Welp.

No clinch. The Sixers had another chance to lock up the #1 seed on Thursday night but got absolutely boat raced by the Miami Heat, who looked like they were shooting on a 20-foot wide hoop. Erik Spoelstra’s team shot 50% from the floor, 37% from three, and 100% from the foul line while just dogging the Sixers all night long, grabbing loose balls, running the floor, and junking it up with an effective zone that saw Philly settle for some junky shots and just look off the pace for most of the night.

The magic number remains at one, and they’ll win one of these final two games against pitiful Orlando to get it done. You’d like to see them go into the playoffs with some momentum, and feel good about the squad, but the last two outings were disappointing and the vibe on social media afterward was bitter, like you accidentally swallowed an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids that you smuggled into the movie theater, because you’re a cheap bastard and don’t wanna pay extra inside the venue itself.

“I just didn’t think we were ready to play the game tonight,” Doc Rivers said, bluntly. “You could see it early. Everything hurt us. Their man (defense) hurt us. Their zone hurt us. Our defense hurt us. They got everything they wanted. They moved faster and ran harder.”

So what do the Sixers take from this game?

“We take an ass whooping and then we get out, literally,” Rivers added. “They just beat us in every way. They were better prepared. They played harder. They were more into it. You can’t get it back, so you just move on.”

The head ball coach went on to say that nobody played well. Everybody on the team was bad and looked like they were “stuck in the mud.”

At this point, let’s send it over to Danny Green, who offered the following in response to the loss:

  • “From the tip, they set the tone. We were on our heels most of the game. We played passive because we got a couple of fouls called, but we can’t let that dictate how we’re going to play defensively.” 
  • “They were allowed to play physical. They were allowed to get up in us. We tried to do the same at times.” 
  • “I think games like this are good for us. Playing a playoff team down the stretch gets you prepared.” 
  • “We’ve got to do a better job letting our defense transition to our offense.” 
  • “We let them get set. We didn’t push the pace. They’re good when they’re set. We allowed them to double.” 
  • “They did a lot of stuff of mucking up the game.”
  • “They outrebounded us a ton. That’s just passion, desire and want. We have to get to the boards better.” 

More or less, and if we wanted to go micro here, you can point to Miami playing a lot of zone last night, partially which was the result of them hitting numerous shots and being able to set up their half court defense. You can’t get back in transition and play zone, so if the Sixers play a better defensive game of their own, and/or get out on the break more, Spoelstra won’t be able to throw in as much zone as he did last night.

Especially early in the game, the Sixers were settling for shots, instead of trying to penetrate that zone and force rotations and create better opportunities. Alas, here’s the shot plot:

The good thing is that the Sixers have two more opportunities to lock up the #1 seed, at home, against tanking and 14th-place Orlando. The Magic have lost five-straight games and now have a road back-to-back in the middle of a four-game road swing, and last night lost in Atlanta without the services of eight players, unavailable via injury and illness.

Udonis Haslem’s fantastic night

Heat veteran Udonis Haslem is 40 years old and had not played this entire season.

But he got on the court last night, hit a couple of shots, and then was promptly ejected for tangling with Dwight Howard:

What a stat line! He played three minutes, scored four points on 100% shooting, grabbed a rebound, and was T’d up twice, resulting in his ejection.

If that’s Haslem’s NBA swan song, then what a way to go out. The sequence was ridiculous and basically served as a microcosm of the game itself.

Dumb take?

Chippy game last night, and there was a sequence early where Trevor Ariza was pissed at Joel Embiid for falling into him.

That resulted in this tweet:

Okay, well nobody knows if this was intentional or not. Only Embiid knows if he was trying to hurt Ariza.

From the back angle, it looks like he doesn’t have anywhere to land. Perhaps he could have put a hand out to try to keep himself from falling over, but when you’re a big guy trying to avoid coming down awkwardly on a knee or foot, then it’s better to allow yourself to fall, kind of like a skateboarder who learns how to bail. Sometimes sequences like this are going to happen. I highly doubt he was trying to do anything dirty, especially to a guy with whom he has no beef and no prior history.

Anyway, they’ll clinch tonight. There is absolutely no way they lose three straight.