76ers vs. Heat Preview: Can Philly Split the Series vs. Miami on Monday?
Super Bowl Sunday was a success in Miami on Sunday night. Now, the city has to get ready to host a regular-season NBA matchup between the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers. The last time the Sixers traveled to Miami, they had to end up taking a tough pill to swallow.
A late matchup in December allowed the Sixers an opportunity to bounce back against the Heat after Miami forced the Sixers to lose their first game at home all year. That same mid-December game in Philly against the Heat was when the Sixers' struggles against zone defense were exposed.
Brett Brown had his team better prepared for the rematch ten days later on the road, but the Sixers couldn't seal the deal in Miami. It was a hard-fought game that required an extra quarter, but ultimately the Heat took down the Sixers with a 117-116 victory.
On Monday night, Philly is back in town. At this point in the year, it's no secret the Sixers are an entirely different team when playing away from home. In Philly, they thrive as they have secured an outstanding record of 22-2. On the road, though, they only have nine wins this year, along with 17 losses.
And at this point, the same struggles remain. As the Sixers kickstarted a four-game road trip last Thursday in Atlanta, they had an opportunity to gain some confidence with a win over the Eastern Conference's worst team.
That didn't happen. A loss to the Hawks sent the Sixers packing and looking to bounce back against the Boston Celtics, whom they have controlled all season long. Again, the Sixers failed to pick up a road win, and now they head into Miami 0-2 for this stretch.
GAME INFORMATION
Game Time: February 3rd, 2020, 7:30 pm ET.
Location: American Airlines Arena
TV: NBA TV, NBC Sports Philadelphia
Stream: NBA League Pass, NBC Sports Philly
Odds: The Sixers are underdogs at +2.5 via The Action Network
The Sixers are fortunate to have Joel Embiid in the lineup for this tough stretch, but the big man hasn't been all that sharp lately. Against the Celtics, Embiid managed to only drain one of his eleven attempted shots from the field. Meanwhile, the rest of the Sixers' starting lineup (excluding Ben Simmons) failed to make much of an impact on offense as well.
On Monday, the Sixers will once again be shorthanded as the former Heat guard, Josh Richardson, continues to nurse his hamstring strain, which he suffered a couple of weeks back. Shake Milton will likely remain in the starting lineup until J-Rich is ready to come back. While Milton has been on the rise, even his biggest contributions weren't enough to help secure the Sixers a win.
Philly has to figure out how to click as a whole on Monday. Or else they are going to find themselves another game back from the Eastern Conference's top-five seeds. While the second-seed isn't entirely out of the question, there is a chance the Sixers could find themselves out of the home-court advantage conversation before All-Star break.
Seeing as though they thrive when playing at home, and struggle big time on the road, they need to find a way to get back to home-court relevance for the playoffs. It all starts with a win against the Heat on Monday night.
