Last night I crashed on the couch ready to watch Miami take on Philly. Grabbed my notebook because hey, I track stats for fun during games. Started scribbling as tip-off happened.
My Stats Tracking Process
First I made two columns in my notebook: Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers. Every time someone scored, I put a tick mark by their name. For rebounds and assists, I drew little R and A symbols next to shots. Got messy when both teams went on scoring runs – almost spilled my beer twice trying to keep up!
Half-time ritual: I paused the game and counted all my chicken scratches. Bam Adebayo already had 14 points for Miami, and Tyrese Maxey was cooking with 18 for Philly. Switched to red pen for the second half so I wouldn’t get confused with my first-half notes.
The Standout Performers
End result? Damn Maxey finished with 37 points! Dude was unstoppable sinking threes. For Miami, Jimmy Butler did his usual tough-guy buckets and ended with:
- 27 points (11 came in the 4th quarter alone)
- 8 rebounds
- 6 assists
Honorable mention to Kevin Love grabbing 10 rebounds off the bench – those hustle plays matter.
My Final Verdict
Maxey’s 37 points obviously made him top dog scorer. But man, Joel Embiid’s defense changed everything with 3 blocks and altering like ten shots. Weirdly, both teams shot terribly from three-point range (under 32%). Crazy how Miami lost with 8 more free throws made. Probably comes down to Philly having way fewer turnovers – only 6 turnovers versus 15 for Miami according to my count. That’s what decided it.
Gotta start adding a “clutch plays” section next time. Stats don’t show how Butler nearly ripped the rim off that dunk attempt in the 3rd quarter!
