Heat Outrun, Outwork and Outshoot Sixers in 127-117 Loss
Nov 23, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) reacts after scoring against the Miami Heat in the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The Sixers played a rare Sunday Matinee at home, and there was a great sense of nostalgia in the building. The Sixers wore the 2001 throwback jerseys, Sixers legend Theo Ratliff rang the bell before the game, and Allen Iverson was sitting courtside.
They welcomed in the Miami Heat, who had won 3 straight coming in, and in their last game, which was an NBA Cup matchup against the Chicago Bulls, the Heat dominated 143-107. The Sixers were down Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe to start the game as well, so this would be quite the challenge to a short-staffed Sixers squad.
The Heat came to play in the first quarter. The hallmark of their season so far has been their pace of play, and even though Nick Nurse had a couple of extra days to game plan, the Sixers looked woefully unprepared in the first quarter. The pace of play that the Heat bring is fast and constant. So fast that you may be tempted to think that they can’t keep that pace for a whole game, but that couldn’t be further from reality, and it is what makes them a dangerous team. Towards the end of the first quarter, Tyrese Maxey sat, and he didn’t return until midway through the second quarter. When he did, he made an instant impact, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, the first of which, on the difficulty scale of 1-10, was Stephen Curry. He shot a prayer shot from the timeline with right at the buzzer, and it was all net. Nothing should surprise us with Maxey this season, but he still finds a way to keep raising the bar.
The third quarter, which has been the downfall of this team this season, and going into the third trailing 71-67, felt like it would be a tough uphill battle, and though they did not win the quarter, they only lost the third by 2 points at 28-26. This is thanks to playing better defense in the second half. At the end of the day, they still lost it, and the fourth quarter was more of the same. The Sixers took this loss because, on offense, they didn’t adjust to the matchup zone that the Heat run. There was too much standing in one spot, and not moving the ball around. Later in the third and fourth, as the Sixers started to take more distance shots, Eric Spolstra adjusted and widened the zone, and the Sixers couldn’t make the adjustment and as a result fell 127-117.
Something that is a concern is that when Maxey was sitting, the Sixers’ offense seemed out of sorts, and didn’t play with the same intensity, but started chipping away at the Heat lead, thanks in large part to the work on the glass of Andre Drummond and the offensive play of Paul George. Once Maxey came back into the game, and for the brief time both Maxey and George were on the court, the ball moved cleanly, and the Sixers came back from being by as many as 16 in the second to tie the game.
I was pretty hard on George at the end of last season and questioned his dedication to basketball, but in the first half and while Maxey was sitting, he buoyed the team and was instrumental in the 16-0 run the Sixers went on in the second quarter. He did seem to get out of sorts later in the game due to fatigue, but we have to remember that he’s only been back a handful of games. But I will be the first to say that the way George is playing, I will say that I was wrong about questioning his intensity. He has been improving every game, which is understandable as he gets his legs under him.
The true puzzle of the Miami Heat is not the pace they play at, which is intense; it’s how do you contain Norman Powell? The former second-round pick has willed and worked himself into being a top player in the league. His grit has paid off for him, and today the Sixers learned a lesson, but not just about Powell, because the entire league has struggled with this puzzle, but the rest of the Heat can play when you focus on him. Kel’el Ware put on a clinic today, scoring 20 and adding 16 rebounds. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 22 points and really stretched the floor, allowing Bam Adebayo to add 18 points.
With all of that said, the Sixers will have to play the Heat 2 more times this season, and truthfully, I don’t know if having Edgecombe or Embiid would make up the difference. There was too much playing defense while backpedaling, and the stats show that the Sixers just couldn’t keep up in this boat race. The most telling stat is that there were six 76ers in the negative in the +/- today, and only three for the Heat. Justin Edwards himself was -21, and for as well as Maxey played today, he was still -14. Conversely, Ware by himself was a +26 player today. Granted, the +/- stat in basketball can be a little murky, but it still does show that the Sixers were playing on their heels all game, while Miami was drag racing past the Sixers’ best players.
We could see how good the Heat are by watching them live or on tape, but at the same time, you can’t truly see until you match up with them. Today was a harsh reality check for Nurse and the rest of the Sixers. If the Sixers have any championship aspirations, they will have to go through Miami to get there, and the score was much closer than the game itself. Let’s hope that next time AI is sitting courtside, the Sixers can pass and play a little better defense. I’m interested to see how Nurse gameplans for the Heat for their next matchup in Miami.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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