GRADES: Miami Heat 108, Philadelphia 76ers 104
By Sam Coltrane
The Philadelphia 76ers drop their first home game of the year as a late fourth quarter rally comes up just short.
The Philadelphia 76ers began the game hot behind seven early points from Tobias Harris and an aggressive Ben Simmons. Philadelphia took a commanding 10-point lead into the second quarter 19-29.
The second quarter, though, was all Miami. Kendrick Nunn led the way as he poured in 11 of his team-high 26 points. Miami would go on to produce 37 points in the second and conclude the half on a 27-7 run, giving them a 56-48 halftime lead.
The third quarter was a combination of small runs with Philadelphia cutting down the Miami lead and Miami working to extend it back. In all, both teams scored 26 points and Miami maintained their eight point lead 82-72.
The fourth quarter was much of the same to start the quarter as Miami maintained a 10-point lead after a Jimmy Butler mid-range jumper with 3:09 to play. From there, Philadelphia tightened their defense and began making open shots that hadn’t fallen early in the game.
A Josh Richardson three-pointer, two Joel Embiid buckets, followed by a Harris three-pointer closed the game to 106-104 with 25 seconds to play. After two Nunn missed free throws, Al Horford had an attempt to take the lead cling off the iron before Bam Adebayo iced the game with his final two free throws.
The Sixers will host the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks on Friday night at 8 PM E.T.