PHILADELPHIA – Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 118-95 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers:
– These are the traps that need to be avoided to maximize the possibility of a home play-in game.
– Which basically is the only reality that remains for the Heat to chase over their final eight games of the regular season.
– Especially with the Magic on Saturday defeating the Kings, to further secure their grasp on No. 8 in the East (they also hold the tiebreaker).
– So if the Heat at least want to host the Nos. 9-10 play-in against the Bulls (a matchup where this increasingly is headed), then games such as this, Monday night’s in Washington and then the upcoming home rematches against the 76ers and Wizards have to be wins.
– Playing down to the competition is the last thing Erik Spoelstra’s team can afford.
– (Which sounds a bit odd in itself, considering where the Heat stand in the standings.)
– The Heat, to their credit, went into Saturday aware of the pitfalls against those with nothing to lose.
– Among those out Saturday for the 76ers were Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and a whole bunch more known quantities.
– “The guys we’re playing are much different than the guys we played the last time around,” Spoelstra noted at the morning shootaround. “They’re dangerous. They’re not playing for necessarily anything other than just to be assertive and aggressive.”
– Actually, the 76ers went into the game facing playoff elimination.
– Philadelphia has been seeking nothing more than punching a ticket to the lottery.
– Asked again pregame about the 76ers hardly being the 76ers, Spoelstra said, “We know that Philly will be dangerous. They’re not playing for anything, but they’re playing free and fast. Those teams can be really explosive.”
– Heat big man Bam Adebayo said the Heat focus in such games, including Monday in Washington, has to be on the Heat, “understanding that we can’t cough these games up, and these are the games that are most important.”
– He added, “I mean that’s the dangerous thing about it, it’s the unknown. For us, it’s going out there, playing the way we’re supposed to play, and competing at a high level, and doing things together.”
– With Andrew Wiggins out due to a hamstring issue and not with the team, the Heat opened with a lineup of Adebayo, Kel’el Ware, Tyler Herro, Alec Burks and Pelle Larsson.
– Haywood Highsmith was first off the Heat bench,
– Davion Mitchell followed.
– With Kyle Anderson making it eight deep.
– With Anderson ineffective, there even was a Terry Rozier sighting in the second period.
– It was Rozier’s first appearance in six games.
– But it again was Jaime Jaquez Jr. out of the primary rotation.
– Among the few 76ers rotation players still standing Saturday was journeyman center Guerschon Yabusele, with Adebayo more than familiar with the big man because of his play at last summer’s Paris Olympics for France’s national team.
– “That’s the story that you want,” Adebayo said, “when you see a guy go through that, out of the league, and then you have a tremendous Olympic run and you’re back in the league. That’s a story you can always tell somebody.”
– Spoelstra was asked before Saturday night’s game about the Grizzlies’ surprising dismissal Friday of coach Taylor Jenkins, despite Memphis standing among the leaders in the Western Conference.
– “It’s incredibly disappointing,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat hosting Memphis on Thursday night, in their first game back from this three-game trip. “This profession is tough and you want to be in it together, through the good and the bad, and not looking for the easy escape route to point blame. His record speaks for itself.”
– Spoelstra added, “He’ll have plenty of opportunities, but that’s why I’m grateful again for the people I work for. We’ve been through it. We’ve been through it. You can trust people when you’ve gone through the fires together and you don’t come out it just pointing fingers and blaming everybody.”
– Although the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. failed to make the playoffs, Spoelstra still called the year a success for Skyforce coach Dan Bisaccio, the former Heat video coordinator, considering Bisaccio’s work as summer-league coach.
– “Dan really did a great job developing our guys, installing a system and a culture there,” Spoelstra said. “It’s basically a full year deal. Summer league was a big part of the guys’ development.”
– Spoelstra added, “When you see Kel’el, Pelle, it goes back to last July. This year, really
grinding through a lot of different rosters, a lot of different changes, we all really respect the job Dan did. He’s a heck of a coach.”
Originally Published: March 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM EDT