Who was the guy? Jimmy Butler. The Miami Heat’s star didn’t have the prettiest shooting (13 of 29 from the field), but his 32 points, eight rebounds and four assists helped in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers that wasn’t as close as the final score said. Butler was forceful in how he attacked the Sixers all night. He averaged 32 points over the final four games of this series (2-2 record) because he smelled blood. He figured the Sixers would fold if he applied pressure, and ultimately, he was correct. Max Strus and P.J. Tucker had great games. Bam Adebayo was really good. Butler was the one who decided to end this series.
What was the key here? Joel Embiid fought. James Harden didn’t. Embiid hit the floor repeatedly throughout the game with a torn thumb and fractured face. Embiid had a bad game, scoring 20 points on 7-of-24 shooting from the field, but you could tell he was going to give it everything he had. He’d leave it all out on the floor, good or bad. Harden didn’t do that. He did what he often does in elimination games: He shrank from the moment. Zero points in the second half. A waste of 43 minutes for a team that lost Danny Green to a leg injury. Season on the line, and Harden took nine shots. Tyrese Maxey didn’t have a good game, either, but at least he went out swinging with 22 shots.
Key stat: 7-6. That’s the number of offensive rebounds from Tucker and Max Strus (seven) compared to the offensive rebounds in the entire Sixers stat sheet. Tucker is 6-foot-5 and has very little vertical leaping ability. Strus is about 6-foot-5. The Sixers didn’t bother to box them out. The Sixers didn’t bother to fight for their own season. They essentially quit, outside of Embiid, Maxey and probably Tobias Harris.
The moment it was over: The Heat were up 11 going into the fourth quarter. In the first 1:50 of the quarter, the Heat went on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 19 points. Season on the line, 12 minutes left to play, and the Sixers just folded immediately. Adebayo scored a couple of buckets. Victor Oladipo made a bucket. Butler scored. Almost no resistance from a Sixers team that looked ready for this season to be over — 1-2-3, Cancun!
The moment of the game: With about five minutes left in the third quarter, Adebayo made back-to-back defensive plays that pretty much summed up the game. First was a block on a free-throw line jumper by Embiid. Adebayo stuffed him, the Heat took it the other way, and Butler ended up at the free-throw line. Then on the very next play, he stole a lazy pass in the middle of the floor, took it the entire way in the blink of an eye and threw down the one-handed dunk.
What’s next for the Sixers in the offseason? Figuring out how to not give $260 million to whatever this version of Harden is. The Sixers went for it at the deadline with Daryl Morey bringing back a familiar face from his executive career, someone he had quite a bit of success with teaming together. It was a good gamble, but even good gambles lead to losses sometimes. Harden looks terrible. He was listless in this series aside from the fourth quarter of Game 4. He doesn’t look like someone you want to invest in. He’s making $47 million next season, and his extension is going to be north of $200 million. He’ll be 33 at the start of next season, and it feels like nothing short of a vegan trend will correct his body.
What are the Heat looking at in the Eastern Conference finals? The Heat are either looking at a rematch with their opponents from the 2020 and 2021 playoffs, the Milwaukee Bucks, or they’re looking at a rematch of the 2020 Eastern Conference finals with the Boston Celtics. Either way, the Heat have to figure out if they’re getting a healthy Kyle Lowry in that series. They’ll need him to overcome the defending champs or the best defense in the NBA this season. From there, they have to get Adebayo to be as aggressive offensively as we saw in Games 1 and 2 of this series. The 3-point shooting can’t stay just at home. It has to travel.
Who was the guy? Luka Dončić. The Dallas Mavericks star was mad after Game 5. He could be seen walking back through the tunnel saying, “Everybody act tough when they up.” He took all of the trash talking and physical stuff from the Phoenix Suns’ side personally. All of that pressure was on him to deliver in Game 6 and force a Game 7 to extend the Mavs’ season. He did just that. He was a menace out there. He was a bully. He was better than everybody on the floor. He challenged every single defender. He finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and four steals with just one turnover.
What was the key here? Dončić and Jalen Brunson showed up as a duo. Devin Booker and Chris Paul didn’t. Booker tried to get going, but CP3 was passive. They got a good game out of Deandre Ayton, but the Suns need their two main stars to set the tone in these games. Dončić and Brunson had no trouble doing so. Dončić continued to dominate his matchups. Brunson continued to look like Kevin McHale whenever he got a guard into the paint. Your main guys have to step up and allow the complementary players to round things out. Dallas got that; Phoenix didn’t.
Key stat: Plus-30 and plus-23. The Mavs made 10 more 3-pointers than the Suns in this game. The Suns continued to struggle with their shot on the road, and the Mavs looked like they’re in shooting drills when they’re at home. Too much to overcome on the road for Phoenix, and the Mavs were just overwhelming with how they spread the floor all night. That’s where the plus-30 came from. The plus-23 is the points off turnovers advantage. The Suns turned it over 22 times for 29 points allowed. The Mavs turned it over seven times for six points allowed. Pure domination.
The moment it was over: Third quarter, the Mavericks came out of a timeout with an 18-point lead. That would be the time you see the Suns get a little momentum, go on a run and try to firmly cement this as, at worst, a high single-digit game. Instead, Dončić got himself a couple of dunks, the Mavs kept pace, and a couple minutes after this timeout, Dallas still had a 20-point lead. There was no momentum shift. Dallas maintained, and Phoenix couldn’t do anything about it.
The moment of the game: I probably should pick something to celebrate Dallas’ performance here, but this was a blowout win for the Mavs, and I’m choosing to use this section to complain about this review culture refs are in. In the third quarter, Ayton dunked. Dončić was in help, and he challenged Ayton at the rim; the Suns center finished through the contact. In the process of dunking it, Ayton’s elbow connected with Dončić’s head. The refs reviewed it, and because they didn’t feel comfortable reversing the call (nor should they), we saw them assess a taunting technical to Ayton for staring Dončić down. It’s a dumb ruling. Why did Luka get hit in the head? Because he’s like four inches shorter than Ayton, and physics still exist. It didn’t need to be reviewed. Sometimes, guys’ heads get in the way. It doesn’t necessitate a review each time. Not to mention, Luka missed the technical free throw. Ball didn’t lie. Stop with these constant reviews over incidental contact.
What can the Suns do to win Game 7? Turn up the defense to keep the rest of the Mavs from hurting them. Find Paul and ask if he’d like to rejoin the team. Ask if the role players would like to knock down some outside shots. Dominate the boards against a team that doesn’t have nearly the size you do. And, overall, protect the ball while protecting home court and the season you had to end up with the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs.
What can the Mavs do to win Game 7? The defense and outside shooting have to travel to Phoenix. If they can keep up with the Suns in that respect and make it competitive throughout, then they put the ball in Luka’s hands at the end of the game to give them a chance to return to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2011 when they won the title. Keep the turnovers low, keep the 3-pointers wet and give Luka a chance to do something special. A Luka Special, if you will.
(Photo: Jerome Miron / USA Today)
Zach Harper is a Staff Writer for the The Athletic, covering the NBA. Zach joined The Athletic after covering the NBA for ESPN.com, CBS Sports, and FRS Sports since 2009. He also hosts radio for SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Follow Zach on Twitter @talkhoops