PHILADELPHIA — Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 101-99 win over the the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center to snap a four-game losing skid. The Heat closed its three-game trip at 1-2 and now returns to Miami to open a season-long six-game homstand on Wednesday with another matchup against the 76ers:
Following Saturday’s loss in Charlotte, a frustrated Jimmy Butler made it clear he was “tired of losing.” So Butler turned his play up a notch and led the Heat to a much-needed win.
Butler was sensational, finishing Monday’s victory with 23 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four steals in 32 minutes.
Butler set the tone from the start with an active and engaged start that included seven points, four rebounds (three offensive rebounds), five assists and one steal in his 10-minute first-quarter stint.
Led by Butler excellence, the Heat barely trailed a quality 76ers team that entered with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat ended the first quarter with a six-point lead and entered halftime ahead by eight points.
The 76ers pulled within one point with 3:44 left in the third quarter, but the Heat responded by going on a 22-12 run to push its lead back up to 11 with 7:10 to play.
But the game still came down to the final minutes, as the 76ers answered with a 16-4 run of their own to take their first lead since early in the first quarter at 99-98 with 1:41 remaining.
Butler then took over to make sure the Heat escaped with the win, converting a wild reverse layup through two 76ers defenders to put Miami back ahead by one point with 1:28 to play.
After a few Heat defensive stops, Butler was fouled by Harden on a turnaround jumper with 9.2 seconds left. Butler made one of two free throws to extend Miami’s lead to two points.
With 8.4 seconds on the clock after a timeout, the 76ers had one final possession to tie or go for the win. Philadelphia went for the win, but Harden’s three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim as the final buzzer sounded to clinch the win for Miami.
Along with Butler’s high-level performance, the Heat also won because it finally hit a high percentage of its threes while finishing with a huge advantage in field-goal attempts over the 76ers.
The Heat has essentially been in a season-long three-point shooting slump, entering Monday with the NBA’s third-worst team three-point percentage at 33.1 percent after finishing last regular season as the league’s most efficient three-point shooting team (37.9 percent).
During its current four-game skid, the Heat shot 40 of 139 (28.8 percent) from beyond the arc. That includes an alarming 15 of 59 (25.4 percent) shooting on wide open threes (when the closest defender is six or more feet away), according to NBA tracking stats.
But along with snapping its losing skid, the Heat also broke out of its shooting slump — for one game, at least.
The Heat shot 15 of 37 (40.5 percent) from three-point range in Monday’s win. It marked the most threes Miami has made in a game since it hit 15 threes in a Dec. 20 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Gabe Vincent finished with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting on threes.
Max Strus scored 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Victor Oladipo contributed 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range.
Along with making a high percentage of its threes, the Heat also closed with an 81-73 advantage in field-goal attempts to run away with the victory. Miami did this by forcing 20 76ers turnovers and also closing with a 12-9 edge in offensive rebounds.
This has been a winning formula for the Heat this season, as it improved to 6-2 this season when making 15 or more threes while also closing with an advantage in field-goal attempts this season.
The Heat had not used much zone defense recently, but leaned on it for extended stretches against the 76ers.
The last time the Heat used its 2-3 zone look for double-digit possessions in a game was in a Feb. 4 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. In fact, Miami used zone on a total of 38 defensive possessions in its previous seven games.
But the Heat brought the zone out on Monday, especially when its bench unit was on the court in the second quarter.
The zone was effective, but the 76ers had success against the Heat’s man-to-man defense to shoot 43.8 percent from the field and 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) from three-point range.
Although it has not been used much lately, the Heat has used its zone defense at a historic rate this season. Miami has already set a new modern-day NBA record for most zone possessions played in a season.
Since Synergy Sports began tracking the stat in 2008-09, the previous league record was set by the Heat with 1,053 zone possessions during the 2018-19 season. The Heat entered Monday with 1,295 zone possessions played this season.
The Heat’s new starting lineup again did not produce positive results.
The Heat went with the starting lineup of Gabe Vincent, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love and Bam Adebayo for the third straight game on Monday. And for the third straight game, the group’s minutes were a net-negative.
The Heat was outscored by three points in 13 minutes with its new starting starting lineup on the court in Philadelphia.
Love closed Monday’s win with eight points, five rebounds and two assists.
In the lineup’s first two games together, the group was outscored by a total of 18 points in 32 minutes and by 23.2 points per 100 possessions.
The offense was the issue during this initial two-game stretch, with the group scoring just 89.7 points per 100 possessions for an offensive rating that would be the NBA’s worst by far when compared to the season-long rankings. The Houston Rockets feature the league’s worst offense with 109.2 points scored per 100 possessions.
While Heat coach Erik Spoelstra likely won’t make a change after just three games, it’s worth noting that the old starting lineup was among team’s better combinations. In the 98 minutes that Caleb Martin has played alongside Gabe Vincent, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo this season, the Heat has outscored opponents by 20 points per 100 possessions.
And when Kyle Lowry was starting, the Heat outscored opponents by 2.7 points per 100 possessions in the 293 minutes that Martin played alongside Lowry, Herro, Butler and Adebayo this season.
After not facing the 76ers in the first four months of the season following last season’s second-round playoff matchup, the Heat and 76ers will meet for the second time in three days on Wednesday.
With Monday marking first of three games between the Heat and 76ers this season, it marks the second-latest into a season that the two teams have gone without playing each other in franchise history.
For perspective, the Heat has already completed their season series against the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs.
But the Heat and 76ers are very familiar with each other, as both teams returned the same core from last season’s playoff matchup. The Heat eliminated the 76ers, 4-2, in the second round.
“I always think when you play a team in the playoffs, it stays for the whole season,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said when asked if facing the Heat carries extra meaning after last season’s playoff result. “It doesn’t go away. It is what it is. So I’m sure there’s something there.”
