The Miami Heat suffered their first loss of the series in Game 4 (99-79), but they still lead the matchup, two games to one. Will the Heat fire up another victory this Sunday night? Or will the Sixers level things up with a win? Check out our preview below of this Heat vs. Sixers 2022 NBA Playoffs game.
The Heat’s offense sputtered in Game 3, as they shot just 35.1 percent from the field – the worst they’ve had in a game so far in the playoffs. Nevertheless, Miami is still in control of the series. Jimmy Butler is seemingly in a groove after scoring 33 points on 12/22 shooting in a losing effort in Game 3. The Heat just need the other usual suspects to show up again. No other starter for Miami scored in double digits outside of Butler in the last game. Only Tyler Herro, who came off the bench, was the non-Butler Heat player who produced more than 10 points with 14. And Herro needed 15 shots to collect those points. The pesky defense was still there for the Heat, though, as they forced Philly to turn the ball over 19 times. Danny Green hurt Miami with 7 threes, but the erratic forward is unlikely to be that hot again.
The Heat are 4-1 against the spread in their last 5 games as a road underdog.
Joel Embiid returned to action in Game 3 and his impact was immediately felt. The Cameroonian finished with just 18 points on 5/12 shooting from the field, but had 11 rebounds and helped limit Heat big man Bam Adebayo, who feasted inside in the first two games of the series without Embiid on the floor. Adebayo was 2/9 from the field in Game 3 for only 9 points. Adebayo also had 5 personal fouls, as he clearly had a tougher time battling defensively with Embiid attracting so much attention from Miami. Having shrugged off some of the rusts, Embiid could come up with a much better performance this time around, which is bad news for the Heat. James Harden scored 17 points with 9 rebounds and 6 assists in Game 3.
The Sixers are 4-1 against the spread in their last 5 home games.
