The Miami Heat will play the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. This faceoff will begin the Eastern Conference portion of the 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament. Additionally, it will determine who the seventh seed will be in the loaded Eastern Conference. Both of these teams just played each other last week and the Sixers came out on top. The winner will be the team that can hit more shots and dissect the other’s defensive scheme. This game is a battle to determine who will play the New York Knicks on Saturday.
Heat vs Sixers- The Battle to Play the New York Knicks in the Playoffs
Heat X-Factors: Herro and Jacquez to the Rescue!
Miami and Philly just played each other two weeks ago and the Sixers were able to come out on top. Losing that game put the Heat in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Heat did not have all of their weapons available in that contest. They will have their full complement of weapons back on Wednesday night.
Tyler Herro being on the floor changes the dynamics for Miami’s offense. He is one of the best three-point shooters in the league. Also, he can rescue the Heat’s offense when it gets stagnant like it did at times in their matchup last week against Philly. When he is hitting his shots, it gives Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler space to operate. He is one of the biggest x-factors for Miami in this game. He can either win the game for them or shoot them out of the game. Herro being on the court will allow Butler and Adebayo to see more single coverage than they did two weeks ago. If he can score 20-plus points or more on Wednesday that will lead to a Heat victory.
The other x-factor for the Heat is star rookie Jaime Jacquez Jr. who will be more of a factor with Herro on the court. He killed the Sixers throughout the regular season with his abilities to grab rebounds and attack the basket. Philly will need to keep him off the boards if they want to win this game. Additionally, they cannot let him find his three-point ability again, especially from the corner. If Jacquez scores 15-plus points and grabs five-plus rebounds in the contest that means the Sixers are in big trouble.
Sixers X-factors- Oubre Jr. and Harris Must Win Their Matchups
For the Sixers to get their second straight victory in three weeks over the Heat. They will need Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tobias Harris to continue playing aggressively. Oubre Jr.’s two-way ability will be needed to keep Jimmy Butler in check. He took that assignment in the last game against the Heat and made Butler work for every point. Butler only scored 20 points in that game. If Butler is stopped from getting to the free throw line, his ability to affect the contest is severely limited. However, playoff Jimmy is a different beast. Also, the Heat should play better on all sides of the ball than they did in the last game. Oubre Jr.’s ability to be a pest on the defensive side and produce timely steals will be an important part of this game for Philly. If he can find a way to limit Butler on the offensive side the Sixers will win this game.
Harris will need to play as aggressively as he can against the Heat. An aggressive Harris usually means great things for Philly. When he scores at least 20 points in a contest the Sixers are 101-49 in those games. His scoring ability will be a difference-maker in this game. Philly should find a way to keep him involved early and often in this contest. When he has his offensive rhythm working it adds another dimension to the Sixers offense. It also provides more room for Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to operate on the offensive side.
Knicks In Trouble No Matter the Result
No matter who wins on Wednesday night, both of these teams will give the Knicks all they can handle in a seven-game series. Whichever team’s x-factors/role players show up will win this game. The deeper team and more talented team on paper is the Philadelphia 76ers but all of that gets thrown out of the window when the postseason starts.
