Jimmy Butler, Heat hand Sixers’ second straight loss as the season rolls into a brutal March schedule
The Philadelphia 76ers’ chance to bounce-back against the Miami Heat last night after a brutal Saturday loss to the Boston Celtics fell short, losing 101-99.
Jimmy Butler hit a reverse layup in the final minutes of last night’s game at the Wells Fargo Center, leading the Heat with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Butler hit a layup in between Joel Embiid and PJ Tucker with 1:28 left on the clock, killing the Sixers’ attempt to rally from 11-points down in the fourth. Butler added a free throw with 8.1 seconds left to put the game away.
James Harden had a chance to hit a buzzer beater three pointer but his attempt hit the back of the rim and the Sixers lost their second straight game at home.
Harden finished with 20 points, 12 assists, and six rebounds.
Joel Embiid had another big night, scoring 27 points with 11 rebounds.
Tyrese Maxey added 23 points off the bench, doing most of his damage in a 14-point outburst in the third before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
No other Sixers’ player scored more than eight points (PJ Tucker) on the night, which makes it very hard to win basketball games in the NBA. Tobias Harris attempted four shots and only connected on one, scoring two points on the night. De’Anthony Melton was 2-for-8 from the floor, scoring six points, and outside of Maxey, no one on the bench scored more than 6 points (Paul Reed).
Again, it’s tough to win basketball games with those types of numbers.
Now, the Philadelphia 76ers enter a miserable March schedule where they will play 17 games in 31 days with 12 of the first 15 of them on the road. The Sixers will play four sets of games on back-to-backs, with all eight coming on the road in eight different cities.
Yikes.
Sixers Brutal March Schedule
On the season, Philly is still comfortably sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference, four games out of first behind the Bucks and Celtics who are now tied at the top of the standings.
Tomorrow night, they’ll kick off March in Miami against the Heat.
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