The top-seeded Miami Heat beat the fourth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers 119-103. In Miami on Wednesday night to clasp a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal. Bam Adebayo gained 23 points, and Jimmy Butler added 22 in the win.
Victor Oladipo and Tyler Herro scored 19 points off the bench for Miami. They shot 6 of 9 from 3-point range as a team, including a game-winning 3-pointer from Oladipo with 1:39 remaining Butler’s 11th of his 12 help, making it 114-101.
Tyrese Maxey had 34 points on 12 of 22 shooting for Philadelphia, while James Harden had 20 points and nine assists. The 76ers got 21 points from Tobias Harris, hoping to get the NBA scoring champion. Joel Embiid is back into the listing for Game 3 on Friday night in Philadelphia.
Getting the 76ers back in this series will require more than Embiid’s 30.6 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. They’ll have to tighten up their defense, which has given up 112.5 points per game in this series. The Heat ripped them apart on Wednesday, hitting 51.3 percent from the floor and 14 of 29 from 3-point range.
Miami heat also outrebounded Houston 44-34 in the second half, halting Harden’s momentum. After halftime, Harden only managed four points.
Philadelphia led for the majority of the first quarter, but the Heat regained control late in the quarter. Butler assisted on two of the first seven points of a 9-2 run. One to Herro and two to Dewayne Dedmon before Herro flocked for a basket with 1.2 seconds left to tie the game at 31-24.
Miami extended its lead to 14 points in the second quarter before the 76ers mounted a late comeback. With 0.1 seconds left in half, Harden drew a three-shot foul and sank all three foul shots to put Philadelphia within 60-52.
On the other hand, the Heat progressively grew their guide in the third quarter, 76-61 on a 3-pointer by Max Strus and 91-80 in the fourth on Herro’s floater.
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