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Couper Moorhead

1. Everyone knew the Miami HEAT, already down Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier and now with Jaime Jaquez Jr. also injured, were in a tough spot headed to Boston down 3-1. The Celtics knew that, too, of course, and they clearly weren’t interested in messing around.

This wasn’t a game for adjustments, Miami’s main change being to play Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin the full 24 in the first half. It was just about an undermanned team struggling to score while the Celtics chugged along at their best scoring rate of the series, hitting 10 of their first 17 threes and not slowing down from there beyond missing a handful of free throws. Derrick White continued his torrid pace from Game 4, 15 points on his ledger before nine minutes were up in the first period, as Boston hunted their mismatched and found their open shots after a long sequence of dribble drives to open the night. By halftime Boston was 9-of-9 at the rim in a series where they’ve averaged 12 makes a night in the restricted area, White had combined with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for 49 points on 30 shots and they were running a 142.6 Offensive Rating. Down 22 at the break after trailing by as much as 30, if Miami was going to recapture the magic they had in Game 2 they were still looking for it.

Boston back up 30 a few minutes into the third, an 8-0 capped as White hit his fourth three. Adebayo was doing what he could to keep the offense moving, as aggressive as Miami’s situation needed him to be, but there wasn’t nearly enough else as the HEAT couldn’t keep up, their three-point shooting down to 10.3 percent – worst mark of the past five years – in the fourth as Adebayo finally rested. Not much of a playoff feel to the rest of the game, the mountain too steep for the HEAT to climb, as both sides played out the clock, most rotation players pulled. Boston take the game, 118-84, and the series, 4-1, as they advance to play the winner of Cleveland-Orlando.

Some seasons end in the NBA Finals after an incredible run from the No. 8 seed, others end quietly in five First Round games. Maybe this group had more in them had everyone been healthy. Maybe there was magic left in that well. We’ll never know. For now, a long season is over as a long offseason – longer than this group has had in a few years – looms.

2. Nobody will be able to say that Adebayo didn’t leave everything on the floor in this series. Miami practically couldn’t take him off the floor through the first four games, such were his plus-minus numbers, so tonight they decided not to take him of the floor at all as he played all 36 of the first 36 minutes. Adebayo defended Tatum full time – starting possessions on him, at least, as Miami switched more often than they had all regular season – since Game 2, but the Celtics had too many mismatches to chase, while planting Adebayo’s assignments in the corner, for him to cover every inch of the pitch, so to speak. Boston will finish this series as efficient in half court as they were during the regular season largely on the strength of everything they ran away from Adebayo.

Adebayo went out shooting, too, taking a career postseason high 26 shots on his way to 23 points, but Boston never changed their coverage of him for one moment all series long, electing to defend him one-on-one and live with his shot creation. Even with Adebayo shooting well in the paint all series before tonight, Boston’s choices effectively made him a make-or-miss player, all playmaking avenues cut off for one of the best playmaking centers in the league. He’s come a long way in terms of developing his isolation and post play, and his work in that area held off Boston in Miami’s Game 2 win, but if there’s a next step for a player who has taken so many steps each offseason, it will be finding a way to force teams into doubling him. During the regular season that was happening often enough, a real trend down the stretch, but postseason schemes are a different animal. This won’t be a series with much worth remembering outside of one win with historic shooting, but the history books will remember Adebayo doing all he could.

3. It’s understandable if some aren’t receptive to the idea that there was real value in youngsters like Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr. getting on-court experience against one of the best teams in the league, but it matters. It matters that they felt the postseason, felt how the game changes, how the pace and physicality and general rhythm of the game is unlike anything you see in the first 82. It matters that they were key parts of a road postseason win, that they could see what success on that stage looks like. It matters that they felt a postseason scout, how an opponent zeroes in on all your strengths and weaknesses, trying to take away the former while forcing you to the latter. It won’t seem like much now, but when the next season and the next series comes along, and there’s always a next season and next series, this will mean something for them. It’s one thing for everyone to tell you what the playoffs are like. There’s no substitute for first-hand experience.

It doesn’t hurt that both, with starters minutes, handled themselves well. Jaquez Jr. was leading the entire series in drives before his Game 4 injury, and Jovic was shooting the leather off the ball in key stretches while holding up on switches. Now we get to see what they do with this overload of information now readily available.

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Coup’s Takeaways: Boston Leads Wire To Wire As Miami’s Season Ends In First Round

1. Miami made their adjustments in Game 2. Boston countered in Game 3. The question coming into Game 4 was whether further adjustments were coming from either side, or if the best adjustment was going to have to be doing the things you’re already doing and doing them better.

It looked like the HEAT may have made one interesting tweak, opening in their zone coverage on the very first possession of the game, but it appeared to be more of a show than a tell as they returned to their man-to-man the possession after. Miami was also taking more threes through the first six minutes than they had in Game 3 when Boston made more of a concerted effort to pressure the ball and close out to shooters, but the shot profile became much more two-point dominant after that stretch. The good news was that Tyler Herro was managing Boston’s increased ball pressure in rhythm, setting himself up for three early scores on drives and another lob to Bam Adebayo. The bad news was that Derrick White was tossing fireballs around, hitting all variety of three pointers on his way to 22 first-half points on 6-of-9 from three.

After Boston scored 34 in the first quarter, again breaking Miami’s zone with threes, the HEAT settled things down in the second with their switching as Boston was unable to generate consistent makes no matter how many mismatches they hunted. Miami’s offense, however, struggled even more, 3-of-16 from three even including two early makes, their mid-range game coming up mostly empty. Only 19 in the quarter for the visitors, but only 12 for the HEAT, Boston leading by 17 at the break. Kristaps Porzingis leaving the game with a calf injury, doubtful to return, changed the look of the game, but Miami was already working uphill.

