MIAMI — There already had been games without both Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry for the Miami Heat.
This wasn’t one of them, it only felt that way most of the night.
With Butler shooting 1 of 11 and Lowry 2 of 11, the Heat found themselves in scramble mode Saturday night against the Philadelphia 76ers at FTX Arena.
And scrambling to find a way to stop 76ers center Joel Embiid, who continues to build his emerging MVP case.
Ultimately, Embiid’s 32 points and 12 rebounds were too much, as the Heat’s seven-game home winning streak came to an end with a 109-98 loss.
Omer Yurtseven, who stood taller against Embiid than could be expected of an undrafted rookie, closed with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Heat also got 16 points apiece from Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin.
Butler and Lowry each scored eight.
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday’s game:
— 1. Closing time: Up 11 in the first half and 13 early in the third quarter, the Heat went into the fourth down 75-73.
From there, the 76ers moved to an 83-76 lead, their largest to that stage.
The Heat later closed within 91-88, but an Embiid 3-point play with 5:16 to play pushed the 76ers up 96-88.
An Embiid jumper minutes later made it 98-89, with the Heat later going down 12 with 2:49 to go.
The 76ers outscored the Heat 66-48 in the second half.
— 2. Alternate means: While he was off with his shooting, Butler tried to compensate with his passing, closing with nine assists. Butler continues to show a solid chemistry with Yurtseven in the pick-and-roll game with the 7-footer.
It was somewhat of a tough spot for Butler, playing both ends of the back-to-back after missing almost two weeks with an ankle sprain.
With his seventh point, Butler moved past Jamal Mashburn into 22nd on the Heat all-time scoring list.
3. Tightened (a bit): After an uneven run with a full five-man second unit in Friday night’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra this time kept Butler in with the starting group until Lowry returned from his first rest.
Each played with a second unit of Dewayne Dedmon, Caleb Martin, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson.
That left Gabe Vincent the odd man out from Friday’s initial 10 deep. Vincent did not play.
It will get more intriguing Monday night against the visiting Toronto Raptors, when Bam Adebayo is expected to make his return six weeks after thumb surgery.
4. Off again: His shooting stroke seeming regained at the end of the Heat’s western swing, Robinson closed the first half 0 for 4 on 3-pointers, with his lone first-half conversion overturned from a 3-pointer to a 2-point basket upon remove video review.
Robinson was coming off Friday’s scoreless outing against the Atlanta Hawks, when he missed his lone two shots.
He closed 1 of 9 from the field and 0 for 8 on 3-pointers, finishing with two points in 17 minutes.
5. Man in middle: In a matchup that almost didn’t happen, with Embiid initially listed as questionable with elbow soreness, Yurtseven was up to 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and five rebounds at the midpoint of the first quarter, with a block of an Embiid shot.
He then had his double-double within the opening minutes of the third period, his eighth in 10 games, making it 14 consecutive games with double-figure rebounds. The franchise record is 19 consecutive games by Hassan Whiteside in 2017.
“He’s been great,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said pregame. “I don’t know where they keep getting these guys from. They all can shoot, they know how to play. You look at some of the guys that they’ve picked up over the last three years, they are doing a heck of a job. You have to give them credit.”
