Tyrese Maxey's strong effort powers Sixers over Heat

Tyrese Maxey registered 28 points, 11 assists and five steals to guide the host Philadelphia 76ers to a 124-117 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday.

Joel Embiid (26 points, 11 rebounds) also had a double-double for Philadelphia, which finished the game on an 8-0 run to capture its third straight win. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 21 points and eight boards, while VJ Edgecombe notched 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and eight boards.

Bam Adebayo paced Miami with 29 points and 14 rebounds and Tyler Herro pitched in with 25 points and seven assists off the bench. Jaime Jaquez Jr. (19 points) and Andrew Wiggins (18) also made key contributions.

Miami trailed by 16 at halftime but erased that entire deficit in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. Adebayo's 3-pointer with 5:09 left in the period put the Heat ahead 81-80.

However, Oubre countered with a 3-pointer as the Sixers went on to lead 99-91 after three quarters.

Miami quickly overcame that deficit by scoring the first eight points of the fourth to tie the score. The visitors stayed close, but they were not able to take a lead in the final period until Herro knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining to put them up 117-116.

It turned out to be a short-lived edge for the Heat, as Maxey made two free throws and Oubre drained a 3-pointer. Adebayo and Herro missed 3-point attempts before Embiid converted a 3-pointer from the wing to give Philadelphia a 124-117 lead with 29.2 seconds left.

Maxey erupted for 20 points in the first quarter, knocking down 5-of-8 3-point attempts, including one that moved him past Allen Iverson (885) for the top spot on the Sixers' all-time 3-pointers list.

Despite Maxey's first-quarter performance, the Sixers only led 36-35 after 12 minutes.

Philadelphia's lead was still a modest 41-39 edge early in the second quarter when the team erupted for a 22-8 push over a seven-minute stretch. Edgecombe scored 12 points in that burst, including a three-point play, a 3-pointer and a transition dunk.

Miami briefly got its deficit back to single digits before Philadelphia rebuilt a 73-57 cushion heading into the locker room.

--Field Level Media