A Kyle Lowry injury update, and other takeaways from Heat’s Game 4 loss to 76ers
Five takeaways from the top-seeded Miami Heat’s 116-108 loss to the fourth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center. The best-of-7 second-round series is tied 2-2, with Game 5 set for Tuesday in Miami:
Kyle Lowry’s hamstring injury is still an issue.
In his second game back from the injury, Lowry finished with six points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 0-of-6 shooting on threes, three rebounds, seven assists, two steals and four turnovers in 30 minutes. He has now recorded six points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field and 0-of-8 shooting on threes, seven rebounds and 10 assists in two games since returning from a four-game absence stemming from a strained left hamstring.
Some of the shooting struggles could be rust after missing two weeks of game action because of the injury.
But the hamstring also remains an issue, as Lowry grabbed at it throughout Sunday’s loss.
After being fouled by 76ers wing Matisse Thybulle with 6:46 left in the second quarter, Lowry got up slowly and grabbed at his left hamstring before walking gingerly to the locker room. Lowry eventually returned to the Heat’s bench and re-entered the game a few minutes later with 4:01 remaining in the second quarter.
“We’ll just have to get back to Miami and see,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Lowry’s status for the rest of the series. “He’s such a warrior that we’ll just have to see.”
Lowry, 36, played 9:48 in the third quarter. But he spent the final 9:42 of the game watching from the Heat’s bench.
Lowry said after the loss that he’ll get treatment over the next few days with the hope of playing in Game 5 on Tuesday at FTX Arena (7:30 p.m., TNT). The Heat is required by the NBA to issue an official injury report for Game 5 on Monday by 5:30 p.m.
“My goal is to be out there,” Lowry said. “We’ll see what happens and how I respond to treatment. But the goal is to always be out there playing with my teammates. This is tough timing for a hamstring. I’ve never had a soft tissue [injury]. But the goal is to be out there. So if you’re asking if I’m going to try to play. Yes, I’m going to try to play Game 5.”
How limiting is the injury?
“I’ll put it this way, you don’t want to play with it,” Lowry said. “But we’re in the playoffs and we’re in a hostile environment. We’re in this together no matter what and I’m trying to be out there for my guys no matter what happens, no matter what the situation is.”
Lowry said he doesn’t believe an MRI will be needed on the injury because “we know what it is.”
Teammates were appreciative of Lowry playing through the pain, but also know there’s a chance they could have to play without him moving forward.
“I appreciate him, we all do,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said. “The fact that he wants to play, he wants to compete and he knows our best chance of winning is with him on the floor. We understand that. But we also want our guy to be safe, man. We always have more than enough to win. We always say that, we do believe that. Don’t get me wrong, he definitely helps us. But if he can’t go, we need these.”
One solution for the Heat’s offensive problems in the last two games: Make more threes.
The Heat struggled from three-point range for a second straight game on Sunday, finishing 7 of 35 (20 percent) from beyond the arc in Game 4.
On the other side, the 76ers shot 16 of 33 (48.5 percent) on threes to outscore the Heat 48-21 from deep.
“I thought we actually had some really good looks,” Spoelstra said. “We just missed them. But that’s part of the game, part of the playoffs. Sometimes you don’t make shots, but you still have opportunities to grind out and get a win ugly. We weren’t able to do that tonight.”
Miami combined to shoot 14 of 65 (21.5 percent) from three-point range in Games 3 and 4.
Lowry, who shot 37.7 percent on threes in the regular season, shot 0 of 8 from deep in the last two games.
P.J. Tucker, who shot 41.5 percent on threes in the regular season, shot 1 of 5 (20 percent) from beyond the arc in the last two games.
Max Strus, who shot 41 percent on threes in the regular season, shot 5 of 16 (31.3 percent) from deep in the last two games.
Tyler Herro, who shot 39.9 percent on threes in the regular season, shot 3 of 12 (25 percent) from three-point range in the last two games.
Gabe Vincent, who shot 36.8 percent on threes in the regular season, shot 0 of 4 from beyond the arc in the last two games.
Despite the Heat’s poor outside shooting, it still found itself trailing by just five with 3:27 to play. But that’s the closest Miami got.
For a Heat team that finished the regular season with the NBA’s top team three-point percentage at 37.9 percent, this two-game stretch is uncharacteristic.
The Heat has shot worse than 25 percent from three-point range in just six games this season, and two of those game were Games 3 and 4 of this series.
The Heat’s shooting issues are especially painful because it’s such an important part of its winning formula.
Miami is 31-2 this season when shooting 40 percent or better from three-point range and 28-30 when it hasn’t hit that threshold.
In Games 1 and 2 in Miami, it was the 76ers that couldn’t make an outside shot. 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.