With Al Horford starting the second half, a quick 5-0 burst from Boston put the lead at 22. Miami was making them work for it, no doubt, as their switching held up, but consecutive White cuts down the middle for dunks as Jrue Holiday drew two in the post followed by a Jaylen Brown fast-break dunk eventually had it at 23. At 4-of-22 from three, Miami could neither find the makes nor the clean takes. Boston let Adebayo shoot one, though and a three from him and a burst from Patty Mills kept thing manageable at 22 before the end of the period, 81-59 headed into the fourth of a physical, grind-it-out night.

Some jumpers started to fall as the Celtics missed inside, the lead down to 15 with eight to play, but Boston immediately responded with a clean corner three from Holiday and a Tatum dunk down the middle. Back to 15 soon after, another couple jumpers falling, an Adebayo layup in transition forcing a Boston timeout with 5:21 to play, Miami within 13 – close enough to challenge Boston’s late-game offense. Right after that came a dead-ball flagrant foul on Adebayo against Tatum, a White floater after that pushing it back to 17 as time began running short. A few minutes of prevent offense later, Boston takes the game, 102-88, and the series lead to 3-1. Game 5 is Wednesday in Boston.

2. Much to the chagrin of everyone wearing white in the building, the story of the evening was Derrick White, his 38 points on 26 shots a clear standout on a night when just about nobody else had it going on either side – Tatum and Brown combining for only 37 points on 32 shots.

Some of it was spot-up threes, but so much of White’s night came on what would otherwise be All-Star level shots, drives and pull-up jumpers off the dribble including a heartbreaker in the first half, a hand in his face as the shot clock expired. As it has been for most of this series, Boston has had a clear plan and even clearer aggression whenever Miami toggled into zone, and tonight it was White taking an immediate, but not rushed, three as soon as he got a catch in the wing seam of the zone. With White also hounding ballhandlers on the other end, finishing with three blocks on top of it all, he’s the player of the night and then some. While Miami was missing crucial playmakers in Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, as they have all series, it was Boston’s fourth-leading player in usage rate, at less than 20 percent during the season, who had the Celtics working with a double-digit lead for most of the evening.

3. If there’s any silver lining to a game like this, there’s some solace to take in the fact that Miami’s switching scheme, which they’ve been using ever since Spoelstra’s adjustment in Game 2, has held up relative to the explosive scoring potential Boston has showed all season long. This was a 93-possession game, neither team playing much in transition as has been the case all series, Miami creating the pace that fits their style and playing with ball-pressuring physicality to match what the Celtics have been bringing on the other end. Boston only finished with an Offensive Rating of 108.5, well below their season average, Miami pushing them into the upper paint for most of their off-the-bounce looks with plenty of possessions going up against the clock. Granted, the Celtics missed quite a good looks in the paint after driving mismatches of their choosing, but some credit for that is due Miami’s help defenders for waiting until the right moments to collapses without allowing obvious kickout passing lanes.

If nothing else, Miami’s available players, beyond those like Adebayo (25 points on 22 shots) who have proven their defensive bonafides beyond a shadow of a doubt, have shown themselves capable of the physical style of defense required in postseason play. It doesn’t change the results, and Miami has a most difficult task ahead of them, but that’s not nothing given what they’re missing on offense. This group must be great defensively to give themselves a chance, and for the most part they have been.

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Coup’s Takeaways: HEAT Make Late Push But Derrick White Pushes Boston Into 3-1 Series Lead

1. After all that historic shooting in Game 2, Miami hitting a franchise postseason record 23 triples en route to that double-digit victory, the question on the minds of many was how much of that performance was sustainable.

Boston, it turns out, wasn’t interested in finding out. After leaving most anyone not named Tyler Herro or Duncan Robinson enough airspace to get shots off in the previous contest, helping well off to jam up pick-and-rolls, the Celtics came out with a different gameplan. No more helping one pass away, particularly out of the corners, and the ball pressure was dialed way up. The HEAT started off cold offensively, 1-of-10 from the floor and 0-of-4 from three, but they weren’t comparable shots to those they had made so many of before. Contested was the word of the day.

Fortunately for Miami, Boston wasn’t getting much better through most of the first quarter, only scoring 21 points themselves, the HEAT’s defense holding strong while the offense produced just 12. Yet as soon as the second quarter began, the lead began to stretch, Boston opening the period with back-to-back threes against the zone from Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser, and with Payton Pritchard pressuring ballhandlers into a couple messy turnovers, Boston held strong up 16-18 points until another late run pushed the lead into the 20’s. A 24-point game at the break after a 42-point quarter for the Celtics, Miami scoring just 39 points overall with an Offensive Rating of 84.8 while Boston was 8-of-21 from three with four players in double figures.

Better offense to open the third helped cut into the lead a little bit, Jaime Jaquez Jr. getting downhill and Herro canning a three, but a handful of easy Boston scores kept it from being much of a run. Miami turned up their own ball pressure, the Celtics mostly handling it well as the lead hung around 20, and for as much as the HEAT were scoring reasonably well they were still being pushed into the mid-range as they were in Game 1, the length of Porzingis a hinderance at the rim. Boston by 26 after three, another pair of deep shots coming against the zone when Adebayo (20 points on 18 shots) got his rest.

Not much to say about the fourth quarter, Boston holding strong as they took a 2-1 series lead with a 104-84 victory.

