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Miami Heat vs Philadelphia 76ers
The saga and era has finally come to an end for Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. The Heat traded Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors were Butler receives a two-year extension worth $121 million with Miami getting Andre Wiggins in return with a protected first round draft pick. Miami players found out from a fan sitting behind the bench as the trade occurred while the Heat were facing the Philadelphia 76ers. Miami would also trade Josh Richardson to the Detroit Pistons and receive Kyle Anderson in return. The Heat would also receive PJ Tucker but would ship him to the Toronto Raptors for Davion Mitchell in return.
Leading the way for the Miami Heat was the newly named All-Star in Tyler Herro dropping 30 points taking over as the star player of the team. Bam Adebayo continues on his hot streak of being in form finishing this game with 18 points. Haywood Highsmith another night of low scoring with just three points but has contributed greatly on the defensive end. Both Kel'el Ware and Duncan Robinson struggled in this game putting up zero points. Leading Miami off the bench was both Terry Rozier and Nikola Jovic with 20 and 23 points.
The man that many have compared to Herro being Tyrese Maxey would go ahead and lead the Sixers dropping 31 points. Kelly Oubre Jr would follow Maxey putting up just 15 points followed by both Paul George and Guerschon Yabusele finishing with nine points. Rounding out the Philadelphia starting lineup was Edwards who finished with eight points. Leading the Sixers bench in scoring was Adem Bona contributing with 11 points.
The Heat bench has been a factor throughout January and staring out February having a 57-29 in scoring as they start the post Butler era. The Sixers were without Joel Embiid due to load management on his left knee. Embiid was active the night before against the Dallas Mavericks as he recorded a triple-double after being 15 games out. Paul George returned to the lineup as well after missing five games with a pinkie injury but did struggle going three-for-11.
The Sixers had a late lead in the second quarter 55-52 but Miami would go on a 10-0 run with Jovic providing six of the points. The Heat would head to the dressing room with the lead and would never cease that lead in the second half. Philadelphia entered this game leading the NBA in three-point shooting in the last nine games shooting 40%. They struggled against Miami going 0-6 from beyond the arch to start the game. The Heat would go on to defeat the Sixers by a final score of 108-101.
Up next for the Miami Heat is a road game visiting the Brooklyn Nets.
Written by: Daniel Torres
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