On Wednesday night, the Sixers' postseason journey began as they played host to the Miami Heat in the first game of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament, with the winner being awarded the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup with the New York Knicks. In a back-and-forth contest that was, for a multitude of reasons, unlike no other, the Sixers escaped with a victory. Here is what jumped out from the first postseason game -- and win -- of the first-year Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's tenure in Philadelphia:
Opening matchups
Nurse and Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra are two creative minds with versatile rosters, and so it was always going to be interesting to see how their teams lined up defensively to open the action -- most teams, the Sixers and Heat especially, like to throw different looks at opposing players throughout games, but the first looks are typically the ones they believe in the most.
For Nurse, the lead defender of Miami superstar Jimmy Butler was not Kelly Oubre Jr. or Tobias Harris as most expected, but former Heat guard and a close friend of Butler's, Kyle Lowry, who thrives defending bigger wings like Butler. Meanwhile, Spoelstra called on Butler to defend Sixers All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey -- who himself was responsible for defending Miami scoring threat Tyler Herro. Of course, big men Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo lined up against one another.
A slow start... on both sides
Miami scored just two points in the first five minutes of this game, a brutal start for them fueled by some missed shots and a cohesive Sixers defensive effort from the outset. The Sixers are quite lucky this took place, because their own offense struggled even more down the stretch of the first quarter. They finished the period with seven turnovers, a massive number, and looked completely flummoxed by Miami's zone defense, which Nurse sounded prepared for pregame:
If not for Miami's rough beginning to the game on the offensive end of the floor, the Sixers would have been on the verge of getting their doors blown off by there end of the first quarter. The Sixers' offensive issues extended into the second quarter, though, as they continued to look entirely out of sorts and turned the ball over repeatedly.
Embiid's brutal opening act
The Sixers' turnovers were certainly a team-wide issue, and no player his exempt. But for a lot of reasons, it is hard not to look at Embiid as the main culprit. He is this team's offensive cornerstone, the player who is supposed to take command in high leverage or sticky situations and settle things down. Instead, he contributed to the team's putrid offensive start. The reigning NBA MVP shot just 2-8 from the field with a pair of turnovers and only one assist in his first 18 minutes of play in the first half, looked hesitant for much of that time and was simply not the assertive go-getter the Sixers have always needed him to be in these moments. Nearly every member of the Sixers was not their best self in this half, but again, given Embiid's stature, the onus is on him in particular to get his team out of those spots.
More rotation decisions
It was long assumed that Duncan Robinson would be a pivotal piece for the Heat in this one, as he was upgraded from probable to available before the game after missing the last few contests of the regular season with a back injury. But by the end of the first half, it was clear that Robinson was not in Spoelstra's plans. While Miami used nine players in their rotation, the Sixers only went with eight, and the main victim of this number's game was Cam Payne, who despite serving admirably in the regular season now finds himself out of the rotation. Of the Sixers' eight rotation players, one of them -- Buddy Hield -- only logged four minutes in the first half, a quick stint filled with timidness.
A putrid first half: by the numbers
In their most important half of basketball to date, the Sixers brought their absolute worst on the offensive end of the floor. Some numbers that illustrate just how disastrous this first half was...
• The Sixers scored just 39 points in the first half. Despite Miami shooting 42.9 percent from the field and making just six of their 20 (mostly open) three-point attempts, they entered intermission trailing by a dozen because their offense was truly that bad.
• The Sixers shot 14-42 (33.3 percent) in the first half, including 3-18 from beyond the arc, and only attempted nine free throws. Miami quickly went to the zone defense that Nurse had sounded ready for, and the Sixers looked completely bewildered by it, as if one of Spoelstra's most famous defensive exploits was not even listed on the team's scouting report.