2. Comparing Miami’s offense from Game 2 to Game 3 is somewhere on the apples-to-oranges spectrum, the shot profile from their previous victory entirely unlike the shots the HEAT were getting tonight. Many came into this game wondering if Boston would adjust, much less how, and the answer was clearly less.

Miami’s shooters didn’t have the same space and Herro didn’t have remotely the same reads, no shooters open on the wings as he came off screens and handoffs. Instead, it was all ball pressure all the time from Boston’s side and while there remained some help on Herro’s actions it was softer, less deliberate and certainly not pre-loaded as it had been before. The difference in Miami’s process was that their three-point shot volume was nearly cut in half, what had previously been a catch-and-shoot three became upper paint attempts off the dribble. Herro, for example, only took two two-pointers in Game 2, but in Game 3 he had taken seven through three quarters of play. The HEAT can certainly shoot better than 12-of-31 in the upper paint, but their rim rate remained low with just eight attempts. Credit Boston for being willing to alter their gameplan just as the HEAT did before Game 2. Now we see how Miami adjusts.

3. The HEAT’s big defensive adjustment going into Game 2 was to put Adebayo on Tatum and switch everything, which led to Boston’s halfcourt offense slowing down as they settled for chasing one-on-one matchups. Still, their halfcourt offensive rating in that game was a flat 100, still above average.

Tonight, that number was 113 before starters were pulled with a few minutes to go. It wasn’t because Boston caught fire from three, shooting just 29.7 percent on 37 shots – though their makes against the zone were particularly harmful, as they came in bunches and led to short runs both times Adebayo sat – but until the late game when Tatum and Jaylen Brown (44 combined points on 36 shots) started draining the clock a little, there was more verve to the way Boston was moving in the halfcourt, a calm but intentional approach as they committed just five turnovers. No one player dominated the ball, White and Porzingis getting early touches as their efficiency (34 points on 23 shots) proved the difference after Boston’s role players came up mostly empty in Game 2. Boston ended the night with a 122.6 Offensive Rating despite fairly average shooting across the board. With their switching approach the HEAT will likely live with, unless they adjust, some one-on-one scores, but there are some possessions – transition scores, backdoor cuts in the halfcourt, White putting back a missed free-throw – that will surely be a point of emphasis in the coming days.

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Coup’s Takeaways: Celtics Adjust Their Defense, Take 2-1 Series Lead

1. It’s always been said in at least a little jest that the best adjustment you can make in a playoff series is to come out and make half your threes, but after the HEAT literally did just that in three games during the Eastern Conference Finals last season, it’s not so much of a joke anymore.

After attempting just 14 threes in the first half of Game 1 while Boston launched 30, Miami has since been trying to correct that math problem and came out firing in Game 2, 14 of their first 18 shots coming from the arc, with eight makes, as they took a one-point lead after the first quarter. Adjustments also came on defense, Bam Adebayo starting out on Jayson Tatum and less help coming on Boston’s one-on-one attacks, but it was the shooting more than anything else that created any separation.

Things started to tilt Boston’s direction early in the second, Miami’s zone still struggling with five deadly shooters on the floor at all times, and you could feel things starting to slip a bit. Those feelings never lasted for more than a few moments, the HEAT always with a three in response – seven combined from Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin in the first half – to manage momentum. The HEAT’s increasing reticence to bring early defensive help was pushing down Boston’s catch-and-shoot looks, but the paint became more vulnerable as a result, Tatum and Jaylen Brown barreling down the lanes as the Celtics outscored Miami 28-10 in the paint. It remained Miami’s advantage, even with some turnovers going the other direction, but three straight Brown (33 points on 23 shots) threes to end the half stole the lead right back. Boston by three at the break despite Miami setting a new season high for threes in any half with 13.

More threes coming in the third, many of them quite open with Adebayo creating an open one for Herro in the corner with a tough screen, Haywood Highsmith on the catch at the top of the arc, a run-capping pick-six putting Miami up 10 with 4:10 remaining in the third. This time it was Jovic getting the backup five minutes, Boston’s offense stuck in the mud right until it wasn’t with Tatum getting going. Still just an 18-point quarter for Boston, Miami up to 19 threes for just the fourth time this season as they held on to a six-point advantage going into the fourth.

Boston kept slow rolling it on offense, missing good looks but initiating late in the clock, a pair of misses at the line from Tatum (28 points on 20 shots) a good illustration of how things were going for them. More threes for Miami, Highsmith and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Delon Wright all off the catch, puts the HEAT up nine with five minutes to play. Down to six with 3:15 to play, Derrick White keeping Boston alive with a tough three over Adebayo, Herro in control with the ball in hands the whole way. Miami never wavered, Martin (21 points on 12 shots) sticking the shot of the night from the left wing for his fifth three, and this one didn’t even qualify for clutch designation. Miami takes it, 111-101, and ties the series with the next two in Miami.

2. We’ll get to the shooting in a moment, because it was unbelievably important, but first a note about the defense. Through the first two quarter Boston was just fine, their shooting coming and going but their interior attack pacing them, 17 rim attempts to Miami’s two, as they overtook the HEAT’s perimeter approach for that three-point lead at the break.

