The Miami Heat are headed to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Awaiting their second-round opponents, they now sit and wait until the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors finish their series.
With that, the question must be asked. Who would be the preferred opponents in Round 2? Well, that’s a good question.
Here are a few answers in the latest AUCH Roundtable!
Colton’s Take (@CMoleskyNBC15) – Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are the obvious choice for a preferred second-round opponent.
Maybe the most prominent reason is this one.
Who in the world would want to play the Toronto Raptors in round two?
If the far North squad can, somehow, pull off a return from down 0-3 in a series, they would be the hottest team in the NBA. No one should relish taking on that type of momentum.
Health is the other obvious key in this matchup. The 76ers are literally limping to the finish line of the first-round series.
Joel Embiid is nursing a thumb injury, reportedly holding off surgery, and James Harden still looks hampered by the lingering hamstring injury. To say this Philly squad is banged up is an understatement.
And finally, as a fan of NBA beef, a series pitting Jimmy Butler vs. the city of Philadelphia is deliciously tantalizing. Butler antagonizing a team and fanbase where things ended poorly holds the makings of delightful NBA beef.
The series could get wonderfully petty and I’m here for it.
Miami Heat Playoffs Roundtable: Philly/Toronto Round 2 Preference- Eric’s Take
For me, this one is Philly. I feel like overall, the Raptors aren’t the better team here but I think Philly is a better matchup for the Heat based on the intangibles.
Eric’s Take (@FrittsWrites) – Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers just seem like they are in a bit of a free fall and if they can get past this pesky Toronto team, they would be the better matchup against Miami. Miami has home court against either one and it’s a tough place to play in the playoffs for anyone, but it might be even a little harder for one James Harden.
He enjoys the nightlife and there is none better than in Miami. He’s already looking like he’s half a step slower and might be another full one behind if he doesn’t discipline himself off the court as well.
On top of that, the players don’t seem to have the cohesion that Toronto does. Nick Nurse is the better coach, although Doc Rivers is less of a slouch than people give him credit for.
Toronto is plucky and long. They would be disruptive to the Miami offense more than Philadelphia would.
The Miami Heat don’t need any more problems, already dealing with Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry missing time. It feels strange wanting to play the team that was up 3-1, but if they scrape by, this might be the perfect matchup.
The Heat are the low drama team and sticking it to the media circus that’s going on in Philly would just be fitting.
Miami Heat Playoffs Roundtable: Philly/Toronto Round 2 Preference- Max’s Take
The Miami Heat have six days to rest up for their second-round matchup with, either, the Philadelphia 76ers or the Toronto Raptors. Philadelphia was up 3-0, but Toronto isn’t going down without a fight just yet.
Max’s Take (@maxmarshall136) – Philadelphia 76ers
Give Credit to Toronto for still playing hard.
If you ask who the Heat should want in the next round though, I want Philadelphia. How could Miami fans not want that fan base and everything that comes with it, namely, Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid, and James Harden.
Two of them, Rivers and Harden, have had their playoff struggles well documented. Just Philadelphia, in general, is fun to beat.
Their media, from television to radio, will have a field day on them if they lose to Toronto, let alone Miami. Also, I didn’t forget Jimmy Butler, who left Philadelphia for Miami, while anyone with a podcast or TV show ripped Butler for doing so.
Some even said that Butler was going to Miami to “retire”. For those reasons, it would be lovely to send Philadelphia home.
You have that, plus the whole James Harden to Miami thing that has always rubbed me the wrong way. To do all of this, while also knocking out Daryl Morey, would be the icing on the cake.
Toronto would be a hard-fought series but I still would expect Miami to win. It’s just not as fun from a storyline perspective.
By the way, Embiid is dealing with a bad thumb as well. We all saw what Miami did to Trae Young on both sides of the ball.
Miami can gameplan against Harden or Embiid. To be fair though, the development of Tyrese Maxey is something to watch out for, but with Gabe Vincent and now Victor Oladipo in the rotation, you can feel better about defending Maxey too.
The Miami Heat have all the tools to beat both teams, however, Toronto doesn’t have quit in them, while Philadelphia does. That means you should already know—it’s Miami Heat in five if Philly.
Miami Heat Playoffs Roundtable: Philly/Toronto Round 2 Preference- Jimuel’s Take
If you were to ask me who would I rather face in the second round of the NBA Playoffs between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors, it would have to be the Sixers.
Jimuel’s Take (@IvanCedo) – Philadelphia 76ers
While they don’t have two dominant superstars, with Van Vleet out, the Raptors have a better chance of winning against the Heat. James Harden has been struggling since coming over to join the Sixers.
So far, he’s averaging 18.4 points and is only shooting 37.3 percent from the field. Another reason why I would pick the Sixers is the unknown injury status of the torn ligament in Joel Embiid’s thumb.
