One schematic key for the Miami Heat to beat Philadelphia

The Heat's internal focus tonight is clear...

Nov 23, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) drives to shoot against Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) in the first quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat have a clear priority on the whiteboard in the locker room heading into tonight.

Whenever the defense is subpar under an Erik Spoelstra coached team, you better believe the pregame speeches and film time is going to surround that end of the floor.

That Bucks guard room torched Miami in that most recent game on Tuesday night, and the competition only gets stronger tonight in Philadelphia.

The combo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe is an explosive offensive back-court, especially when you still have to deploy attention on the rolling and popping Joel Embiid.

If we're talking X-Factors in match-ups like this one, it really does seem to be Pelle Larsson.

He has been the one constant in the first and second units as the Heat send out two serparate lines with balanced skill-sets. Davion Mitchell and Kasparas Jakucionis will handle one of those guards in their respective lineups, while Tyler Herro and Norman Powell take a worse offensive player on the wing.

That means Larsson will be setup to defend one of those quick, attacking guards on the perimeter.

The Sixers have been a pretty middle of the pack team on both the offensive and defensive side of the floor this season, while the Heat still remain in that top 5 defensively.

A lot of that hasn't been when the team is at full health, which is what will be out there tonight.

Even though they didn't score in the final 6 minutes and 34 seconds in Milwaukee, it's a make or miss league and the offense will find it's overall level.

The difference, though, is finding a consistency on the defensive end of the floor when the team's best players are all suiting up.

This is the ultimate test against a top heavy offense like the 76ers, so it'll be interesting test to see how, or if, Miami can bounce back on that end of the floor.

Bam Adebayo will be forced to be glued to Embiid for most of the night, which means they may limit switching 1 through 5 as they often do. More drop coverage means more reliance on the point of attack defenders getting over and around ball screens.

Find the guys on the floor that you want taking shots, help off from there, and close defense possessions out on the defensive glass.

I know the offense should be a hot topic, but the key tonight is all defense.