Slowly, in the second half, things started to shift. Those driving layups becoming short floaters and fallaway jumpers, shots that rimmed in rimmed out, early attacks bogged down as the Celtics held the ball, chasing matchups against the clock. With Adebayo on Tatum or Brown requiring time-killing actions to shake Adebayo off and generate a matchup, and Porzingis unable to post-up smaller players, Miami’s adjustment not to help as quickly and definitively on those one-on-one attacks played a big part. Even as Tatum and Brown scored, Boston wasn’t earning those defense-tilting opportunities that turn into so many threes, and as the game slowed down it worked more and more in Miami’s favor. In the end, for all the shots Miami made they only scored 53 points in the second half on their own. It was holding Boston to 40 in those final two periods, and just 32 attempts from three, that secured this one. Though of course all those run-stopping Miami makes helped, too, with Boston forced into the halfcourt.

3. Over the past two seasons, Miami now has four postseason games against Boston with at least 50 percent shooting from three. No other team has more than one such game, against anyone. That is, frankly, unbelievable. It was unbelievable when Miami rode that shooting to the NBA Finals last season, and it was unbelievable tonight, with such balanced shooting up and down the roster. And that’s what makes it such a cool sports story. This stuff isn’t supposed to happen, yet here is Miami, making it happen.

It'll be worth a deeper dive into Miami’s franchise postseason record 23-of-43 from the arc, five players hitting at least three including the youngsters Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic along with defensive stalwarts Highsmith and Martin, but for now there are a few points worth ruminating on. First, Adebayo (21 points on 13 shots) deserves a ton of credit for how his screens created good looks, especially for Herro (24 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 6-of-11 from deep), as does Herro who took the extra pressure Boston was throwing at him and finding the open spots in the defense when his pullup jumper wasn’t available. With 14 assists, there’s a case that this was the best playmaking game of Herro’s career.

There’s also a bit of schematic choice at play, just as there was last season. Last year Boston sagged off players like Martin and Martin punished them with an incredible series. Tonight, Boston wasn’t closing out hard on most shooters who weren’t Herro or Duncan Robinson (with a couple tough makes), their help off those shooters jamming up the paint for potential drives – Miami was 5-of-8 in the restricted area – but creating comfortable space to take advantage of. Last year Boston didn’t adjust their gambit much as they came back to force Game 7 only to get burned again by Martin in that same game. We’ll see how and whether they adjust to this performance, and what that might open up for Miami moving forward. On top of it all, Boston still chose to single cover Adebayo’s isolations, and Adebayo answered with four huge scores in the fourth, all in the upper paint and mid-range, as he capitalized.

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Coup's Takeaways: Herro, Adebayo And Historic Shooting Take Game 2 In Boston

1. It wasn’t always pretty, but the most important thing that happened tonight was that the HEAT, without Jimmy Butler or Terry Rozier, won the game they had to win to extend their season.

Early lead for Chicago in what wasn’t even a slow start for Miami, both teams just scoring exceedingly well. After an early barrage of Bulls threes their offense slowed to a crawl – Bam Adebayo drew the early assignment on DeMar DeRozan – and the makes kept coming for the HEAT, Jaime Jaquez Jr. dropping in eight in what was mostly a balanced scoring effort which produced a 19-0 and eventually a 25-11 run. We’ve said it many times this season, but there are shots the HEAT’s defense, all those bodies helping in the paint on drives, are going to give up and most of the time, unless you have elite-tier mid-range talent, you have to hit those shots at an average rate to give yourself a chance. Instead, Chicago’s three-point percentages hovered around 20 percent, good and contested looks both coming, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu getting blocked on layup attempts as only DeMar DeRozan mustered up much of anything inside the arc.

A 34-17 lead after the first quarter eventually ballooned to 20, Duncan Robinson getting some threes to fall in his return to the rotation, but then everything stalled out for Miami. About five minutes passed without a point for the HEAT, Chicago’s on-ball defense plugging a few leaks with only Tyler Herro available to generate and create at volume in pick-and-roll. Chicago had the opportunities. More than a few of them, in fact. But while Miami went cold they missed at least four wide open threes, the lead staying put at 11 at the HEAT danced between a few raindrops. HEAT by 10 at the break, offensive efficiency nothing home to write about for either side, two quarters left for someone to earn the right to go to Boston.

Back to 15 at the first timeout of the third as Jaquez Jr. cruised in for a dunk, Chicago trying to take advantage of mismatches for Nikola Vucevic inside but coming up mostly empty. Miami’s lead could have been more, but the next stretch was all trading baskets, Tyler Herro flipping a behind-the-back pass on the break to Caleb Martin followed immediately by White hitting turbo on the way to the rim at the other end. All Kevin Love post-ups on guards for the next bit, Chicago going with a small-ball lineup but also not offering much help on the mismatch. That Bulls lineup last but a couple of possessions, Andre Drummond coming back in, and soon after Miami was up 20 on a Herro three in transition. A 35-point quarter for Miami in all, up to 40 percent from three as Chicago struggled on both sides of the floor.

All Miami the rest of the way, 112-91 at the end, little to question as travel plans to Boston locked in while crowd chants of “We Want Boston” were most definitely heard. There’s a steep hill yet to climb, but there’s something to be said for taking care of business without your star. This is not a group to stop short, always running through the rope regardless of their positioning.

2. A game after his 25 points on 27 shots performance in Miami’s loss at Philadelphia, Tyler Herro turned in a near-triple double with 24 points on 17 shots, 10 rebounds and nine assists. And here’s the thing, he didn’t play all that differently than he did against the 76ers. Fewer shots were taken because fewer shots were required, a sometimes-porous Chicago defense presenting driving opportunities for Herro’s teammates as he made right play after right play, finishing +32 on the night in 33 minutes.

