Herro, Adebayo, Robinson lead Heat past 76ers. Takeaways from a sixth win in eight games

Takeaways from the Heat’s 109-104 win against the 76ers on Wednesday night in Philadelphia:

▪ A night after blowing out Milwaukee, the Heat took control for a time in the fourth and then survived a late 76ers rally to beat a Philadelphia team that’s now 6-14 when it plays without defending NBA MVP Joel Embiid.

“Getting two back to back signature wins like that [was big],” Bam Adebayo said. “We’re believing we can do it, even if we don’t have a lot of guys.”

Here were the decisive moments that sent Miami to the All Star break with its sixth win in eight games:

Haywood Highsmith hit a corner three to give Miami a 92-91 lead with 7:06 left in the fourth. Tyler Herro then made a difficult scoop shot to make it a three-point game.

Soon after, Duncan Robinson missed a running jumper - his first miss of the game after six makes - but then nailed a three from the corner to put Miami up four.

Later, the lead grew to six when Herro passed to Adebayo for a dunk. Eventually, the margin grew to eight when Herro hit a 15-footer and Highsmith hit two free throws. That seemingly had Miami in control with just over a minute left.

But a turnover by Herro and a goaltending call on Adebayo left the 76ers down only three.

Miami whittled away most of the shot clock before Robinson missed a three from the corner. But Jaime Jaquez Jr. had a thunderous dunk on the put-back, pushing the Heat’s lead back to five with 34 seconds to go.

Tyrese Maxey (30 points) hit two free throws on the other end to close the 76ers to within 107-104 with 29 seconds to go. But Miami used up most of the shot clock on its ensuing possession. And after a miss by Herro, Adebayo secured the rebound and hit two free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining, essentially settling matters.

A night after shooting 19 for 40 on threes in a 123-97 thumping of Milwaukee, Miami shot just 11 for 35 (31.4 percent).

But Philadelphia was even worse at 28.6 percent (10 for 35).

Miami got big nights from Adebayo (23 points, 14 rebounds,4 assists, 2 steals), Robinson (20 points, four assists), Herro (23 points, seven assists, seven rebounds) and Highsmith (16 points, four three-pointers).

And this was huge: After allowing 62 points on 52.2 percent shooting in the first half, Miami permitted just 42 points on 42.5 percent shooting in the second half (and 2 for 14 on threes).

“In the second half, our commitment defensively was much more to our identity,” Spoelstra said. “[The 76ers] were on their way to a 200 point game. That was not going to be a great formula for us. I told the guys in the huddle ‘I’m not sure we can score 201 points.’”

The Heat played without Jimmy Butler (bereavement leave), Terry Rozier (sprained knee) and Josh Richardson (dislocated shoulder).

The 76ers played without Embiid and forwards Tobias Harris, Nik Batum and Robert Covington.

There was a five-minute stretch in the third quarter when Maxey went to the locker room and Philadelphia mostly played a lineup of Buddy Hield, Cam Payne, Paul Reed, Ricky Council Jr. and Terquavian Smith. Miami actually lost ground during those minutes before playing well in the fourth.

▪ Herro, Adebayo and Robinson played well on the second night of a back-to-back set.

A night after producing his seventh regular-season triple double, Adebayo opened with 10 quick first quarter points (on 5 for 5 shooting), then went scoreless (while taking only one shot) in the second quarter before coming alive with seven in the third and then doing his part in the fourth.

Herro - off a 19 point, 5 assist game in Milwaukee - had 15 points in the first half and eight in the fourth. He closed 10 for 23 from the field and 1 for 8 on threes.

“Tyler and Bam, the last two games, were really good, playing winning basketball,” Spoelstra said.

And Robinson set the tone early with two marvelous passes to Adebayo for dunks. He didn’t take his first shot until more than eight minutes into the game, but hit all three of his attempts in the first half.

And then he nailed his first three shots of the third quarter, making him 6 for 6 overall and 4 for 4 on threes at that point. He finished the night 7 for 11 overall and 5 for 7 on threes.

“He’s playing out of his mind,” Adebayo said of Robinson.

Spoelstra said of Robinson: “When you need him to make a big play, he’s got a knack to be able to do that.”

The deft passing from Robinson, Adebayo and Herro has made a difference during this 6-2 eight-game stretch following a seven-game losing streak.

Jaquez Jr. - who had 12 points and nine rebounds - was the beneficiary of three layups in three minutes of the second quarter thanks to three nifty passes - two from Herro, one from Adebayo.

▪ Nikola Jovic came back to Earth after a career night, but Highsmith gave the Heat some good minutes.

A night after scoring a career-high 24 points, Jovic produced far more modest numbers: three points, three rebounds and three assists in just 14 minutes. He took only two shots, making one, had two turnovers and allowed KJ Martin to dunk over him.

Jovic played only four minutes in the second half; he left with his fourth foul just over four minutes into the third quarter and Spoelstra never went back to him.

Some of Jovic’s floor time went to Highsmith, who played 36 minutes compared with Jovic’s 14.

With Philadelphia playing small in Embiid’s absence, Spoelstra opted for Highsmith’s defense on Maxey and others. Highsmith scored 11 in the first half, then hit the go-ahead three in the fourth.

“Highsmith was really good defensively,” Spoelstra said. “He’s put together three straight games defensively where he’s had a massive impact.”

Beyond the additional use of Highsmith, Spoelstra made a few subtle changes, including playing Robinson with four reserves late in the first quarter and using a ninth player (Jamal Cain) after opting for eight in Milwaukee.

Cain disrupted a shot when he entered the game and quickly drew a foul from Ricky Council. Cain went scoreless in 10 minutes, missing his two shots from the field and mustering one assist, one steal and a rebound.

A night after scoring 19, Kevin Love was limited to two points in 12 minutes but had six rebounds and some good moments in the second half.

Caleb Martin struggled with his shot (3 for 9) but had two steals and was defensive disruptor.

▪ There was no Kyle Lowry reunion. He signed with Philadelphia on Tuesday but won’t join the team until next week. As for the Heat, Miami is expected to sign a 15th player soon.

“Kyle still has talent,” Spoelstra said. “You evaluate him based on what the team does.”

76ers coach Nick Nurse said of Lowry: “Nobody competes like that guy. That’s the highest compliment I can give him. He gives us another ball-handler, backup point guard.”

Returning to his hometown appealed to Lowry, who previously played for Nurse in Toronto.

“He had a lot of [teams] talking to him,” Nurse said. “This ended up being the best fit for him.”

The Heat will need to sign a 15th player to a 10-day or standard contract in the next two or three weeks to avoid using up all of the 90 combined NBA availabilities on its three players with two-way contract players.

That number of available days, for the Heat, now stands at just above 10.

Teams with only 14 players signed to standard contracts are limited to 90 total days of NBA usage for its two-way players. But the number goes from 90 to 150 (50 per player) if the Heat has a 15th player under a standard contract. So a signing is likely in the next week or two.

▪ Rest awaits, except for Adebayo, Jaquez Jr. and two-way players Cole Swider and Alondes Williams.

Adebayo will play in Sunday night’s All Star game in Indianapolis. Jaquez will participate in the Rising Stars event on Friday night and the Slam Dunk contest on Saturday. All three events will air on TNT.

Williams will play in Friday’s Risings Star event - one of eight G-League participants. And Williams and Swider will play in the G-League All Star game on Sunday in Indianapolis.

The Heat likely will reconvene next Thursday at Kaseya Center and play Friday at New Orleans to open a four-game road trip. Miami goes to the All Star at 30-25 and seventh in the Eastern Conference.