CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers will play host to the Miami Heat in the play-in tournament on Wednesday in the 7 vs. 8 matchup. The winner will be the No. 7 seed and take on the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. The loser will have to prepare for another play-in game on Friday.
The Sixers will, obviously, depend on Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to get the job done against the Heat, but Kyle Lowry will be a factor.
“I think in general, I would lean on him, as I do with some of the other vets,” said coach Nick Nurse at practice on Monday. “Obviously, with our little bit longer relationship, I probably have a little bit more conversations with him just because of the comfort factor. He knows a lot of what I’m thinking and I know what he’s thinking a little bit. We go over some of that stuff.”
Lowry had been with the Heat for 2 1/2 seasons before joining Philadelphia in February. He knows how Miami operates, and he was with the Heat on their run from the play-in to the finals in 2023.
“Certainly, in this, he knows this team very well,” Nurse added. “He’s played for them, right? So he knows the personnel and he knows some inner workings of things that he thinks they might do. We’ve been talking about those this morning.”
At this stage of the season, everybody knows what everybody runs. It’s no secret. Especially, with film and other scouting, but Lowry will be able to give the Sixers an idea of how to slow the Heat.
“Obviously, having Kyle, he’s been in that system,” added KJ Martin. “He knows guys’ tendencies and stuff like that. Obviously, we watch film on and off so just having him on the court, playing there for a couple years, it helps.”
The Sixers and the Heat will match up at 7 p.m. EDT on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
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