The point after Philadelphia was that Herro was put in the position, without Butler or Rozier available, to be Miami’s only true high-volume option with the ball in his hands, a role he hasn’t typically played in high leverage situations. He missed his looks against the 76ers – making a bunch late as Miami almost won the game – and made them tonight, reliably able to work his two-man game with Adebayo against the drop coverage of both Embiid and Vucevic. Credit to Herro for responding after a tough night without having to change much to his floor game. And against Boston, you never know, there might be a night or two when 25 shots are what’s required.

A nice night for Jaquez Jr. on top of it all, 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, a couple shoulders- first drives punctuated by timely cuts which ended in dunks. Jaquez Jr. was the primary alternative to Herro the other night in Philadelphia as far as on-ball work, and he too responded with a winning night.

3. The most interesting tactical decision of the night was Erik Spoelstra putting Adebayo on DeRozan from the opening tip. Being one of the best one-on-one defenders in the league, that’s not a matchup you worry about for Adebayo even against one of the league’s best one-on-one scorers. It’s the rest of the defense holding up which decides whether a move like that works out or not.

Let’s just say it worked. Chicago tried getting it in to Vucevic in the post, but the rest of Miami’s rotation did well enough fighting for position, doubling when appropriate and generally keeping Chicago’s center at 12 feet instead of six. Sure, Vucevic missed a handful of makeable hooks and floaters, but that’s the gambit when you move your starting center onto a shooting guard. The disruption to Chicago’s normal offensive flow was enough, the rest of their offense reduced to drive-and-kick threes with the paint packed, and those threes never fell with any regularity  (13-of-43 overall) after those first few minutes. Once bench units rotated in Haywood Highsmith was able to take on the DeRozan (22 points on 16 shots, -20) assignment, another matchup with no red flags, and sprinkle in a little zone in the Love minutes and you have your typical defensive HEAT game with a creative flourish from Spoelstra. Miami’s offense may have come back to life after that second quarter lull, but it was on the other end of the floor where they dictated the terms of engagement. The Bulls were perpetually on their heels.

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Coup's Takeaways: HEAT Earn Fourth Boston Series In Five Years With Dominant Second Half Against Chicago

1. You never know what to expect from the HEAT once the regular season is over. But year after year, the one thing you know is going to come up sooner or later is Erik Spoelstra’s zone defense.

An inauspicious start from both sides as offenses looked flat and sluggish, Miami only scoring two points in the first five minutes as Bam Adebayo picked up two early fouls and Jimmy Butler suffering a knee injury while remaining in the game. But they were also only down 9-2 after that opening salvo, the damage mitigated, and once Kevin Love came in Miami went almost exclusively to zone and the run began. No team saw more of Miami’s zone than Philadelphia this season, 116 possessions in all, but the 76ers struggled to find any passing angles beyond swinging the ball around the horn, so many interior passes tipped, deflected or stolen. The HEAT would have made a quicker run had they capitalized on more of their fast-break opportunities, nine first-half steals in all, but with their opponent turning in one empty possession after another they had the time and space to slow roll it, taking a one-point lead after the first that stretched to 12 after Philadelphia mustered just 17 in the second, the ball rarely finding Joel Embiid in the center of that zone as Tyrese Maxey and Kyle Lowry did what they could to keep that offense afloat – an 84.8 Offensive Rating through two. Meanwhile, a pair of threes from Delon Wright, working the top of that zone with Haywood Highsmith, gave Miami all the added offense they needed.

HEAT held serve early in the third, back to man-to-man with Embiid creating touches by bringing the ball up, the game still in just enough mud to Miami’s liking. Then the run came, a Nic Batum three followed by a steal-and-score shrinking the lead to six. A three-point game after a timeout, this time a Buddy Hield three. Miami held on, seemingly finding a three every time the 76ers clawed within one possession, but it was only a five-point game after three.

All tied a minute into the fourth, an Embiid three against the zone, then a Philadelphia lead, Batum hitting his fifth three. Then it was Miami’s turn to hang around, every time the 76ers threatened to go up three possessions they found some offense, a tough Adebayo finish, a Herro three, a Butler pick-six. Clutch game, of course, Miami by one with four to play as offensive rebounds pushed them in front. Back-and-forth, tied with a minute left as Butler was clearly limited while Tyler Herro answered the call after a rough shooting night. Philadelphia goes up three with 36 seconds to play on a Kelly Oubre Jr. and-one in the paint, and after a Miami timeout Herro was blocked on a pull-up three, Maxey headed to the line to put his team up five. A quick two from Haywood Highsmith made it three again, Philadelphia ball as they used their last timeout trying to inbound. Miami played the quick-two-and-foul game from there, the 76ers making their free-throws, and it was still five with 8.2 left, Miami taking their final timeout.

No miracles, Philadelphia closing it out 105-104 after a Herro three. Miami will host the second Play-In game this Friday, facing the winner of Atlanta and Chicago for the right to play Boston.

2. This one turned in the second half when Philadelphia’s approach and aggressiveness against the zone changed. In the first half Miami’s defenders, especially Highsmith and Wright, were in every passing lane, the 76ers holding the ball at the top of the floor, passing it back and forth looking for the angles that never appeared. It was as good as Miami’s zone has looked all season, against the team that saw it the most.

