MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 29: Head Coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat looks on and smiles during the game against the Toronto Raptors on January 29, 2022 at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2022 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
Miami Heat and their head coach Erik Spoelstra prepare themselves to face the Philadelphia 76ers and James Harden.
The Miami Heat will be facing the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Both these teams are championship contenders and this series will be a highly competitive one.
The inclusion of James Harden to the 76ers made them a legit contender. Whereas Miami made some big moves prior to the start of the season which strengthened their team.
Miami was the best team in the East during the regular season, and they are currently the favorites to get out of the East. However, Heat’s coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t taking Philly lightly.
Talking about the inclusion of James Harden in Philadelphia, Erik Spoelstra said, “He definitely changes the dynamic, You’re talking about an MVP player. A guy who can manipulate the game; he can hurt you whether he’s scoring or whether he’s assisting, or whether he’s just manipulating the defense.”
Erik Spoelstra further talked about the dynamic duo of Harden and Embiid and said, “They have two guys that really know how to draw fouls and do it exceptionally well,”
He added, “So you have to do things with great discipline, great focus, but you don’t want to back off on your aggressiveness, and that’s that dance that we’ll be wrestling with this series.”
Miami is a very physical team, and Harden and Embiid will find it very difficult to dominate them. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the series plays out with Joel Embiid most certainly out for the first game of the series due to an injury.
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