The Heat lost Game 3 at Philadelphia 99-79 due to a dreadful shooting performance and a strong fourth quarter from the Sixers, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami shot just 35% from the field and 23% from deep, and was outscored 31-14 in the fourth.
“We weren’t totally intentional where we were getting the ball and we paid the price for that,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Kyle Lowry struggled in his return from a strained hamstring, finishing with zero points, three assists and four fouls in 25 minutes, Jackson notes. Lowry had missed four straight playoff games during his two-week absence. He admitted he wasn’t full strength yet.
“I’m healthy as I can be right now,” Lowry said. “I had one good day of working out, kind of a half day. I just got to find a rhythm. I didn’t expect to be amazing tonight. [But] I didn’t expect to have zero points.”
Here’s more from Miami:
- Tyler Herro may desire a move to the starting lineup next season, but that might not be best for the Heat, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. Herro is the team’s primary shot creator off the bench and plays starter minutes (tied for third in MPG with 32.6), so filling that void could be difficult. Victor Oladipo could theoretically slot into Herro’s place, but he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer and may desire a starting role himself, Winderman says.
- There are strong opinions regarding how Bam Adebayo should play, but his versatility is a strength, not a weakness, Winderman relays in another story. “We want Bam to be Bam,” Jimmy Butler said before Game 3. “And I think Spo says it all the time. And it’s funny to me, because like you’re kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If he’s being a playmaker, people are saying you want him to score more. If he’s scoring a lot, then you want him to be a playmaker.” After an awesome first two games against the Sixers, averaging 23.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.5 APG and 1.5 SPG while shooting 71.4% from the field and 89.5% from the line, Adebayo struggled in Game 3 upon Joel Embiid‘s return, recording nine points, three rebounds, three turnovers and five fouls on 2-of-9 shooting in 33 minutes.
- Backup center Dewayne Dedmon has seen his minutes reduced in the postseason due to both the Heat and opponents playing smaller lineups, but he’s ready to step in when his name is called, Winderman writes. “We’ve got crazy versatility on this team,” Dedmon said. “So being able to go small and match up with whatever lineup the other team might throw at us, that’s our talent.”
We have a series. The sixers defense was outstanding Friday night
Bam only had an “awesome” first two games of the series because the corpse of DeAndre Jordan was “defending” him
Both the Heat and the Suns played as if they were going through the motions last night. Maybe they thought their opponents were going to roll over, or that things were over Sometimes, it makes you wonder
Daniel Greens 21, Embiids defense, Lowry’s ineffectiveness, the Heat’s poor shooting, and Harden’s quick start. Said bench/role players play better at home. Glad its actually at least a 5-game series now. Shocked that Embiid played 36 minutes tbh. So far in his career hes played on torn meniscus and broken face in the playoffs. No chip, but I mean that dumps on anything MJ (flu) did. I’d say his performance is grittier and reminds me of Emmitt Smith on the dislocated shoulder vs thr G Men or TO coming back from the ankle injury, or McNabb 4TDs on a broken ankle. Hat tip to him for competitiveness which will likely shorten his career overall, but dude gives no bleeps.
This series isn’t over. In fact I would be shocked if it doesn’t go 6 or 7.
If they lose the next game idk if it gets to 6. Just being honest. James needs to show up in a 2nd straight game and Embiid needs to basically do what he did last night to get me on board. Homer in me says they come back and win the series, realist in me says they need to play perfect games like last night and Miami needs to shoot poorly.
U are going to get at least one Embiid game in this series. That alone pushes it to six at least
I will never understand how DJ got a spot on this roster in such a crucial role after falling out of the sorry excuse of a roster the Lakers held
Slim pickings on the BO market. Freedom is a much better player than DJ and everyone was too scared to pick him up.
That’s the way of the world now
Bam doesn’t even average 1 block a game as a center. Definitely a midget out there at center. Him and Robert Williams pretending to be centers out there. 6’8 centers lol
Dipo plays 21 minutes Heat scored 79 points. When is Spo going to wake up? Dipo is an all star caliber player, Gabe Vincent Max Strus are not. Dipo needs to play 35 minutes, Herro and Butler as well. The Sixers have 3 scorers, Embid, Harden Maxey as well as Harris and Green. Tucker is not a scorer, Bam cannot be counted on to score 20 neither can Lowry. Dipo must be featured, if Butler has a problem with that let Pat sit him down and explain that’s the only way they win. Looks like Spos going to coach the Heat right out of Round 2.
I said this could happen with those rotation decisions in this matchup. Eventually philly would start making shots. Duncan Robinson should start, Strus should come off the bench, and if Embiid plays, the Heat should consider Yurtseven against him, and/or Morris at the 5 off the bench against certain lineups…but the first thing is more important.
Strus against their starters isnt a good matchup, and Robinson against their bench isnt a good matchup while Strus is, and they need both of them to knock down shots