No more standing around making short passes for the 76ers in the second half. Nic Batum was the story, scoring 20 on 12 shots including 6-of-10 from three, but he wasn’t getting those looks all on his own. Instead it was players like Maxey and Hield, catching the ball with forward momentum or attacking the closeout to get in the middle of the floor, the collapsed defense creating those looks for Batum. No longer were the 76ers trying to force the ball into their best player, instead capitalizing on the interior gravity Embiid created behind that first layer of the zone shell, Embiid getting his touches either by attacking outside-in or waiting for the toggle back to man-to-man. Philadelphia only wound up with an Offensive Rating of 112.9, but they scored 66 in the final two quarters and it was their adjustment against the zone – either shoot it or drive it, don’t hold it – that changed the tenor of the night.

3. If you didn’t watch the entire game you might see Jimmy Butler’s 19 points on 18 shots and wonder what happened, and the answer is that he clearly wasn’t himself after that early knee injury, to the point that he was standing in the corner for Miami’s late-game offensive possessions, ceding control to Herro and even rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. (15 points on 11 shots).

Take the knee injury out of the equation for a moment, though, and also take a look at Bam Adebayo’s 10 points on nine shots. As expected, Philadelphia played the same brand of paint-packing, lane-flooding, strong-side overloading defense Miami has seen for the past two months. Even if Butler was right, he had a second layer of help defense present on all of his drives, the same for Adebayo who had hands swiping at his touches with Embiid between him and the rim. There’s a reason Miami took 39 threes, a total not inflated by late-game comeback attempts with the HEAT going for quick twos – those are the shots that were there, with Herro trying to punish Embiid’s drop coverage off the bounce. Herro may have scored 25 on 29 shots, but keep in mind he was the bulk of Miami’s on-ball creation for large swathes of the night, and along with his nine assists he also made plays down the stretch to give the HEAT a chance.

Miami only scored 86.3 points per 100 plays in the halfcourt, buoyed by their season-high 18 offensive rebounds, but the context was that with Terry Rozier out with a neck injury, Butler limited and Adebayo seeing a loaded up defense, once Philadelphia’s turnovers calmed down at the HEAT had to score in the halfcourt, the burden fell to Herro with Batum and Hield and Maxey and Oubre Jr. all pressing up and attacking his dribble. That Miami only lost by one despite being limited to one high-usage ballhandler in the second half is a testament to all the other things they did well enough to put them in position.

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Coup's Takeaways: Philadelphia Earns No. 7 Seed In Back-And-Forth Battle

The Miami HEAT splits the season series 2-2 with the Philadelphia 76ers, winning the first two matchups including a meeting on Christmas Day that featured the best performance of the season from Jaime Jaquez Jr. The 76ers won both matchups since adding Kyle Lowry - signed after Miami traded Lowry to Charlotte for Terry Rozier - including the most recent game, April 4, which also marked the only appearance by both Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler in all four meetings.

Game 1, December 25: This might have been a special Christmas Day game, it certainly wound up as one for a certain rookie, but there was nothing unusual about how the start of this one played out.

You’re telling me one team went up double digits only for the other team to lead by the end of the first quarter? Must be HEAT game. Again without Jimmy Butler Miami had four turnovers in the first four minutes as the 76ers jumped out front thanks to the interior stylings of Tobias Harris, but almost as soon as the HEAT went down 18-8 they soon began what would eventually be a 22-1 run stretched across two quarters, during which the 76ers failed to make a shot from the field for eight straight minutes. With Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. – playing the part of Jimmy Butler again as Miami’s source of rim pressure – handling the volume scoring, Bam Adebayo was electric playing the part of help defender on the other end. When Adebayo sat, Philadelphia couldn’t get into the paint as the HEAT packed it, and there weren’t enough threes from the outside to compensate.

As HEAT eventually took a 63-49 lead into the break, Philadelphia was sitting on an Offensive Rating of 94.2, dropping down to 62.5 in the half-court excluding offensive rebounds. Miami was able to find similar production for their missing star, but the 76ers’ offense, with Tyrese Maxey going scoreless through the first two periods, had no way of finding another inside-out gravitational force.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Miami was up 21 and it was maybe looking like a drama-free holiday. Two minutes after that, back to just 10 again as the 76ers found their shooting. As the HEAT suddenly ran cold with Philadelphia in zone – at times something closer to a 1-3-1 than 2-3, a hybrid style like what Miami uses – the 76ers ran off a 20-4 run to get within five. By the end of the quarter it was all tied, Philadelphia having taken a brief lead.

More zone from Philadelphia to open the fourth, against which Miami random offense’d – cuts, free-throws, offensive boards – their way back into the lead. With Maxey still struggling, 2-of-17 with 6:50 remaining, the question was where Philadelphia was going to find enough offense to put them over the top. Turns out, they wouldn’t, as Miami took this clutch game, 119-113, on the strength of some late Duncan Robinson threes (some missed 76ers free-throws helped, too), with Erik Spoelstra improving to 9-0 on Christmas Day. On the night Philadelphia’s best remaining player in Maxey (12 points on 20 shots) had his worst game of the season, Miami’s rookie had his best (30 points on 15 shots, 10 rebounds, zero turnovers).

Game 2, February 14: If you enjoy early offense, this was the game for you. At least in the first half.

With Miami on a back-to-back following their rousing victory in Milwaukee last night and Philadelphia missing just about half their rotation, this wasn’t a game for defense despite the efforts of both coaches to mix in a variety of coverages. The first open look available was going up and, more often than not, in.

Philadelphia opened up a three-possession lead fairly quickly on the strength of Buddy Hield and Tyrese Maxey getting to their spots and making jumpers, but even as Miami trailed they never appeared to be struggling to find good opportunities. Just as he did against Milwaukee, Tyler Herro was able to walk into pull-up threes or otherwise explore the real estate ahead of him with the 76ers playing a ton of drop coverage – Duncan Robinson also linked up with Bam Adebayo for consecutive lobs against the same look – just about any drive had an open kick option and with Philadelphia’s backline defenders hitting the snooze button there was cut after cut after cut for easy two pointers. It’s not often that Miami goes 14-of-17 at the rim in a half, but all you had to do was watch a handful of possessions to understand why it was happening.

