Philadelphia 76ers dropped to a short-handed Miami squad, which prevailed with 101-96 in Wells Fargo Center. The Heat took a 23-point lead, before the Sixers made a comeback early in the fourth quarter.
Doc Rivers saw his starting point guard Tyrese Maxey taking over during the fourth quarter to bring the Sixers back in the game. Rivers said that he’s not concerned about Maxey scoring.
“Tonight, the ball stayed on the outside, you got to get to the paint. There was no difference in the second half when they run zone and all of a sudden, we had everything we wanted.
We didn’t change our offense in the second half, we run the same stuff. The difference was we didn’t settle, we didn’t hold the ball and we went downhill,” Doc River said.
Maxey finished the game with 27 points, while Joel Embiid had 17 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. Tobias Harris added 24 points.
“I’m not that concerned about Tyrese scoring. I’m more concerned about Tyrese being a playmaker, getting in the paint, scoring and passing,” Rivers said on Maxey’s performance vs Miami.
Embiid was not active during the second half in offense, having scored just three points. Maxey had 15 of his 27 points in the second half.
“We’re all starting to grow into our role and learning when to attack and when to run offense through Joel. It’s a work in progress, a learning experience, and it’s going to be getting better and better,” Maxey said after the game.
The Sixers were coming off a blowout loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, playing without Embiid. They were quite passive in the first half as they avoided moving the ball and get in the paint to make Miami’s zone collapse.
Philadelphia lost three out of its last four including two blowout losses to the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies. They will look to bounce back vs Brooklyn, which has several players out in COVID protocols.
