Heat vs 76ers

The 76ers and Heat will combine to score more than 207 points in their Game 2 NBA playoffs.

I’ll play the Over 207.5 in what should be a higher scoring affair on Wednesday. I’m expecting a better performance from the 76ers’ stars in Game 2. The Philadelphia 76ers find themselves in a tough spot without Joel Embiid, who remains out with a right orbital fracture and concussion.

Behind big nights from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, the Heat held off a late push from the 76ers to take Game 1.

TBD TBD TBD TBD Game 3 The 76ers will have to go to battle without Joel Embiid again in Game 2, as the MVP candidate had been ruled out for the first two games of the series with an orbital fracture and concussion.

On Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers fired up their second-round playoff series against the Miami Heat on the road. As expected, the Sixers tipped off ...

Although they failed to overcome the big man’s absence in the first outing, the Sixers are confident they can turn things around and put up a good fight in Miami before the series heads to Philly for the first time. The Sixers were confident in their ability to implement the next-man-up mentality and steal a win in Game 1 on the road earlier this week, but nothing went according to plan. As expected, the Sixers tipped off the series without their superstar big man Joel Embiid on the floor.

The Miami Heat took Game 1 as the Sixers look to even the series! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a 76ers-Heat prediction and pick.

This is the biggest game of the season for the 76ers. The 76ers played poorly on offense in the second half and I expect that to improve. Embiid will finish top-2 in the MVP voting this season and the Heat are lucky to avoid him because of his injury. Because of that, the Heat just need to play their style of defense and they should have no problem winning as they did on Monday night. The Sixers need triple-double Harden tonight if they want to cover this spread. As mentioned above, the biggest reason why they can cover this spread is if Harden steps up.

MIAMI -- After dropping their first two games on the shores of Biscayne Bay to open up this Eastern Conference semifinal against the Heat without superstar ...

The question now, though, is not only whether Embiid will be able to play in Game 3 -- but whether his return will be enough to tilt this series in Philadelphia's favor. "If he's not back then you just got to keep fighting. Embiid's presence would certainly help take some of the pressure off his teammates, and would clearly give Harden more room to operate. You can put the game right there." "It changes dramatically," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, when asked what Embiid's return would mean for the series. "I really don't know," 76ers coach Doc Rivers said after Wednesday night's 119-103 loss to Miami in Game 2, which Philadelphia again played without Embiid due to the facial fracture and concussion he suffered against the Toronto Raptors last week.

NBA Playoffs odds, picks, and predictions for the Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers on May 6. NBA betting free picks against the spread and Over/Under.

76ers predictions and picks in a single-game parlay, you could win $56.82 on a $10 bet? That would do a share of the heavy lifting for the Heat’s team total of 105.5 points. There have been no clear updates on Kyle Lowry’s status for Game 3 and Miami is in no need to rush him back from a hamstring injury. And while the Sixers stayed cold, the Heat made up for those misses with a 48% effort from outside on Wednesday. That’s panned out into 39 second-chance points for the Heat. Miami had just eight offensive rebounds in Game 2 after grabbing 15 in the series opener, but that was because it shot the ball so well that there weren’t as many rebounding opportunities on the offensive glass. Philadelphia may be ice cold from the arc but is still shooting better than 59% on 2-point field goals, and amassed 103 points in Game 2 despite a flailing 8-for-30 night from downtown. And with Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra likely sticking to his defensive game plan of pressuring Harden and Maxey the second they get over half, those kickout opportunities will still be there Friday night. The market will be a good indicator of Embiid’s status, so keep an eye on this spread and if it runs either way. The Heat are 11-3-1 ATS in their last 15 road games. Throwing him back into action and facing constant crash-and-bash physicality in the post will only worsen those symptoms. Some books opened Philadelphia as a 1.5-point home underdog and saw early action move this spread over the fence to -1. Other shops opened the Sixers as 1-point faves and that jumped to +1 with Embiid’s status uncertain.

The Heat took care of business on their home floor in the first two games of this series.

He played over 43 minutes and poured in a game-high 34 points on 12 of 22 from the field. He has not been afraid of the moment one bit and has had some huge nights against elite defenses. The Heat also got a big night from Victor Oladipo, who put up 19 points and six rebounds on 6 of 11 from the field. The defense was not good enough, James Harden was just solid, Danny Green went 1 of 10 and they got almost nothing from the bench. At the same time, the MVP candidate's absence put a lot of pressure on the Heat. They had to take care of business and prevent the Sixers from stealing a game before Embiid returned. The Heat now have a commanding 2-0 series lead and have put the Sixers in a real hole.

Miami HEAT vs. Philadelphia 76ers Friday, May 6 @ 7:00 PM Series Record: 2-0 Miami.

There might be some pieces from Game 2 that matter as the series goes on the road, but not tonight.Full Recap Tough to say how much of this one will carry over to the rest of the series if and when both teams get whole, but tonight it was the 76ers spending the evening looking for answers. They were still -11 when either center, DeAndre Jordan or Paul Reed, was on the floor and that’s the lack of Embiid, but they got downhill more often, pushed in transition and their shot quality was much improved.

Behind big nights from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, the Heat held off a late push from the 76ers to take Game 1.

TBD TBD TBD TBD Game 3 The 76ers will have to go to battle without Joel Embiid again in Game 2, as the MVP candidate had been ruled out for the first two games of the series with an orbital fracture and concussion.

Roberto Arguello breaks down Friday's Game 3 between the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers and shares his best bet.

I like the Heat to eventually settle in and win this game — whether or not Lowry plays — thanks to the strong two-way play of players like Gabe Vincent, Oladipo and Max Strus. If Embiid can’t play, the Sixers need efficient nights from Maxey, Tobias Harris and Harden. Maxey broke out for 34 points in Game 2 with his elite speed, but he remains a liability defensively and the Heat have targeted him consistently. The Heat defense is designed to limit opposing teams from getting to the rim and consequently, they give up a high volume of threes. The good news for the Heat is that Lowry has been upgraded from Out to Questionable for Game 3 and will travel with the team to his hometown of Philadelphia. If the Heat continue to play with quality spacing and ball movement, it should open up opportunities for players like Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo to continue their success from Game 2. They made sure that Trae Young couldn’t get into the paint against the Hawks and they have similarly had all eyes on Harden and limited his ability to impact the game as a scorer.

Philadelphia's star center remains out as the Sixers face a 2-0 series deficit against the Heat.

It isn’t just the absence of Embiid, though, that has hurt Philadelphia in the series. The absence of Embiid has been felt by the 76ers in the playoffs on offense and defense, particularly in the interior. Miami has taken a 2-0 lead in 18 previous series, including the first round this season against Atlanta, and won those matchups every time.