The Philadelphia 76ers are heating up, winning their fourth-straight game Saturday night with a dominant 113-86 victory over the Miami Heat. They were led by Josh Richardson, who put on quite a show against his former team.
This one was over quickly, as the Sixers used a 24-4 run to open up a 25-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Philadelphia surrendered just 13 first-quarter points, setting a tone and never looking back.
By halftime, the margin had grown to 30, and at the end of the third quarter it stood at 37. Miami trimmed a few points off the final margin in garbage time, with the Sixers walking away with a 27-point win.
As we mentioned, Richardson was the star, ensuring that the Heat were never able to get back into the game. He finished with a season-high 32 points, connecting on 11-of-15 shots including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. He added four assists, a rebound, and a steal in an absolutely sparkling performance. It certainly had to be tough to watch from a Heat perspective.
Richardson wasn’t alone in his excellent play. Joel Embiid put forth another double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. He added two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Tobias Harris continued his strong play, contributing 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting with eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Al Horford added 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists while connecting on 7-of-9 field goals.
Ben Simmons was quiet offensively, scoring just four points. But he added eight rebounds and seven assists and he continued to be huge on the defensive end, swiping four steals.
It was a wonderful all-around performance from the Sixers. They shot 50.6% from the field and 48.3% from beyond the arc. They won the rebounding battle 44-38, dished out 28 assists, and had 11 steals. Meanwhile, they held Miami to 40% shooting and just 25% from deep.
On Saturday night the Sixers looked like we expected them to look coming into the season. The result was a pleasure to watch and earned them a resounding victory over a tough Heat team that was actually ahead of the Sixers in the standings.
The Sixers improved to 11-5 on the season and remained perfect at home, where they are now 7-0. The team will look to continue its impressive play on Monday when it gets another stiff test in the form of the Toronto Raptors. That game is scheduled for 7:30 PM from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. [lawrence-related id=19933]