14 points reversal! Embiid was in a slump of 17 in 6, 2 of the wonders made meritorious contributions, Herro 25 + 8, and Butler retired injured!
Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
On April 18, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA play-offs continued in the Eastern Conference, and the Philadelphia 76ers sat at home to face the Miami Heat. The 76ers are ranked 7th in the East with a 47-35 record, while the Heat are 8th in the East with a 46-36 record. The two teams have met four times in the regular season this season, with the two sides drawing 2-2 and both within 10 points. Before the game, the well-known American media ESPN also gave a timely prediction of the winning rate: the 76ers have a winning rate of 63.5%, and the Heat has a 36.5% winning rate.
In fact, the 76ers and the Heat met in the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals, when the 76ers were eliminated by the Heat 4-2. Now, the play-offs are once again narrow, and the winner will sit directly as the No. 7 seed in the East and advance to the playoffs. Compared with ESPN's predicted win rate, the reaction of the Bucks in the East is the most real, when the old Rivers saw Embiid return from injury, he directly lost a wave of consecutive losses, slipped from the second position in the East, successfully avoided the seventh position in the East, and indirectly avoided direct dialogue with the 76ers and Embiid.
Compared with the 76ers' poor record due to Embiid's injury, the Heat has struggled even more this season, as the biggest playoff dark horse in the East last season, reaching the Finals in a row and creating the 'Black Eight Miracle' in NBA history. Obviously, this season's Heat has been given more expectations by the outside world, however, it has not been smooth since the offseason, first a series of players such as Vincent, the hero of the championship, left the team, and the plan to trade Lillard also failed, and in the regular season, there were many injuries, ups and downs, and finally managed to hold on to the eighth place in the East, obviously, this result did not satisfy the fans. Many people are saying that the Heat also want to stage a 'Black Eight Miracle' again this year, not to mention the Heat's crotch-pulling state this year, which is the strength of the Celtics today, which is almost impossible to happen.
In terms of injuries, the 76ers' Covington and Melton are absent, and the starting five are: Maxey, Lowry, Oubre, Harris, Embiid, and the Heat's Rozier and Richardson are absent, and the starting lineup is: Herro, Martin, Butler, Jovic, and Adebayo.
At the beginning of the first quarter, both sides felt bad, Harris scored a two-point goal for the 76ers to take the lead, Maxey jumped to defend Butler, was hit in the face by the latter, and looked very painful, and then the two sides entered the iron battle, the two teams scored a total of 6 in the first 4 minutes, and the score added up to only 6 points. Embiid received a pass from his teammates on the counterattack, accelerated the breakthrough, and scored a layup in front of Adebayo, Butler dribbled Embiid to cause a foul, and then directly steal Embiid, and dunk with both hands on the fast break. Harkes hit the first three-pointer of the game for both teams to finish the first quarter, and the 76ers trailed by one point at 22-23.
It is worth mentioning that the two teams combined to shoot 3-of-16 from three-point range in the first quarter and had 10 turnovers. Coming back in the second quarter, Butler repeated his old tricks, and once again faked Embiid, causing the latter to commit a second foul, which was exactly the same as the plot in the first quarter, and then Butler defended Embiid, and once again steals and scored on the fast break, Lowry made another mistake in passing, and the 76ers have made 10 turnovers. Butler made another steal in the midfield, and a pass Highsmith scored for a layup, and the Heat had already led by 11 points. Martin hit another 3-pointer from the bottom corner, and at halftime, the Heat led the 76ers by 12 points, 51-39.
According to the statistics of the American media StatMuse, the 76ers made a total of 3 three-pointers in the first half, but the home fans booed 4 times, which is shameful. Embiid was 3-of-9 in the first half, with only 10 points and 6 rebounds, with a plus/minus of -14, and Butler contributed 10 points, 1 board, 4 assists and 4 steals.
Yibian fought again, Embiid made a long volleyball pass, three to one in the frontcourt, Lowry missed a layup in a hurry, and Harris made up for it. Butler received the ball in the bottom corner and hit the first three-pointer, Oubre made a series of strong attacks under the basket, was slapped directly by Adebayo volleyball cap, and Embiid's defense Martin was fouled by the beater and received his third foul. Batum hit another three-pointer, Hield counterattacked and scored five points in a row, and the difference was chased to single digits, and the Heat immediately called a halt. After the timeout, Adebayo hit Embiid with his back in the low post and hit a solid jumper. At the end of the third quarter, the 76ers still trailed by five points at 69-74.
Embiid was really blown up on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends today, and it was a complete side effect on the court. In the fourth quarter, Embiid received the ball in the open position and adjusted his three-point shot and finally hit, the 76ers tied the score, and Batum hit three points again to complete the overtake. Butler steals Batum behind him and counters again to complete a two-handed dunk, but his knee seems uncomfortable and his expression is very painful. Embiid scored 6 points in a row with three points + 2 + throws, and the 76ers completed the overtake. At the critical moment, Oubre played 2+1 at the limit, Batum made a foul on a key rebound, and Philadelphia's two wonders made a meritorious contribution to kill the game, and finally the 76ers completed a 14-point reversal with 105-104 and successfully advanced to the playoffs.
In terms of data, on the 76ers' side, Embiid was in a sluggish state, shooting 6 of 17, only 23 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, Maxey was also inaccurate, getting 19 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, Harris was booed by the home fans all over the court, contributing 9 points and 10 rebounds, Philadelphia's two wonders Batum scored 20 points and hit 6 three-pointers, Oubre cut 11 points and 8 rebounds, Butler fought with an injury, cut 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and handed out 5 steals, Herro had a bad hand, 25 points and 8 assists on 9 of 27 shots, and Adebayo had 10 points and 12 rebounds。