Jimmy Butler’s back in town for a Tuesday night matinee featuring the Philadelphia 76ers hosting the Miami Heat, live in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN,
These two Eastern elites, separated in the divisional standings by a game, are battle-worn and ready to clash under the bright lights and poignant ESPN cameras for the first half of this week’s Wednesday ESPN doubleheader for the second time this season. Philadelphia sits at 19-8 on the year and possess the best home record in the East at 11-0, and have an arduous task ahead of them as the 20-8 Miami Heat walk into Philly with the Sixers returning from their two-day break.
In their last outing, Spencer Dinwiddie and the Brooklyn Nets just stomped Philly with Joel Embiid missing a game due to falling under sudden illness. He’s healthy and looks to repeat his team’s dominant effort against the Heat, since they whooped them 113-86 the last time Miami played in the City of Brotherly Love.
Uncharacteristically and ironically, the Sixers appear to be the healthiest team on this tale of the tape. It’s the injuries that have plagued Miami’s starting lineup and rotation, as they’ll be without four of their starters Wednesday night. Starting guard Goran Dragic, who is dealing with a strained right groin, and Justise Winslow, who has a lower-back strain, were both listed as out on Wednesday. Dragic is the more significant loss for Miami in this matchup, considering that he’s played an integral part in Erik Spoelstra’s offense, averaging 15 points per contest. Miami will miss Winslow’s 12 points-per-night as well.
Miami has gotten by with the tremendous guard play of Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn, and that’s being euphemistic as possible. Miami’s esteemed rookie duo is combining averages of 15.15 points a game in 30.05 minutes a game. Also, Nunn leads all rookies in 3 point percentage. Not bad for a guy that’s just getting his first full-month burn after coming out of the G-League just months ago.
Though Miami is missing several key pieces, that doesn’t mean for a second the Sixers can feel comfortable kicking their feet up. The Sixers struggle to climb back in games where they don’t take the opposition seriously and find themselves in a bad spot (See: the Nets on Sunday as an example). There’s a massive advantage for Philly in this one, so let’s see if they take it for granted or not.
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