Miami Heat get physical in Game 1, handle Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers

MIAMI — The Miami Heat didn't have their best in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night — but it was still good enough.

Despite again playing without starting point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting 9-for-36 from 3-point range, the Heat were good enough to topple the Joel Embiid-less 76ers, winning 106-92 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,620 at FTX Arena.

«You don't want to add more context to anything,» Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked if there was more pressure to take advantage of the Sixers without Embiid. «You want to stay in the present moment. It's really just trying to do whatever you have to do to get to the next game, or the game at hand. And that's all we're going to focus on. We haven't had any discussions about, 'Hey, we have to win tonight.' I think that adds a different kind of context and pressure.

»It's just about trying to go out and putting together your best game plan to win that game. And that's what we'll focus on the next 48 hours — is just on Game 2."

Miami's performance in Game 1 was one to forget. It shot just 43% from the field, and received a pedestrian performance from star forward Jimmy Butler (15 points on 5-for-16 shooting).

The 76ers, however, were that much worse. They shot 6-for-34 from 3-point range, committed 15 turnovers that became 22 points for the Heat and were outrebounded 47-37, including 15-9 on the offensive glass — which helped the Heat get up 13 more shots.

«Very similar to the [first round against] Toronto, in that we told our guys they can't have more rebounds than us, they can't force turnovers because they can't have more shots than us,» 76ers coach Doc Rivers said.

«We're working with a small margin for