NBA Hoops

76ers search for what works, Heat already know, run away with Game 1

76ers search for what works, Heat already know, run away with Game 1

Without Joel Embiid to lean on, Doc Rivers searched for something — anything — that would work. It certainly wasn’t DeAndre Jordan, but there wasn’t much of anything that did work for the 76ers in Game 1.

Erik Spoelstra and the Heat know exactly what works for them and leaned hard into that second half — defense, ball movement, and a heavy dose of Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.

The result was a 106-92 Miami win, giving the Heat a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.

Herro ended up with 25 points, shot 4-of-6 from 3, and had 7 assists. Adebayo finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

The story of this game — and maybe this series — was the absence of Sixers’ MVP finalist Joel Embiid due to a concussion and orbital bone fracture. He is not in Miami with the team, but Philadelphia hopes he can return for Game 3 or 4. Game 1 was evidence of how much he means to Philly on both ends of the court.

Rivers began the night trying to be traditional, starting DeAndre Jordan at center to replace Embiid (something that had the backing of key 76ers players). Starting Jordan might have been an acceptable move in 2017, but in 2022 he has little to no lateral movement, which led to the Heat getting whatever they wanted on offense — Miami had 18 points on their first nine possessions and raced out to an 18-6 lead.

The 76ers were -12 in Jordan’s first quarter minutes. Rivers went back to Jordan several times in the game, and the veteran big man finished with four points, two rebounds, and was a -22 on the night.

After the game, Rivers had Jordan’s back.

“We like DJ. We’re gonna keep starting him whether you like it or not.”

Rivers does have a playoff history of sticking with what he thinks should work/wants to do in the face of evidence it does not.

Rivers tried Paul Millsap, but the Sixers were -2 in those first-half minutes and the veteran was overwhelmed. Rivers finally leaned on Paul Reed and his athleticism worked, Philadelphia was +5 in his…

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