The Philadelphia 76ers
The next most difficult game of the four remaining for the Miami Heat comes against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 9th. This game takes place at home in Miami the night before the Heat’s final game of the regular season against the Brooklyn Nets.
While the Sixers are a tough, deep and talented team, their playoff spot is all but locked up in the third seed. They’ve been resting Joel Embiid periodically and may continue to do so right up until the playoffs start, which could give him about another week and a half off. If this takes place, it would lighten the load on Adebayo and Whiteside.
Considering how late in the season this game comes and how entrenched the Sixers are in their seeding, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them resting multiple players and not exactly putting their best foot forward in order to win. The Heat may in fact be facing a squad that most closely resembles a skeleton crew and less the Eastern Conference’s third-best team.
Going up against a team with nothing to play for will be a rare blessing for this Miami Heat squad desperate to catch any break it possibly can over this tough end-of-season stretch.