Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr. and the Philadelphia 76ers averted a late-game collapse over East rivals Miami Heat.
Maxey and Oubre Jr. registered double-double outings and the76ers staved off a spiriting Heat fourth quarter comeback to hack out a 98-91 home win. It also allowed Philly to return to the sixth spot in the East.
SIXERS WIN!! pic.twitter.com/lnwICIoyGA
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 19, 2024
Without reigning MVP Joel Embiid (left knee meniscus) and Tobias Harris (right ankle sprain), Maxey torched the Heat with a team-high 30 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. The 2024 All-star started hot with 14 points in the first eight minutes of the match.
Tyrese Maxey was electric in the Sixers' win against the Heat!
— NBA (@NBA) March 19, 2024
30 PTS | 10 AST | 8 REB | 3 3PM pic.twitter.com/otZqvzB1ch
Oubre played a sensational role in a starting role on both sides behind a 22-point, 11-rebound, and five-block outing, shooting on an efficient 52% clip in almost 39 minutes.
FIRE US UP, @KELLYOUBREJR! pic.twitter.com/XdpgwLXnya
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 19, 2024
Down 79-65 entering the final frame, Miami, who played without super star Jimmy Butler due to a right foot contusion, launched a 20-8 run to tie things up at 85 after a Caleb Martin slam.
A few steals and a few buckets later, Caleb ties it up on the slam
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 19, 2024
Tune in on Bally Sports Sun & ESPN 📺 pic.twitter.com/eU9QWdwJKR
However, back-to-back triples from Buddy Hield and former Heat player Kyle Lowry kept the Sixers ahead the rest of the way and took their first win out of three regular season meetings with Miami.
.@Klow7 for 👌 pic.twitter.com/jy0iQkqfgX
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 19, 2024
Lowry also had the highlight of the night when the 38-year-old veteran stumbled to the scorer’s table in an attempt to save a loose ball. The 2019 champion finished with 16 points in his first game against his former squad.
Kyle Lowry 😭 pic.twitter.com/9kamNoubx7
— Brick Wrld (@BRICKWRLDD) March 19, 2024
Earlier, Oubre Jr. punctuated a 15-0 Sixers run in the third with a baseline slam to give Philly their biggest lead at 17 points, 68-51, with seven minutes left in the third frame.
Bam Adebayo led the way for the reigning Eastern Conference champs with a double-double outing of 20 points and 13 rebounds while Terry Rozier III added 20 markers.
With just three weeks into the regular season, both squads only hope to have a full strength by mid-April just to have a fighting chance, at their current pace, of a postseason berth. At this pace, the Heat and Sixers could play each other again in the play-in tournament at most, in which Miami found themselves in a familiar place just a season ago.
The win put the Sixers back in the sixth at 38-30, while the Heat fell to a 37-31 win-loss record and dropped to eight spot with the loss.
