Three reasons the Sixers defeated the Miami Heat

The 76ers completed a two-games-in-three-nights sweep of the Miami Heat with Thursday’s 125-108 win at the Wells Fargo Center. For the second straight game, the Heat had only eight available players and the Sixers took advantage of their manpower advantage.

Here are three reasons the Sixers won:

The Sixers played at a fast pace and had a 26-20 edge in fast-break points, but they were also highly effective in a half-court offense. They often got good looks after drawing double teams and then hitting the open man. That is what happened on this play when Ben Simmons found Isaiah Joe, who hit a three-pointer.

Similarly, Tyrese Maxey drew several defenders before finding Simmons for this alley-oop dunk.

The Sixers unveiled an aggressive defense that resulted in 15 steals. Many times, the Sixers took advantage of lazy Heat passes. Here is an example, with Maxey stealing a pass from Tyler Herro.

A lot of the defensive intensity was created by Matisse Thybulle, who had four steals.

Because Miami had only three reserves and the Sixers had nine, it’s easy to point to bench scoring as a difference. But Shake Milton brought an immediate spark off the bench. He outscored the three Miami reserves, 31-26.

Milton not only was efficient, hitting 11 of 15 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from three-point range, but he also got to the foul line and made all six of his free throws. He was an effective passer, too, with seven assists, including this one on a lob to Dwight Howard.

Milton set the tone with nine first-quarter points and remained in attack mode.