Sixers head west, where four games against playoff-caliber teams will be a good barometer

No disrespect to the undermanned Miami Heat, but they were far from a true barometer for the 76ers.

Sure, the Sixers (38-30) avoided a fourth-quarter collapse while defeating Miami on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. But the Heat (37-31) were minus five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and standout Tyler Herro. They also lost sharpshooter Duncan Robinson to back discomfort in the third quarter.

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So we’ll get a better sense of whether the Sixers’ competitiveness without Joel Embiid has improved during the four-game West Coast trip against the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, and Sacramento Kings.

Those games will jump-start a tough stretch with nine of 11 games on the road before the Sixers conclude the season with a three-game homestand.

The Sixers will visit the Suns on Wednesday before facing the Lakers on Friday. They’ll remain in Los Angeles to play former Sixer James Harden and the Clippers on Sunday before capping the trip against the Kings on Monday. After returning home to face the Clippers on March 27, the Sixers will play at the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 29 and Toronto Raptors on March 31.

But the games against the Suns (39-29), Lakers (37-32), Clippers (42-25), and Kings (39-28) will show how the Sixers stack up against playoff-caliber teams in hostile environments.

“We have to continue to play like we did tonight,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said Monday after the 98-91 victory over the Heat. “But also do more to continue to encourage each other, have everybody step up, step in and contribute to these wins.

“But we need these. It’s getting down to the final stretch of the season, man. And, obviously, we want to hold down the fort until big fella [Embiid] gets back and have some momentum whenever he comes back so we can continue to roll.”

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Embiid has been sidelined since he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 30. He began participating in non-contact portions of practice on Sunday. He’s on schedule to return in the first or second week of April.

The Sixers take a two-game winning streak into their game against the Suns. And Tyrese Maxey is a major reason for that.

The All-Star guard finished with a game-high 30 points along with 10 assists and eight rebounds against Miami. Seventeen of his points came in the first quarter. This marked Maxey’s third straight 30-point game. He’s averaging 26.8 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 41.2% on three-pointers in four games after being sidelined with a concussion.

Oubre and Kyle Lowry were Maxey’s main costars on Monday. Oubre had 22 points and five blocks, while Lowry added 16 points, two steals, and one block.

They made huge plays down the stretch after the Sixers blew a 17-point lead. Lowry’s three-pointer and Oubre’s layup on consecutive possessions gave the Sixers a 93-87 lead with 2 minutes, 28 seconds left. Lowry also responded with a reverse layup after the Heat pulled within four points. This time, his basket made it a 95-89 game with 1:36 to play.

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“I think their zone is really good, it’s very effective, and I knew where I could get my shots at,” Lowry said of his five fourth-quarter points against his former team. “At the end of the day, Tyrese was holding it down. Sometimes you have to give him a break, and he put me in the position to hit the three [while] he has everybody looking at him.

“Then he put me in another position because everybody was looking at him to have the open lane and make a layup. At the end of the day, it’s about winning basketball games no matter how it comes.”

Now we’ll see if Maxey can continue his string of 30-point games. We’ll also find out if Lowry and Oubre will continue to step during this road trip.