Miami Heat traveled to Philadephia to take on the Sixers for Game 3. We weren’t sure if Joel Embiid would come back to play in the series, but he decided to suit up for Game 3. Embiid would wear a mask.
Embiid wasn’t his best, but he was a massive presence on both ends finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds. It is not a coincidence that Miami scored just 79 points. Only 28 of those came in the paint, down from the 47 paint points Miami had averaged through the first two games.
Tyrese Maxey, Sixers’ third-best player, scored 14 of his 21 points (all of which came in the second half) in the fourth quarter. After going 2-for-14 from 3 through the first two games, Green tied his playoff career-high with 21 points on 7-of-9 3-point shooting in Game 3. That’s one shy of Allen Iverson’s franchise playoff record.
Jimmy Butler is the only Miami Heat player to step up and have a solid performance. Butler finished with 33 points but did not get enough help as Tyler Herro was the only other Heat player to score double figures.
Miami didn’t look like themselves in Game 3. I’m not worried about them. It just wasn’t a food game for them from a shooting standpoint. They will need to pick it up in Game 4 because you don’t want to give the Sixers confidence to tie the series.
Game 4 will be on Sunday at 8 pm.