Poor shooting night, rebounding woes, and other things we learned in Sixers’ 119-109 loss to the Heat
The Sixers shot 42% from the field and were outscored 16-2 to close out their loss to Miami. They were also outrebounded, 57-42.
The Sixers let their game in Miami slip away, losing the season tiebreaker to the Heat, 119-109, on Monday night.
Here’s what we learned:
» READ MORE: Heat use late rally to beat the Sixers in Miami, 119-109
The shots don’t fall
It was a bad shooting night from virtually everyone, especially in the closing stretch of the game. After a strong return against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, Tyrese Maxey went 2-for-9 from three and shot just 35% from the field. Joel Embiid shot 10-for-25 from the field, and Paul George finished 7-for-18. The Sixers shot 41.7% as a team.
The Sixers’ cold shooting led to a 16-2 Heat run late in the fourth quarter. After Embiid’s three-pointer put the Sixers up, 107-103, with 3 minutes, 22 seconds to play, the Sixers scored just one more basket and missed six of their last seven shots.
Struggling on the glass
Against the Hornets two days earlier, the Sixers were getting killed on the glass for three quarters before a key fourth-quarter stint from Andre Drummond helped flip the script and secure a win. Drummond didn’t play Monday, with Adem Bona getting the first shift of reserve minutes against Miami’s Bam Adebayo.
The Sixers were outrebounded, 29-22, in the first half. The Heat finished the game with a 57-42 rebounding advantage. Adebayo, one of the NBA’s best rebounders, had 16 boards to go with 23 points and six assists.
Heavy minutes for Oubre and Grimes
The Sixers’ best minutes came with Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. in the lineup. Both of them came off the bench.
The Heat opened the third quarter on an 18-4 run thanks to poor shooting and defense from the Sixers’ starters. Miami dominated in the paint, scoring 60 points vs. the Sixers’ 42.
So coach Nick Nurse turned to Oubre and Grimes, whose minutes helped the Sixers pull nearly even in the second quarter. Oubre was the Sixers’ best rebounder, especially on the offensive glass, finishing with four offensive rebounds and 11 overall to go with his 11 points. In a game without a lot of great defense from the Sixers, Grimes finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists in 31:36.
George sat for much of the fourth quarter, despite being one of the Sixers’ best defenders, while Nurse opted to keep Oubre and Grimes in the game. Justin Edwards played just 36 seconds.
