While it is possible Lowry’s hamstring causes him to miss Game 5 on Tuesday, he vowed to try and play. The Heat cannot withstand getting virtually any production from Lowry, Vincent and Strus. He’s logged just 55 seconds in the entire series. ![]() It didn’t help that Herro was harassed to a tune of 4-of-12 shooting. Oladipo scored eight of his 15 points at the foul line and Strus took just five shots. In Game 4, Lowry and Vincent were essentially as ineffective (4 of 16, between them). Meanwhile, Strus was out there chucking it off the iron to a tune of 3 of 11. In 41 minutes, Lowry and Vincent combined for zero points on 0-of-6 shooting, while Oladipo was 2 of 5 from the field for six points. Lowry returned for Game 3, which sent Vincent back to the bench. With Lowry still out to start the Philadelphia series, Spoelstra understandably stuck with the same group. Vincent played tenacious defense against Trae Young, and Oladipo scored 23 points in a series-clinching win over the Hawks in Game 5. Lowry’s absence demanded not only Vincent and Oladipo see more time, as ballhandlers, but led to the promotion of Caleb Martin, a plus defender. Vincent moved into the starting lineup and Victor Oladipo, a former All-Star who missed most of the last three seasons with leg surgeries, proved his mettle. In Game 3 of that series, Lowry hurt his hamstring, and that’s when Robinson started to lose his footing in Miami’s rotation. And in that playoff opener against Atlanta, he led the Heat with 27 points. Though Robinson regressed statistically this season (which paved the way for Spoelstra to sub him out of the starting lineup), he was still the top 3-point shooter on a team that led the NBA in 3-point shooting (he made the most 3s on the team, 232). This is a group that gave Spoelstra the mix he was looking for in terms of switchable defenders, ballhandlers and outside shooting. Robinson, NBA Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro, Gabe Vincent and Dewayne Dedmon were the reserves. If we look at Game 1 of Miami’s first-round series against Atlanta (so we are already conceding Spoelstra’s earlier call to switch Duncan Robinson to a reserve and start Max Strus), the Heat’s rotation was a starting five of Lowry, Butler, Strus, Bam Adebayo and P.J. There is a delicate balance to be struck by coach Erik Spoelstra with his rotation, with tough decisions he’d already made now begging for a second look because of all that has transpired since the playoffs started last month, including a hamstring injury to Kyle Lowry that has not healed. ![]() The answer isn’t quite as simple as just make a few more shots. While Butler was 25-of-42 shooting for the weekend, his teammates shot a collective 40 of 117 (35 percent) overall and 11 of 54 (20 percent) from 3-point range. The Heat could have - and still can - withstand Embiid’s arrival and Harden’s re-emergence, if, again, literally anyone other than Butler could make some shots. Then, Harden rediscovered his game next to Embiid on Sunday in a series-tying, 116-108 win, with a 2022-playoff high 31 points on 8-of-18 shooting with six 3-pointers. His massive presence (figuratively and literally, a 7-footer who is 280 pounds, Embiid is much, much bigger than any viable player on the Heat) has fortified the middle of Philadelphia’s defense, installed an immovable object as a rim protector and freed James Harden and Tyrese Maxey from the outsized attention Miami’s defense paid to them in Games 1 and 2. ![]() At a glance, one might deduce this series changed with the arrival of masked Joel Embiid, who missed the first two games in South Beach with a broken face.
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