Hield and Maxey never quite slowed down, though, combining for 34 points – Hield even launching 1-on-5 threes before any of his teammates were back and canning them – to keep the home team out front by two at the break. Philadelphia’s attempts weren’t quite as obvious at the HEAT’s with more scattershot possessions mixed in, but talent does as talent does.

Miami opened the second half in zone as the 76ers opened up another seven-point lead, only for the game to change when Maxey had a teammate step on his foot and roll his ankle leading to Maxey going back to the locker room. Miami, cooling off from three, didn’t exactly capitalize on that period with Philadelphia lacking in ballhandling as Paul Reed finished inside, still down three when Maxey returned later in the quarter, but Duncan Robinson’s perfect night (4-of-4 from three at that point) tied it up anyway as part of an 11-0 run. Miami by one at the break, the rhythm of the game broken down but the vulnerability in the interior unchanged, an offense-first game starting to lack in offense.

Plenty of Sixers fouls early in the fourth to put Miami in the bonus even as the Sixers had gained the lead again, all that early offense gone the way of drag-it-out zone. It looked like Miami might cruise in the final minutes as Philadelphia struggled to find looks, Herro creating sufficient offense on the other end, but a quick burst closed things to three with just over 50 seconds to play before Jaime Jaquez Jr. enjoyed a free run to the rim to dunk in a Robinson miss. One Adebayo (23 points on 14 shots, 14 rebounds) offensive rebound later, Miami takes it 109-104 as they head into the All-Star break.

Game 3, March 18: Miami hasn’t seen the full-strength Philadelphia 76ers during the regular season with Joel Embiid having missed all three matchups, and the same goes in the other direction with Jimmy Butler missing each game as well. Those absences may have taken some juice out of the storylines, but these teams came into the night tied in the standings at 37-30 and each contest has been highly competitive.

Tonight was no different, with Tyrese Maxey coming out of the gates firing on his way to 17 first quarter points while Bam Adebayo did his best to match him. Maxey’s run was enough to get his team out to a 31-21 advantage, but the HEAT ran off a 10-0 run of their own stretching into the second quarter using their press-zone to stymie a Sixers bench group that started small and eventually went even smaller with KJ Martin at center. It wasn’t pretty, both sides hovering around an Offensive Rating of 100, and it certainly didn’t feel like a postseason preview, but bodies were flying around with players on both sides making second and third effort plays. Philadelphia, with Kyle Lowry now in uniform, eventually found the creases in the zone and thus their own footing to take back the lead, 51-49, going into the break, but the HEAT, with Adebayo putting up a two-quarter line of 19-9-5, were a couple of bad turnovers and missed shots at the rim away from a decent lead of their own.

The upper hand went to the Sixers early in the third, back-to-back threes from Lowry and Mo Bamba putting them up 63-51 with a 12-2 run as Miami struggled to find good looks on their own end. Another Miami timeout followed just a couple minutes later as the Sixers scored a pair of buckets in scramble situations, the lead up to 17 at that point. Miami, on a back-to-back, stuck with it, a few scores allowing them to set back up in the press-zone again, but Maxey held out the stiff arm to keep Miami at bay even with Adebayo hitting his fifth consecutive three. Still just an 11-point game after a Highsmith three in the corner, but that was short lived, Sixers up 14 going into the fourth with Duncan Robinson out for the game with back discomfort.

A Thomas Bryant three bounced sky high and in to open the fourth to give Miami a little traction, the lead soon after down to seven with the zone again bothering Philadelphia’s bench unit. Back-to-back pullup threes from Terry Rozier followed, Miami hitting jumpers and forcing turnovers, and so it was tied. Clutch minutes followed, Philadelphia jumping up six as the HEAT sent double teams at Maxey, Lowry (16 points on 11 shots) making plays on both sides of the ball as he and Maxey handled the zone with more poise than the backups. Caleb Martin stole the inbounds with the shot clock about to turn off and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a corner look with Miami down four, but it bounced off and the Sixers closed this one out, 98-81, as Philadelphia moves up to No. 6 in the Eastern Conference.

Game 4, April 4: Miami has had many, many games with Philadelphia in recent seasons and we’ve seen all variety of outcomes, clutch games, late blowouts, early blowouts, the works. But we haven’t seen much in the way of weird, wacky and strange until tonight.

The HEAT couldn’t get much of anything going at the open, shots not falling as nothing going towards the rim – the 76ers swarmed the paint anytime the ball got going downhill – with Philadelphia jumping out to a 17-2 lead with a hot start from Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, who made his return from knee surgery just two days ago. In true Miami fashion, just as soon as things appeared dire they found a new gear, a couple threes getting them back within seven before the Sixers pushed it all the way back to 16.

Then Haywood Highsmith entered the game and Erik Spoelstra dialed up the press-zone, Highsmith forcing two backcourt steals which led to an 8-0 run without Philadelphia even getting the ball across halfcourt. Even more Highsmith – impossibly, incredulously, ludicrously locked in against his former franchise – after that, back-to-back threes, including one off the glass, dropping in, Miami eventually snatching the lead at 46-43. Then Maxey and Embiid (45 first-half points combined) got going again, Embiid working his way into post position and Maxey hunting small-small pick-and-rolls for mismatches, to go all the way backup by 16 again. As is that wasn’t a wild enough ride, the HEAT put together a quick 8-0 run to finish the half, a Bam Adebayo and-one as Embiid pressured him at the top of the arc and a Terry Rozier buzzer beater after a steal mitigating the damage. Still an eight point game after two quarters, but outside of some misses on open threes against the zone Philadelphia had it going in the halfcourt while it was the transition game, particularly those pick-sixes, that kept Miami’s offense afloat.

