Sixers-Heat best and worst: Josh Richardson torches his former team, a long night for Jimmy Butler in his return to Philadelphia
Richardson scored 32 points against his former Miami Heat team.
The 76ers started quickly and never let up during Saturday’s 113-86 win over the Miami Heat in the 100th consecutive sellout at the Wells Fargo Center. Here are our best and worst performances from the game.
Best performance: After missing the previous two games with right hip flexor tightness, Sixers guard Josh Richardson returned against his former team and scored a season-high 32 points. Richardson was 11-for-15 from the field and 6-of-7 from three-point range while playing just 25 minutes and 32 seconds. For good measure, he added four assists and didn’t commit a turnover.
Worst performance: There were several candidates, but Duncan Robinson, a 6-foot-7 second-year player for the Heat, shot 0-for-6 from the field, including 0-for-5 from three-point range. He finished with four points, two turnovers and a minus-26 rating.
Best defensive performance: Al Horford had no steals or blocked shots, but he is such a fundamentally sound defender and did a great job boxing out. Several times he was forced to pick up a player who got by one of his teammates, and more often then not, that player didn’t score.
Best statistic: The Sixers shot 14-for-29 from three-point range (48.3%).
Worst statistic: In the first half, Miami was just 1-for-12 from three-point range. The Heat trailed by 20 points at intermission and never got back into the game.
Best of the best: The fact that this was a rout, none of the Sixers had to play extended minutes on the second game of a back-to-back. Nobody played as many as 27 minutes, with Ben Simmons topping the list at 26:33.
Worst of the worst: Jimmy Butler’s return for the first time playing his former team since his summer sign-and-trade with the Heat turned into a disaster. Butler was booed every time he touched the ball, but that was the least of his problems. To his credit, he played hard, but neither he nor his team could make enough open shots. The Heat also contributed 17 turnovers. Miami (11-4) is vastly improved, but this was one of those nights that Butler, who scored all of his 11 points in the first half, would like to soon forget.