Nick Nurse said to be able to remember of its ” last 12 matches » against the Heat. Whether with the Raptors in the past or the Sixers this season, the technician is used to crossing swords with the Florida team in the regular season.
This year, his Sixers have played four times against the Heat, for a balanced record of two victories on both sides. Each time, great battles ended with a maximum difference of seven points. “ These are always difficult matches, very intense and physical. So, it's OK. That’s also what we think we are. We want to go out there and fight. Sometimes you have to be ready to do it from the start against these guys », Judges the coach.
The latter can list the profiles of brawlers available to the opponent, starting with the inevitable Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Without forgetting to “ incredible complementary pieces »: Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier « on point and explosive »… « So there is a lot of talent and lots of offensive options that we need to keep an eye on. There are a lot of duels to play. We just have to prepare for all of this », Claims Nick Nurse.
The former Raptors coach already had the experience of playing in last year with the Canadian franchise. His team finished in 9th position, but lost to the Bulls at home. These same Bulls had not overcome the Heat's obstacle during the second round of play-in. This Florida victory marked the starting point of a crazy epic journey to the NBA final.
The Jimmy B puzzleutler
At the heart of this process, a man that Nick Nurse knows very well: Jimmy Butler. The Heat player, who hurt his Raptors in 2019 during a memorable series when Butler was playing for the Sixers, will pose quite a defensive headache for Philadelphia. Because of his qualities as a creator with the ball in hand, his play in the post, his physique…
“ We have to decide if, at some point in the match: are we in a position to try to take the ball out of his hands? Are we going to take it together? I always say you have to make these guys work every time they touch the ball. We must have a lot of combinations ready to use », Continues the technician, who could for example mobilize Nicolas Batum in defense on Butler.
The Frenchman will not be too much for the Sixers who should have to do without Robert Covington, while De'Anthony Melton did not train this Monday. KJ Martin, on the other hand, who recently went through the infirmary, should be there. While Joel Embiid continues classic training, Nick Nurse is more relaxed in the injury department on the back lines.
One of these backs, in addition to his experience, even has expertise that the others do not have: Kyle Lowry, who arrived from the Heat during the exercise. “ I will lean on him, as I do with other veterans in general. Our relationship has clearly been going on for a long time, I probably have a few more conversations with him for ease. We discuss all that. […] He knows this team, the squad and their workings very well. », reports Nurse.
This sets the scene for an explosive play-in.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Joel Embiid | 39 | 33.6 | 52.9 | 38.8 | 88.3 | 2.4 | 8.6 | 11.0 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 34.7 |
| Tyrese Maxey | 70 | 37.5 | 45.0 | 37.3 | 86.8 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 6.2 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 25.9 |
| Tobias Harris | 70 | 33.8 | 48.7 | 35.3 | 87.8 | 1.1 | 5.3 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 17.2 |
| Kelly Oubre, Jr. | 68 | 30.2 | 44.1 | 31.1 | 75.0 | 1.4 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 15.4 |
| Buddy Hield | 32 | 25.8 | 42.6 | 38.9 | 92.3 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 12.2 |
| De'anthony Melton | 38 | 26.9 | 38.6 | 36.0 | 83.5 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 11.1 |
| Cameron Payne | 31 | 19.4 | 41.3 | 38.2 | 91.3 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 9.3 |
| Kyle Lowry | 23 | 28.4 | 44.4 | 40.4 | 84.8 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 8.0 |
| Paul Reed, Jr. | 82 | 19.4 | 54.0 | 36.8 | 71.8 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 7.3 |
| Marcus Morris | 37 | 17.2 | 43.9 | 40.0 | 86.1 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| Patrick Beverly | 47 | 19.6 | 43.2 | 32.1 | 81.0 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 6.3 |
| Nicolas Batum | 57 | 25.9 | 45.6 | 39.9 | 71.4 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 5.5 |
| Ricky Council IV | 32 | 9.0 | 48.2 | 37.5 | 74.6 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 5.4 |
| DJ Wilson | 2 | 7.7 | 66.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 5.0 |
| Robert Covington | 26 | 16.1 | 44.9 | 35.4 | 87.5 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 4.5 |
| Mohamed Bamba | 57 | 13.0 | 49.0 | 39.1 | 68.0 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 4.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 4.4 |
| Jeff Dowtin | 12 | 11.8 | 55.6 | 47.4 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 4.3 |
| Daniel House | 34 | 15.0 | 44.8 | 30.0 | 76.1 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 4.2 |
| Jaden Springer | 32 | 11.8 | 39.0 | 21.6 | 82.4 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 4.0 |
| Kj Martin | 58 | 12.3 | 54.4 | 30.4 | 53.8 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.7 |
| Terquavion Smith | 16 | 5.3 | 39.1 | 37.1 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.3 |
| Furkan Korkmaz | 35 | 8.6 | 39.5 | 35.0 | 70.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| PJ Tucker | 3 | 22.1 | 40.0 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| Kenny Lofton, Jr. | 2 | 4.4 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Danny Green | 2 | 9.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Darius Bazley | 3 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Philip Petrusev | 1 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Javonte Smart | 1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