The second half wasn’t about to cease with the strangeness, Miami still relying – you could sense pace had been emphasized – on their fast-break while Maxey and Embiid worked incredible nights out of more methodical offense. Every time the Sixers made a mistake, the HEAT capitalized. Every time the HEAT made a run, the Sixers answered. Once again, the bench unit and the zone made the greatest impression, finishing the quarter – the end of quarters were their comfort zone tonight –on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Jimmy Butler attack. Miami by one going into the fourth of a livewire, but somewhat stylistically perplexing, contest.

Suddenly, Miami by eight, a 17-0 run in all, which quickly became two after a couple Philadelphia threes against the zone. Then it was the Sixers’ turn to try zone, which Miami was prepared for, scoring on a couple cuts to go up eight again, Spoelstra going with long stretches of Kevin Love and his five-out look. A couple minutes later, following a Kelly Oubre Jr. corner look, Philly was back up one. Back and forth and back and forth. In the end the offense stalled, Maxey extending it just enough, and even though a contested Rozier (22 points on 20 shots) three fell to give Miami life an extended HEAT possession came up empty and that was it. Miami loses an important game in the race to escape the Play-In Tournament, 109-105, as they head to Houston overnight for a back-to-back.

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The Season That Was Vs. Philadelphia

1. At this stage of the season, with either the Play-In or the Playoffs looming, a nice breath of fresh air is always appreciated.

Even with nothing to play for, standings wise, Toronto played this one out with the regular that were available and nobody was exactly sleepwalking through the on-court proceedings. This was a real game, through and through, and Miami was two steps ahead almost the entire way through two quarters.

Toronto’s starters, running five-out with Kelly Olynyk, ran some decent offense during the opening stretch, keeping things tied at 10. Once they dipped into their rotation, all that stopped, the lack of interior pressure allowing Miami to pressure up on the perimeter, conceding the occasional straight-line drive but otherwise jamming up the opposition. Raptors still managed a respectable, average Offensive Rating even with just four makes from the arc, but without the ability to stop much of anything Miami was doing on the other end, the scoring gap widened and widened.

Two quarters are only two quarters, but these might have been the best Miami has had in weeks when it comes to straight up shot quality, wide open threes on top of wide open driving lanes on top of wide open cutting lanes, nothing at all required in the mid-range as they shot 9-of-22 from deep and 12-of-13 at the rim, Toronto unable to keep up past the first drive-and-kick rotation. They did double Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in the post, continuing that big-picture trend, but beyond a couple against-the-clock possessions there wasn’t enough else getting in Miami’s way as they posted an Offensive Rating over 150. HEAT by 16 at the break, little coming from Toronto which required holding off.

The lead was 20 soon enough, but again Toronto’s starters put together some offense, RJ Barrett getting to the rim as Miami’s offense hit a lull. Raptors had a couple shots to get it down to single digits, the threes just didn’t cooperate. Those chances were their last, Miami’s bench again extending the lead to offer a comfortable cushion even as Toronto hung within 20. So went the fourth quarter, so went the game, 125-103 for Miami, doing the work to keep hope alive for getting out of the Play-In.

2. At this point of the season, when you’re fulfilling the schedule against a lottery-bound team as you hope for help from elsewhere in the standings, there isn’t much learning left to do. We know what we’re going to know about this group, and a team like Toronto isn’t going to present any reason for that to change.

It was, however, another nice game for Nikola Jovic in a string of nice games for Nikola Jovic, hitting 4-of-10 from three, 22 points on 17 shots in all, and keeping his body moving to capitalize on those cutting lanes. Tyler Herro (17 points on 10 shots) kept the offense moving, as did Butler (seven assists), and those five-out bench units with Kevin Love had the Toronto bench groups in constant closeout mode. Miami shot better than 40 percent from three again tonight but their Offensive Rating sustained well over 130 for most of the night, unlike against Dallas on Wednesday, because everything in the paint was alive and active. Nothing about this game resembled the playoffs, but it was full of things you want to see headed into them.

3. Time for another standings update, where Orlando lost to Philadelphia to keep Miami’s hopes of getting out of the Play-In alive and Indiana lost to Cleveland (who clinched a postseason spot). If Miami wants to get to No. 6 or even No. 5, the two things that have to happen on Sunday are a Miami win over Toronto and an Orlando loss to Milwaukee, with either an Indiana loss to Atlanta (their spot is locked in) or a Philadelphia loss to Brooklyn (with nothing to play for). Not exactly likely, but it’s possible.

One important factor is that with Milwaukee playing Orlando on Sunday – the Bucks lost in Oklahoma City and New York beat Brooklyn – and the No. 2 spot up for grabs, we don’t yet know how those teams will manage that game, or how any other teams will manage any other game, for that matter. Some teams prioritize seeding and/or home court, some team prioritize health, not wanting to deal with any injuries in the final game of the regular season. Again, Orlando has to lose for Miami to have a chance of getting out of the Play-In – that division title all important in multi-team tiebreakers – while Orlando, Indiana and Philadelphia are all possible opponents in the Play-In.