First Half:

Miami got off to a hot start with Gabe Vincent and Bam getting on the board almost immediately. It was a good sign seeing Bam go into attack mode right away. With Bam, Strus, and others playing well the Heat got out to a 9-2 start. Still, even with Bam being an absolute monster, Philly’s weapons worked to chip away at the lead with Maxey and Harris leading the charge for the Sixers. Nevertheless, Miami surged early getting out a 10-point lead.

Miami extended that lead with impressive offensive play from Jimmy and hard-nosed defense but Philly switched to a zone at the tail-end of the first quarter, slowing down the Heat on offense and getting Dedmon into foul trouble. On the other end, Harden started to get it going, and just like that the Sixers surged back to close the gap to five points.

It was Herro who’d give Miami a boost, scoring 10 points to bring Miami back to an eleven-point lead. He orchestrated the offense well. Oladipo also saw minutes with the reserves, cementing himself back in the rotation. Even with the Heat playing well, Tobias Harris did a good job keeping Philly within striking distance. Harden, Harris, and Maxey led the charge for Philly while Miami lost their rhythm and struggled with turnovers.

Even with Jimmy getting some tough buckets, Philly maintained momentum going on a 17-7 run. With the Heat suddenly stagnant Philly would steal the lead on a Harden bucket. Miami would go into the second half down one point.

Second Half:

Philly continued to surge to start the second half, but Butler and Tucker would get things all tied up on some great buckets. The Heat was forced to work from the perimeter with Philly clogging the key, moving them away from what had been working the last series and earlier in this game. Miami and Philly alternated leads for what seemed like the whole quarter, but some big Bam baskets changed the momentum back in Miami’s favor. Gabe Vincent caught fire to get Miami ahead nine points. He was spectacular even with Harris working to will back Philadelphia. Herro also got in on the fun, keeping Miami ahead 10 points. Miami closed out the quarter with an eight-point lead.

Oladipo would strike first to start the fourth and follow that up with some great defense. Seconds later Herro hit a shot from way out showing off his impressive range. Tobias Harris did his best to keep Philly in it, but Miami’s defense adjustments were suffocating.

With Miami grabbing nearly every offensive rebound and Herro putting on a masterclass from beyond the arc the Heat lead ballooned to 19. Philly suddenly had no answers for the Heat as they continued to barrage them offensively with Max Strus dunks, and other big buckets.

With the Heat up by quite a large margin, they’d cruise to an impressive Game 1 win.