Tyrese Maxey struggles mightily as Joel Embiid-less Sixers lose to Heat, 119-113

MIAMI – There were a lot of storylines surrounding the 76ers vs. Miami Heat showdown when the NBA announced in August that the teams would square off on Christmas Day. Or so we thought.

The league promoted a head-to-head matchup between Joel Embiid and Miami’s Bam Adebayo, a four-time All-Defensive second-team selection. The NBA publicized that Jimmy Butler would face the squad he led within one victory of the 2019 Eastern Conference finals during his lone season in Philly.

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As it turned out, Embiid and Butler were among several players who missed a game that lost a lot of luster.

In the end, the Heat prevailed 119-113 at Kaseya Center in the first meeting between the teams this season. The Sixers battled back from a 21-point deficit to regain the lead. They also got solid play from forwards Tobias Harris and Kelly Oubre.

However, they were unable to overcome Tyrese Maxey’s worst performance of his career.

The Sixers point guard finished with 12 points on 4-for-20 shooting. He made just one of his eight three-point attempts. Maxey was held scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting in the first half.

“They did the normal stuff that I see when I’m out there without Jo,” Maxey said. “The blitzing, the hard showing, but for the most part, I got some really good looks and some shots that I make I don’t know, four or five times out of 10. So I guess it was just one of those days.”

However, Harris finished with 27 points three nights after scoring a season-high 33. Meanwhile, Oubre added 25 points while making 6 of 9 three-pointers. Sixers reserve center Mo Bamba scored 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting along with six rebounds and two steals.

Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with a game-high 31 points along with 10 rebounds.

But this game was without the two main attractions.

The Sixers (20-9) announced Sunday that Embiid would miss the game with a sprained right ankle. His status for Wednesday’s matchup at the Orlando Magic has not been determined. Sixers coach Nick Nurse isn’t concerned that Embiid will miss more time with the injury.

“I don’t think so,” Nurse said. “I think it’s an ankle sprain. And they’re, I’d say, fairly optimistic about it.”

The Sixers could also get Nic Batum back Wednesday. The small forward missed his third consecutive game Monday with a right hamstring strain.

Meanwhile, Butler was ruled out six hours before the 8 p.m. contest with a calf strain. Two other former Sixers — Josh Richardson (lower back discomfort) and Haywood Highsmith (non-COVID head cold) — were also ruled out at that time. Meanwhile, Miami’s Dru Smith (right ACL sprain) remained sidelined.

But the Heat (18-12) didn’t need them, improving their league-best all-time Christmas record to 12-2. The Sixers dropped to 19-15 on Christmas.

With Embiid out, it was obvious the Heat’s game plan was geared toward stopping Maxey.

The Sixers expected Miami to put a lot of different guys on him. They also expected the Heat to pressure and double-team him.

Nurse welcomed that.

“I always keep saying he needs to keep seeing this stuff in his growth process,” the coach said.

But Maxey’s self-induced struggles led to him playing passive at times. He also displayed his frustration with not drawing a foul during a timeout with 7 minutes, 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Maxey extended his arms while pleading with all three referees about not getting a call on a missed shot seconds earlier.

“That happens,” he said. “I have nothing to say about that. I don’t blame them at all. I blame it all on myself. I couldn’t make a shot. That’s frustration. It happens. It was just one of those days.”

Then after missing another attempt moments later, Maxey raised his arms in frustration while sprinting back on defense.

“Yeah. Gotta flush it,” he said of his off night. “It sucks. It really does because a lot of those looks are shots that I shoot every game. There were a couple times where I got a dude off balance, I got so much separation that I was open. It just didn’t go in. I then missed three free throws. I hadn’t missed back-to-back free throws like that in a long time. So it happens.”

But before the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gave Maxey a lot of respect.

“This is the next talent that you are seeing in this league,” Spoelstra said. “And they’re figuring out how to impact winning. He’s an explosive scorer, obviously has that electrifying speed. But he’s reading the game probably in a different way. You know, that happened with experience.”

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The Sixers remained in South Florida after the game and will fly to Orlando on Tuesday. They are scheduled to practice there Tuesday afternoon before facing the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night at the Kia Center.

At 17-11, the Magic are off to their best start since winning 22 of 29 games to open the 2009-10 season. That squad went on to finish 59-23 and lost in the Eastern Conference finals. Orlando has only had two winning seasons since then – 2010-11 and 2018-19.

The Magic averaged 25.6 wins and failed to reach the playoffs over the last three seasons.