May 6th Game Recaps

Heat @ Sixers

Coming into a must win game 3 at home, the Sixers knew they couldn’t let Miami gain control of the game early on, as the Sixers have struggled so far this series when playing from behind. It was not an issue for them this game. Playing with a rested Embiid, they snatched the lead at the 8:11 mark on a Harden three-pointer and from there, never relinquished it the rest of the night. While the final score indicates a blowout, it wasn’t such throughout a large part of the game, as the Heat were able to keep it close throughout, but it also never felt like the Sixers were not in control of the game either. The first half saw Tobias Harris and James Harden being aggressive, both looking for their shots. Harden finished the first half with 15 points and 8 free throws attempts (all made) in the half, while Harris, who was aggressive, did not have the same success, only shooting 2/9 and finishing 4/13. The Sixers as a whole were agressive and desperate through the first two quarters, and there was a noticeable difference in energy between the two teams. While the Heat were getting after the ball on defense and forcing turnovers, with Embiid’s presence inside they were struggling to get paint looks and had to really rely on Tyler Herro scoring big buckets to keep them in the game. Danny Green after looking like a kid on the side of a milk carton the first two games finally came up big, keeping the Sixers afloat and hitting timely shots every time the Heat tried to take a run at the lead. He finished with with 21 on 7 of 9 shots, all threes, including a couple huge ones in the third to keep the Sixers in control. Harden turned in another second half stinker, scoring only 2 points on 5 shots (he’s scored 10 points on 3/13 combined in the second halves this series), but luckily for him it didn’t matter as Tyrese Maxey picked up the slack, scoring all 19 of his 21 points in the final fifteen minutes of the game. Locked in a 57-57 deadlock with 2:57 left in the third, the closest the game had been since the first, Maxey hit a 3 from the left wing to put them up, then on the next defensive possession got a steal and rushed up the floor on the fastbreak for a transition layup to give them a quick five point advantage the Sixers never gave back. It seemed like the boost in confidence he needed, as then in the fourth he scored 14, shot a perfect 5/5 from the field and hit 4 threes. The Heat really had no answer for him, with Jimmy Butler trying his best to keep pace, ending the night with a solid 33 points, but it simply wasn’t enough. Embiid didn’t have a great game, but just the presence of him both drawing defenders and being an actual defender in the paint really threw the Heat off coming from game 2. The Sixers were able to get a really solid win, outscoring the Heat 42-22 in the final fifteen minutes, and Erik Spoelstra will need to make some adjustments to his teams halfcourt offense if they want to go back to South Beach with a series lead.

POTG: Danny Green - 21 points, 4 reb, 0 ast on 7-9 fg and 7-9 3pt fg

Suns @ Mavericks

The Suns came out firing, looking to take control of the game and chance to dominate the series completely, with two Devin Booker threes and another from Jae Crowder to push a quick 9-3 lead. Luka Dončić struggled to get going early, and once it was clear he wasn’t going to have a blazing hot start, the offense switched to running through Jalen Brunson, who they were able to fire up by running couple pick and roll possessions to get him looks inside and draw fouls. Luka, despite not having a good start shooting to the game, was able to create for others early on, and eventually started to get more shots to fall later in the quarter. The Mavericks gained the lead after a Maxi Kleber three midway through the first, and never looked back from there. The Mavericks crowd was loud and engaged early, while the defense for the home squad was aggressive, forcing Chris Paul into an insane 7 turnovers in the first half. It was clear the Suns were discombobulated and frustrated, and the Mavericks did a good job of taking away what the Suns wanted to do. The Mavericks played at an uncharacteristically quick pace in this game, and this flooded over to the Suns as well. All game long, it seemed like the Suns either took shots early in the shot clock, or were forced to put up tough, contested looks off limited ball movement. The Mavericks had a really nice back and forth running the offense between Luka and Brunson, as it seemed throughout the game they would both take turns imposing their will with whoever had the hot hand. Crowder played a really good game, finishing as the Suns leading scorer with 19 points and 5 made threes, but when Crowder is your team’s leading scorer it doesn’t bode well for your team’s chances at victory. He was legitimately the Suns best player through three quarters, keeping the Suns within striking distance with some big threes every time it felt like the Suns desperately needed one. I thought the Suns would make the proper adjustments and come out in the second half and try to play their brand of basketball and get into a rhythm, but it was really just more of the same from the first. The Mavericks were able to keep the Suns playing frenetically and at an uncomfortable pace for them, making them look dazed, while the Mavericks on the other hand had only 4 turnovers at the end of third. The Suns made sure to not let Luka beat them by himself, but for this night night the role players were able to step up and do their job. Luka went to the bench after picking up his fifth foul with 7:22 left in the game, leaving a small window of opportunity open for the suns to get back into the game, and were able to cut it to single digits with about 4 minutes to go, but missed a lot of good looks down the stretch to let the Mavericks easily walk away with a victory. As stated earlier, it’s hard to win when your team’s leading scorer is Jae Crowder and the Mavericks role players are stepping up, but I doubt Monty Williams and the Suns get outcoached and outplayed as badly as they did today anytime soon.

POTG: Luka Dončić - 26 pts, 13 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl, on 11-25 fg and 2-7 3pt fg