While Toronto is a young team, they are a much more gritty and defensive-minded team than Philadelphia. There is a chance that Toronto could pull an upset against the Philadelphia 76ers with the Sixers currently leading the series 3-2, with momentum being as strong as ever.
The Raptors also have big men that can compete and go 1-on-1 against the big men of the Heat. Ironically enough, Precious Achiuwa has been a revelation for Toronto.
it wouldn’t be shocking to see a Raptors-Heat series go to Game 7, as both teams are fairly matched. That’s, also, why you shouldn’t prefer that matchup.
Though the Heat would still have an advantage by having both Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler in the series, things could get tricky with those guys. With all of that said, Philadelphia would be the preferred matchup for the Miami Heat.
Miami Heat Playoffs Roundtable: Philly/Toronto Round 2 Preference- Noah’s Take
The Miami Heat dominated the Hawks in the first round. Now, it is time to focus on the second round, where the Heat will play the winner of the 76ers-Raptors series.
Noah’s Take (@ndeckerbuckets) – Philadelphia 76ers
Both are tougher opponents than the Hawks, meaning it will be more of a challenge for the Heat. Hopefully, they have enough health to advance to the Conference Finals.
Between the 76ers and the Raptors, the team I would prefer to see the Heat play is the Philadelphia 76ers. There are four teams in the East that could probably win the NBA championship this year and two of them are the Heat and the 76ers.
However, this might be the right time to play Philly. Here is why.
First, let’s begin with why playing the Raptors would be a struggle. If the Raptors win the series against the 76ers, they will become the first team in NBA history to come back from an 0-3 deficit.
Imagine how much confidence that type of feat would instill in a young Raptors team. Additionally, the Raptors lineup features a bunch of tall forwards who can defend well.
This causes size matchups for the Heat, who are a relatively small team. That makes it difficult for Erik Spoelstra to utilize weaker defenders like Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson.
Lastly, the Raptors are one of the best teams when it comes to forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. That is bad news for a Miami Heat team that often struggles to limit the turnover count.
The Philadelphia 76ers are definitely a better team than the Raptors in terms of talent. However, the 76ers are dealing with many problems right now.
The first is James Harden’s inefficiencies. When the 76ers traded for Harden before the trade deadline, it was expected that he would turn them into legitimate contenders and place them in the upper echelon of Eastern teams.
That was the case—for about a week.
So far in the first round, Harden has had only one game in which he shot over 50 percent from the field. For the rest of the games, he has shot around 33 percent.
He looks timid at times and just doesn’t seem to be the same player ever since his hamstring injury last year. We have been used to Harden being one of the best scorers in the NBA.
Now, he is averaging about 20 points each game. That isn’t bad, especially when he is racking up assists but he needs to be more aggressive, especially because of the next point.
Joel Embiid is unstoppable and he would be my vote for this year’s MVP. However, he hurt his thumb in Game 3 of their current series.
While he is still playing well, it is clear that it is affecting him. The 76ers haven’t won a game since he injured his thumb.
If Embiid is less than 100 percent and James Harden is shooting poorly, while throwing several turnovers, this could be a good time for the Heat to play the 76ers. Embiid will still be very difficult to guard.
Even an elite defender like Bam Adebayo will have a hard time guarding the seven-foot All-NBA talent as an undersized center, but Embiid’s thumb should make things a little bit easier for Bam and the Miami Heat.
The Heat vs. the 76ers would be a great series. With the Heat’s combination of shooting and defense, they should be able to overcome the elite offensive weapons of the 76ers, especially if they are dealing with several issues.
Miami Heat Playoffs Roundtable: Philly/Toronto Round 2 Preference- Kenneth’s Take
When tasked with the decision of choosing who would I rather see the Miami Heat face in the next round, it’s pretty easy. Which one of the teams has the coach that lives to drop games in the big moment, based on his own history?
Kenneth’s Take (@K_Said_Que) – Philadelphia 76ers
Which one of the teams has the dude that has never been that uber-successful in the NBA Postseason? You can’t forget that this same dude, James Harden, has been a shell of himself since coming over from Brooklyn and isn’t nearly the same explosive player that he was in Houston.
Then, once you consider that the Philadelphia 76ers have to deal with the fact that their best player, their MVP candidate, and offensive focal point in Joel Embiid is now hampered by an injury to one of the most crucial parts of the body to playing basketball, the hand and thumb specifically, that makes it that much easier.
Philadelphia is the proper choice here. Toronto has shown you how scrappy they are by, simply, making it a series again after Philadelphia got out to a 3-0 lead.
Toronto also put that on display all regular season long against Miami, making things extremely tough in the regular season when they faced each other. Listen, the Heat will beat whoever advances to the next round, either of these teams, but Philadelphia would be the easier matchup.
That’s just being honest. Either way it goes, the Miami Heat will be ready, as mentioned.
Hopefully though, they push this thing all the way out to seven games. That way, each of them gets a bit more worn down, while the Miami Heat can sit back and rest up.