Yes, the Miami Heat dropped Game 3 of their second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Yes, they did so in a terrible showing.
Yes, they did so to the Joel Embiid-led 76ers, riding high off his return to the lineup, and in front of their own fans. This last “yes” is the most important though.
Yes, it took some of the worst offense you might ever see from this Miami Heat team to do it.
Let’s look at a few things on that though.
Their best quarter was the third quarter of that game. That was the period that saw their best player, the one and only Jimmy Butler, do what the best player is supposed to do.
That’s to go nuclear, put his team on his back, and put them in a position to win the game. To be clear, he did just that.
Miami Heat: The Offense Won’t Ever Get Any Worse Than Game 3… Hopefully
That period saw them score 31 points and outscore Philly, though only by four, it’s a win if you outscore the opponent. Herein lies the issue though.
That lone period, where they hardly outscored the opposition, nearly doubled the team scoring production in all other periods. There’s only one notion that can be taken from that fact.
You, absolutely, can’t win like that in the NBA and especially on the biggest platform in the game, the NBA Playoffs. To the fact of their third nearly doubling all other periods’ production, they would have two 17-point periods, back to back, in the first half.
To only score 17 points in one period is sad enough in the NBA and especially in the postseason, but to do it twice and in consecutive quarters won’t ever cut it, even in a preseason game. Ah ah ah though, they were not to be outdone in their own ineptitude though.
Miami Heat: If They Want To Win A Title, It Can’t Be That Bad Again
After Jimmy Butler played his soul out to give them a shot, helping his team come back from a double-digit lead to tie it at one point, but ultimately take a three-point deficit into the fourth period— they would implode for just a 14 point fourth period.
As highly publicized by this point, they would finish with 79 points scored, their second-lowest scoring total of the year, only rivaled by a 78-point effort put on against Boston to open the year. To put it all in perspective, they scored more than 79 points in every playoff game last season.
Yea, that’s the season and series that saw them swept by the Bucks but they were still more productive, from a points perspective, in every game of that particular series than they were in Game 3 against Philly. How about that?
It’s quite the doozy. That brings us to the final point though and that is this.
It’s hard to imagine that this Miami Heat team will ever look that bad on offense again. That’s something to take solace in throughout the rest of this Philadelphia series and the entirety of their NBA Playoff run.
Well, they need not. Because it won’t last much longer if they do.