By Tommy Matthews
The Sixers again proved last night in game 2 against the Heat in Miami that without NBA MVP Joel Embiid they don’t belong on the same court as the top-seeded Heat.
The court changes to the Wells in South Philly for game 3 Friday night.
But unless Embiid is able to play after a concussion and orbital fracture caused him to miss the first two games, this series is all but over.
Adebayo scored 23 points and Jimmy Butler 22 points and 12 assists, and the Heat won 119-103 for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Tyrese Maxey scored 34 points for the Sixers, whose Tobias Harris had 21 and and James Harden 20.
“We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and try to figure it out,” Maxey said.
A 10-0 run in the fourth turned an eight-point Miami lead into an 18-point edge, sealing the win and ensuring the Heat would hold home court before the series shifts north. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.
“We don’t have a big man right now,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers admitted.
Rivers, however, didn’t sound optimistic about the possibility of Embiid being ready.
“He’s got so many steps to go through,” Rivers said. “I don’t think he’s cleared any of them right now.”
It wasn’t just the absence of Embiid, though, that hurt Philadelphia. The 76ers were awful again from 3-point range, shooting 8 for 30 in Game 2. They’re now 14 for 64 from deep in the series.
“When it comes down to it, you’ve got to make shots, especially when you’re on the road against a really good team,” Harden said. “It’s pretty simple.”
Danny Green was 1 for 10 from the field — the second time in his playoff career that he had that many attempts and shot that poorly in a postseason game. The other? A 1-for-12 effort for San Antonio in 2013, also in Miami, the night the Heat won their third and most recent NBA title.
The Heat aren’t close to that yet. But they are two wins from the East finals.
“It’s not easy to get playoff wins.” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We had some great stretches, particularly defensively. We had some really good stretches offensively. … Our defense really carried us to the win, but we had some really timely offensive plays.”
