contest before the 76ers made the announcement that he would play just 30 minutes prior to tipoff.
“He had a big impact,” Spoelstra said of Embiid. “This is what you have to expect. He’s an MVP caliber player, he’s also usually in the running for Defensive Player of the Year.”
With Embiid on the court, the Heat was forced to tweak its defensive game plan from the first two games when it loaded up on All-Star guard James Harden. While still picking up Harden full court after makes with P.J. Tucker spending most of the night on him, the Heat had more to worry about with Embiid on the court.
Harden only finished with 17 points on 4-of-11 shooting and committed seven turnovers on Friday. But it was 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey that went off for 21 points on 11 shots.
Defensively, Embiid made a huge impact with his ability to protect the rim. After totaling 51 shots at the rim in Games 1 and 2, the Heat took just 14 shots from inside the restricted area in Game 3.
“You add Jo to any team, home or away, the game and the scouting report, it changes drastically,” Butler said when asked about the impact of Embiid’s return. “He’s been like that for his entire career. ... We scored 79 points. A lot of that is because he takes away the rim. We got to find a way to be better on that end of the floor. He’s key to these guys.”
Embiid said following the game: “I didn’t think I had a lot of energy. I was really trying to get through it and use my presence as a decoy. I feel like what I pride myself on is really on defense and I feel that is where my presence is really felt.”
Another positive for the 76ers in Game 3: They hit more outside shots than in Games 1 and 2.
Philadelphia shot just 22 of 83 (26.5 percent) on non-paint shots and 14 of 64 (21.9 percent) on threes in the first two games of the series.
But the 76ers were much more efficient on Friday, shooting 18 of 42 (42.9 percent) on non-paint shots and 16 of 33 (48.5 percent) on threes in Game 3.
Danny Green shot 7 of 9 from three-point range for the 76ers to tie his playoff career-high for threes made in a game. This came after he shot just 2 of 14 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc in the first two games of the series.
Maxey also had an efficient shooting night, making five of his six three-point attempts in Game 3. It’s tied for the second-most threes he has hit in a game this season.
Sometimes it’s as simple as the cliche of: “It’s a make-or-miss league.” The 76ers made more shots on Friday.
“At home guys are a little bit more comfortable,” Spoelstra said. “You can’t ever expect Danny Green to stay like that, like how he was in Miami. He’s a great shooter. He did get some good looks early and that always can change the complexion of things for a shooter and then we just didn’t make those extra efforts to get him off that three-point line.”
The Heat got its starting point guard back, but Kyle Lowry was quiet in his return from injury.
In Lowry’s first game in two weeks, he was scoreless and missed each of his four shots on Friday. He recorded four rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes.
“I just got to find a rhythm,” Lowry said. “I didn’t expect to be amazing tonight. I didn’t expect to have zero points. But just trying to get a feel for the game, just be out there, especially in this hostile situation. I wanted to be out there with my group.”
While there were some obvious signs of rust, the good news for the Heat is Lowry was available. He missed the previous four games because of a strained left hamstring he suffered in Game 3 of the Heat’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on April 22.
The other bit of positive news for the Heat is that Lowry came away from the game feeling relatively unscathed.
“I’m OK. If I’m on the court, I’m not going to make any excuses,” Lowry said. “I’m all good. I’m healthy as I can be right now. When I get back, I’ll get some treatment and I’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
Friday marked the fourth playoff game that Lowry has finished scoreless during his NBA career.
Lowry’s return meant one player had to be pushed out of the Heat’s rotation to create room for him.
With Lowry back in the starting lineup, guard Gabe Vincent moved back to a reserve role. Lowry started alongside Butler, Max Strus, Tucker and Adebayo.
The Heat used a bench rotation of Herro, Dewayne Dedmon, Vincent and Victor Oladipo in Game 3.
That left wing Caleb Martin as the odd man out of the rotation. Martin had logged double-digit minutes off the Heat’s bench in the previous four games before only playing the final 2:05 of Friday’s 20-point loss.
One thing remained a constant: The Heat’s bench outscored the 76ers’ bench for a third straight game. Miami’s reserves finished Game 3 with a 24-13 edge.
Through three games, the Heat’s bench has outscored Philadelphia’s bench 118-53 in the series.
Duncan Robinson remains out of the Heat’s rotation in the second round. He received his first DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) since April 7, 2019 in Game 1, played only the final 55 seconds in a Game 2 blowout win and received another DNP-CD in Game 3.
Also, worth noting: The NBA announced that Game 5 of the Heat-76ers series, which will now be necessary following the 76ers’ Game 3 win, will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at FTX Arena. The game will be televised on TNT.
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 11:34 PM.
