- The Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers square off in Game 4 of their East Conference semis.
- At the moment, the 76ers have a 2-1 lead.
- Joel Embiid is back on the court.
The Sixers’ hopes of winning this series and continuing their title quest are significantly boosted following Joel Embiid’s return to the court. The Process and one of the best players in the league over the past few years, immediately made a massive difference on the floor in the previous event, and Philly had no trouble in beating the guests from Florida.
Heat vs 76ers Schedule
- Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Philadelphia, Massachusetts
- When: Sunday, May 8, 8 pm ET
- How to Watch: TNT
Heat vs 76ers Odds and Lines
Game Preview
Nightmare in Game 3
We don’t remember the last time when the Heat scored under 80 points. They were shooting 35.1% from the field and had only seven threes in 30 tries, which is something highly uncharacteristic for this bunch. On top of all, they had only 35 boards, which is another reason for a convincing 99-79 loss.
Miami was in the game until the start of the final period, which saw them collapsing and scoring only 14 buckets, while on the other end, the hosts reached 31. Kyle Lowry’s return didn’t bring any improvement, and the veteran point guard had no points in 25 minutes.
Jimmy Butler had 33 points with nine boards and was the only one among the Heat who was ready to play. Tyler Herro had 14 off the bench, but other non-starters provided just 10 points combined.
Embiid’s Impact
The Process didn’t have some notable performance, scoring only 18 points with 11 boards, but here mere presence on the court was positive for the 76ers. The Heat’s defense had to change, which opened a lot of chances for the hosts to hurt them from various positions.
Danny Green played the best game of this playoffs, with seven hit threes in nine attempts and 21 points. Tyrese Maxey had the same number of buckets, 5-for-6 for three and with six assists, while James Harden scored 17 points, having eight boards and six dimes.
With Embiid on the court, the 76ers are much more versatile and even though that sounds odd, it really is like that.
Head to Head Games
During the regular part of the campaign, the two sides played four games, and each won twice. The playoffs saw the Heat winning the opening two events of the series in the Miami, Game 1, 106-92 and Game 2 119-113, but that was without Embiid. As mentioned, Game 3 ended 99-79 for Philly.
Prediction
The line for Over/Under is set at 207.5 points. The Heat had a disastrous Game 3 in terms of shooting and offensive productivity, and we believe that such a poor performance won’t happen again from their side. That is why we go with Over here. Philly is much better with Embiid, and it is expected from them to provide a decent offensive display. Meanwhile, Oladipo, Herro, Adebayo, all these guys are bound to be better tonight than two days ago.
Pick: Over 207.5 points
