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A franchise record and a big standings win in one night — what a treat.
The Sixers outlasted the Miami Heat 124-117 Thursday night. They are now 33-26, still in control of the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Tyrese Maxey dropped 20 in the first quarter, breaking Allen Iverson’s franchise record for made three-pointers, and led the Sixers with 28 points and 11 assists. Joel Embiid put up 26 and 11 boards on 8-of-20 shooting despite picking up some banged up ribs in the second quarter.
VJ Edgecombe, again coming up with big clutch baskets despite some quiet stretches, finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor. Bam Adebayo led all scorers with 29.
The Sixers were only down Paul George (suspension) and Johni Broome (meniscus tear) while the Heat were only down Nikola Jovic.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- Embiid opened this game much more aggressively than the previous one, muscling his way to the basket for two easy layups before knocking down a three. He was the hub of everything early, scoring or assisting their first 14 points scored in the half-court. His two-man game opened up Maxey for a three and he also threw a nice pass to Dominick Barlow cutting to the block.
- As he’s done a lot of as of late, Quentin Grimes knocked down a three very quickly after checking in for the first time. Two turnovers in a row, one that saw him get stripped and the other a bad post-entry pass, helped the Heat erase the early Sixers’ lead. Whether this was the first time all year he had a short leash, or Nick Nurse wanted to go big with both Jabari Walker and Trendon Watford, Grimes’ first shift only lasted a little over two minutes.
- Once he made his first two threes, it seemed like Maxey wanted to get breaking the franchise record for made threes over as quickly as possible while keeping the offense somewhat organized. He made his fourth three of the quarter to pass Allen Iverson with a little over a minute left in the first. While the Sixers couldn’t stop themselves from fouling Miami, Watford’s foul on Jaime Jaquez at least gave the fans a chance to give Maxey a nice round of applause. He added on another three and a trip to the line, but that only had the Sixers up by one.
Second Quarter
- After taking a hard foul on the first play of the quarter, Embiid was favoring his side for the remainder of his shift. He was still able to score with ease, even getting down the floor and up for an alley-oop, but Edgecombe threw an errant pass. Even if the Sixers weren’t getting stops, they took over control of the pace to start the quarter, with Edgecombe beating most of the Heat back on defense nearly every time down the floor. He was also hobbling a bit after completing an and-1 on one of those fast-break possessions.
- That nick Edgecombe took didn’t seem to slow him down at all. On top of his three transition drives to the hoop, Maxey hit him with a lob as well. It looked like he was playing with more confidence as the quarter wore on, especially after hitting a grenade three to beat the shot clock.
- Miami starting the night cold from three helped the Sixers defense a lot. They basically just had to keep the Heat out of the paint to get stops. Two quick makes followed by another Grimes turnover was just the shot of life they needed as the Sixers were starting to build a lead. Embiid was able to settle things, drawing two shooting fouls on the swipe through move. Grimes redeemed himself with a corner three to give the Sixers a 16-point lead at the break.
Third Quarter
- Seriously, what do they do at halftime? The Sixers didn’t pay for it too much immediately, but it took them nearly four minutes to score in the second half. They seemed to let a loose ball or two speed them up, either hoisting a contested three or trying to drive through the whole defense.
- The timeout Nurse called didn’t stop Adebayo or Tyler Herro from catching fire from three, nor did it really get the Sixers’ offense back on track. They hit a couple kick-out threes but Maxey and Embiid weren’t able to cook the same way they had been. Adebayo was on such a three-point surge Miami briefly took their first lead of the night.
- That second three from the Sixers at least stopped the bleeding for a moment. After Kelly Oubre Jr. sunk that one, he and Maxey strung two good drives together for baskets. After Cam Payne and Barlow hit their first threes of the game, an Adem Bona putback appeared to end the quarter on good vibes, pushing the lead to seven. Maxey thought he was fouled on the miss that caused the putback and got T’d up after a very heated conversation.
Fourth Quarter
- For the second straight quarter it took the Sixers a couple minutes to score and Miami capitalized with a 7-0 run to tie it up again. A Payne three to end that was much needed, but not as much as Edgecombe scoring his first points since the second quarter.
- Still favoring his midsection quite a bit, Embiid looked like a different player in the second half. He had multiple passes he just couldn’t corral and his shots not even coming close were a result of him not being able to bully his way to spots as easily. He went to the bench with 6:48 to go at a timeout. While Edgecombe and Oubre both hit jumpers coming out of that timeout, Miami responded with two threes on their ensuing trips down the floor.
- Maxey and Edgecombe were finally able to break the Heat’s zone consistently as the game wound down, which was good because Embiid continued to sit on the bench. After a pair of Maxey free throws, he kicked to Oubre for an open three to put the lead back up to four. Edgecombe impressively secured the rebound on the Heat miss, but the Sixers ensuing basket was waved off due to basket interference from Bona.
- Perhaps it was the interference call that did it, because Embiid replaced Bona after that possession. After Herro missed a contested three, the Sixers got another kick-out three, this time it was Embiid and he drilled it to put the game away.