The Philadelphia 76ers had a big challenge in front of them on Saturday as they took on the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back. Without the help of Danny Green or Matisse Thybulle, the Sixers had to find a way to contain Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry in order to get it done.
They did so in a huge way as Butler was held to just 1-for-11 shooting and Lowry was held to just 2-for-11 shooting as the Sixers went on to win it 109-98 in an impressive effort. It was a big night for Philadelphia and they were able to take advantage of it all to get it done.
“They missed shots,” said coach Doc Rivers. “They’re great players. They just didn’t make every shot. They had some open shots. Duncan Robinson had some open shots, but we missed open shots as well. The other part of it was they were defended. We got into their bodies. We took away what we wanted to try take away.”
Rivers is right at the point where Butler and Lowry missed a lot of easy looks and even Robinson going 0-for-8 from deep is not a normal night for him. The Sixers just played solid team defense in order to get the job done against a very good Heat team who plays well together.
“Just us packing in the paint a little bit,” added Tobias Harris. “We know they’re a team that moves really well without the basketball, so being able to show crowds of guys who are driving and being able to get out to shooters. But really for us, it was the ability to make shots and allow them to have to setup their offense. I thought we did a really good job in helping each other, especially in the stretch in the second half where we got a lot of stops.”
Still, the fact that the Sixers held them to such tough nights on the offensive end is something that is really impressive. The team defense they presented to both of them was something they can build on.
“They’re both great players,” Joel Embiid added. “They bring something special and different to their team whether it’s playmaking or scoring so it’s always a tough task to guard them, but I think we did a great job. They like to drive and kick. I was frustrated at the beginning of the game because I kept challenging shots and their bigs would just get offensive rebounds and keep scoring, but I think we did a better job in the second half and not allowing them to get in the paint. We also limited their 3s.”
The Sixers will now have to carry this effort into Monday’s matchup with the Washington Wizards.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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