The Philadelphia 76ers were right there. They battled all night against a physical Miami Heat team and their zone defense as they showed off an impressive form of resilience after the loss to the Orlando Magic the night before.
Then, the miscues popped up and it was costly.
Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 35 points and 11 rebounds, but he had three turnovers on the night including one that allowed Miami’s Tyler Herro to drain a heroic 3-pointer to put the Heat in front. The Sixers were able to recover and force overtime, but the mistakes continued in the extra session and it led to a 117-116 overtime loss.
“It starts with me,” said Embiid. “I turned the ball over. I could have done much better than I did.”
Coach Brett Brown was surprised at Embiid’s turnovers late. He expected the big man to get rid of the ball when the extra defender came over.
“There were lots of people open,” said Brown. “I thought he was going to throw the ball. It’s like time stood still. I kept expecting him to go find an open player. He didn’t and they got a piece of the ball and made a tough three-pointer at the end.”
The Heat did send an extra defender at the big man, but he didn’t see him.
“I did not,” he added. “I was expecting them to foul me and also I didn’t want to make a pass that would lead to a turnover. Obviously, I turned the ball over.”
After a disappointing loss to the Magic on Friday and then this one on Saturday, there’s no choice but to pick themselves back up and move forward as a team. They face a tough Indiana Pacers squad on Tuesday that they have to prepare for now.
“Just stick together, we just keep fighting,” the big man added. “We’ve just got to be better.” [lawrence-related id=22355,22348,22319]