The 76ers have tied up the series behind 38 of 84 (45.2 percent) shooting on non-paint shots and 32 of 66 (48.5 percent) shooting on threes in Games 3 and 4.
Meanwhile, the Heat shot 33 of 89 (37.1 percent) on non-paint shots and 23 of 65 (35.4 percent) on threes in the first two games of the two series.
But Miami’s shooting luck has moved in the opposite direction, shooting just 27 of 104 (26 percent) on non-paint shots in Games 3 and 4.
Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson received his third DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) of the series. When asked if he thought about inserting Robinson’s three-point shooting into Sunday’s game, Spoelstra said he considered it.
The Heat wasted another incredible Butler performance.
Butler followed up his 33-point display in Game 3 with another masterpiece in Game 4 that included 40 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 shooting on threes, 12-of-13 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks in 42 minutes. It’s the fourth time that Butler has finished with 40 or more points in a playoff game during his NBA career, and all of them have come with the Heat.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, it also marked the first time in Butler’s NBA career that he has scored 30 or more points in consecutive playoff games.
“He made everything,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said following Butler’s Game 4 performance. “He went left a lot. That’s something in the past that he has really not done. We’re going to have to figure that one out. He scored on everyone. He didn’t care who it was.”
Butler averaged 36.5 points on 59.5 percent shooting from the field, six rebounds and four assists in the two games played in Philadelphia, but the Heat lost both because his teammates combined to shoot just 34.2 percent in Games 3 and 4. Heat center Bam Adebayo was solid in Game 4, though, with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds.
Butler’s best quarter in both games was the third.
Butler totaled 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field in the third quarter of Game 3, and scored 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line in the third quarter of Game 4.
“Jimmy is just an elite competitor,” Spoelstra said of Butler’s last two third quarters. “He knows what’s needed for the team and we were treading water and they were starting to pull away a little bit. He knew that he had to be more assertive.”
Butler has been magnificent throughout the playoffs, as he’s averaging 29 points on 53.2 percent shooting from the field, 7.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists this postseason. He ranks fourth in scoring in the playoffs behind only Dallas’ Luka Doncic (31.3 points per game), Denver’s Nikola Jokic (31) and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.6).
With usual backup center Dewayne Dedmon unavailable, the Heat turned to small ball in Game 4.
Instead of replacing Dedmon in the nine-man rotation, Spoelstra opted to essentially go with an eight-man rotation on Sunday.
Lowry, Strus, Butler, Tucker and Adebayo started as usual.
Then the guard trio of Herro, Victor Oladipo and Vincent were the players Spoelstra went with off Miami’s bench. Markieff Morris and Caleb Martin also played, but only limited minutes.
That rotation led to a bunch of small lineups for the Heat, with the 6-5 Tucker playing as the center when Adebayo was on the bench.
76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid used his 7-0, 280-pound frame to take advantage of the Heat’s small groupings and switch-heavy defense at times, finishing with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 9-of-13 shooting from the foul line, 11 rebounds and two assists. But after a 15-point first quarter, he scored just nine points the rest of the game.
The Heat didn’t waste any time in deploying its small-ball strategy.
Oladipo was the first player used off Miami’s bench on Sunday, replacing Adebayo with 6:01 left in the first quarter. That left a lineup of Lowry, Oladipo, Strus, Butler and Tucker on the court.
The Heat outscored the 76ers 7-5 in the 2:56 that Tucker spent at center in the first quarter.
The Heat was then forced to go small for a big chunk of the third quarter when Adebayo was called for his fourth foul with 8:24 left in the period. Miami used Tucker at center for the next 4:56 before Spoelstra turned elsewhere after Tucker was called for his fourth foul.
That’s when Morris entered for his first action this postseason. Morris played the final 3:28 of the third quarter and Adebayo then played the entire fourth quarter.
The Heat’s small-ball lineups did not produce positive results. With Tucker at center, the Heat was outscored by three points in 11 minutes in Game 4.
The Heat’s hope is that Dedmon will be back for Game 5 and he’ll again play as the Heat’s center for most of the minutes that Adebayo is not in the game.
“Dewayne definitely would have played,” Spoelstra said. “Certainly those minutes against Embiid. But that’s not the reason [we lost].”
76ers star guard James Harden turned in his best game of the series.
Harden averaged just 17.7 points on 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 21.1 percent shooting on threes and 6.7 assists in the first three games of the series.
But he came alive for 31 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field, 6-of-10 shooting on threes and 9-of-10 shooting from the foul line, seven rebounds and nine assists on Sunday. He scored 16 points with the help of 4-of-6 shooting from deep in the fourth quarter to help the 76ers hold on for the win.
Sunday was just the second game that Harden has finished with 30 or points in since he was traded to the 76ers in February.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 1:42 AM.