• Each of the Sixers' three reserves -- Hield, Nic Batum and Paul Reed -- attempted two shots in the first half. Reed made both of his, Batum split his and Hield went 0-2. Each of the Sixers' starters -- Maxey, Lowry, Oubre, Harris and Embiid -- took at least four shots. The most efficient one of those five from the field was Harris, who made just three of his eight shot attempts, including missing both of his three-point tries. Lowry went 2-4 from inside the arc but 1-5 from three-point range. Maxey went 3-9 from the field, including also going 1-5 from beyond the arc. Oubre went scoreless, missing all four of his shot attempts, one of which was a three.
The Sixers finally make their run
Midway through the third quitter, the Sixers continued to look lifeless, and then finally their run began. It started out of a timeout: Heat wing Caleb Martin missed tow free throws, earning all fans in attendance free chicken nuggets, Batum quickly knocked down a triple, Oubre managed to force a turnover and then Hield drew a goaltending violation. In less than a minute, the Sixers trimmed the lead to six and forced a Miami timeout.
The Sixers ended the third quarter trailing by five after a few Embiid blunders and a three by Miami rookie wing Jaime Jacquez Jr. gave the Heat a bit of extra breathing room. But they cut the lead to as few as two in the quarter, and the biggest reason why was Batum, who knocked down three triples in the third quarter alone and on top of it played stellar defense once being switched onto Butler. Batum figured to track Robinson around screens for much of this game, but with the sharpshooter not in Miami's rotation, he was available to defend Butler.
Payne makes a cameo
Payne was not in the rotation in the first half, but those 24 minutes played out exactly as they needed to for him to have any chance of logging second half minutes. And, with a minute and change remaining in the third quarter, on he came for the first time all night. On his first touch of the game, Payne knocked down a pivotal corner triple. He did exactly what he has done ever since arriving in Philadelphia in February: he gave the Sixers a much-needed spark.
Butler and Herro struggle from the field
Say what you want about the Sixers' offense in this game -- and most of it would be fair -- but their defense was exactly as good as it needed to be for the vast majority of this contest. Look no further than their complete smothering of Miami's top two perimeter scoring threats, Butler and Herro, who shot a combined 14-45 from the floor. The Sixers' entire perimeter defensive unit did a stellar job, from Batum and Lowry on down. Nobody stood out as a weakness at any point, a remarkable feat against a team as meticulous as Miami.
Batum owns the moment
Ever since his first few minutes as a Sixer, it was clear that Batum was going to be the best player the Sixers received in exchange for James Harden -- and that even remained true when Marcus Morris Sr. turned into Hield through the transitive property. Batum is a stellar two-way player, a marvelous and versatile defender who can also not only knock down threes, but get them off as quickly as anyone not named Stephen Curry.
For better or worse, Batum was far and away the Sixers' best player on both ends of the floor in this game: he finished with 20 points -- the most he has scored in a single NBA game in over a year -- including six huge triples (all but one of which coming in the second half). He spent the majority of the second half hounding Butler. This was Batum's best all-around game as a Sixer to date.
Embiid lives up to the hype in deciding moments
Despite the Sixers have all of the momentum on their side, the Sixers found themselves trailing Miami by three with about four minutes left in the game. Nurse made the pivotal decision to close with Lowry and Oubre over Harris and Hield.
Embiid knocked down a huge three to give the Sixers the lead, but Herro responded with a triple of his own. Embiid came back, grabbed an offensive rebound off a Batum miss and converted an and-one to give the Sixers the lead back, before former Sixers developmental project and Miami wing Haywood Highsmith tied the game back up with a floater. The game ended up tied with under a minute remaining, and not a single person in the Wells Fargo Center was seated.
With 40 seconds or so left, Embiid drew a double-team on the perimeter as he has done thousands of times in his career. He hit Oubre under the basket, who converted a go-ahead and-one over Butler and knocked down the free throw. And then, as Herro stepped into a tough triple to try and tie the game, he was blocked by Batum, who put the finish touches on his two-way masterpiece. Oubre grabbed the crucial defensive rebound and gave the ball to Maxey, who knocked down the two biggest free throws of the game. And just like that, it was over.
Somehow, some way, the Sixers won the game, 105-104. They will face the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, starting on Saturday evening at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Just don't ask how.