While their series against the Philadelphia 76ers is not yet over, the Miami Heat are in absolute control of it.
The top-seeded Heat dominated the 76ers with a 106-92 win in Game 1 and Wednesday’s Game 2 was a similar story. Miami opened up a 31-24 lead after the first quarter and outscored Philadelphia in each of the subsequent three quarters. When all was said and done, the Heat posted a double-digit victory, beating the 76ers 119-103.
The performance had many in the NBA world impressed.
The @MiamiHEAT are 2-0 in eastern semis
I’m so happy rn pic.twitter.com/tugkWJu0A5— Matthew Perdomo (@Simbaofsports) May 5, 2022
10 MORE Ws HEAT NATION WE AINT DONE YET #HEATCulture
— Major Passons (@Major_Passons) May 5, 2022
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo both had nice games for Miami. Abedayo led the Heat with 23 points and also hauled in seven rebounds. Butler, meanwhile, had a double-double with 22 points and 12 assists. Neither of them matched Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, who easily lead all scorers with 34 points.
In fact, on the strength of Maxey, 21 points from Tobias Harris and 20 from James Harden, the 76ers starting lineup significantly outscored the Heat’s, 84-67. No other Miami starter even had 10. The bench battle, though, was much different.
Behind 19 from Victor Oladipo and 18 from Tyler Herro, the Heat bench easily made up for what the starters lost. That did not go unnoticed.
Morey deserves more heat (no pun intended) than Doc for the way this series has panned out. Wasted roster spots, paper thin wing depth, and just not enough dogs. https://t.co/Zq3ScFHaKk
— AJ Iezzi (@AJ_Iez) May 5, 2022
Heat going 9 deep in a playoff game without Kyle Lowry available. Don’t let anyone tell you depth doesn’t matter in the postseason.
— Dustin (@dustinjkent) May 5, 2022
The Heat have been dominant through the postseason. Wednesday’s win moved them to not only 2-0 in the series but 6-1 in the playoffs. At home, Miami is 5-0, with all but one of those wins being by double-digits.
The healthy of Philadelphia star Joel Embiid remains uncertain, at best. He’s missed the first two games of the series and is out indefinitely. Trailing 2-0, the 76ers might be in trouble even if he does come back at full health. But if that doesn’t happen, it’s tough to imagine Philadelphia winning four of the next five games.