For a few hours, the Sixers' Monday night road contest against the Miami Heat felt as if it was over before it had even started. While Miami announced Jimmy Butler would play after missing a handful of games with an ankle injury, the Sixers made Joel Embiid questionable with an illness, only to downgrade him to doubtful soon after. After hours of hysteria over Embiid hypothetically missing the game, in classic Embiid fashion, the former NBA MVP was upgraded to available 30 minutes before tip-off.
Embiid started alongside Kyle Lowry, Jared McCain, Paul George and Caleb Martin. The Sixers looked outstanding for 15 minutes. For the next 33 minutes, catastrophe ensued.
Here is what stood out from the Sixers' 106-89 loss in Miami. Opening matchups and rotation decisions Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was facing a handful of schematic and rotational decisions headed into this one. Here is where he landed: • Ever since Lowry joined the Sixers, Nurse has liked the matchup of using the 38-year-old point guard as Butler's primary defender.
He moves the assignment around a bunch whenever these teams do battle, but Lowry's strength and smarts make him a challenging obstacle for Butler • During Butler's absence, Tyler Herro has been outstanding for Miami. Nurse went with Martin against Herro in Martin's first game against the Heat since departing following a strong three-year tenure which included a run to the 2023 NBA Finals. Martin also scored five early points against his former team.
