Sixers vs. Heat: James Harden clutch as Sixers grind out Game 4 win to even

The cliché about playoff series not beginning until a team wins on the road — one James Harden used after the Sixers’ Game 2 loss in Miami — sounds dubious at the moment.

The Sixers won their second consecutive contest in Philadelphia on Sunday night, knotting their second-round series against the Heat at two games apiece with an intense, foul-filled 116-108 win at Wells Fargo Center.

Harden brought them to the finish line with tons of clutch shotmaking. He recorded 31 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Joel Embiid had 24 points and 11 rebounds. All five Sixers starters and Georges Niang scored in double figures.

Jimmy Butler was great with 40 points in a losing effort.

Dewayne Dedmon missed Sunday’s game with an illness. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said pregame the backup center is “day to day” and tested negative for COVID-19.

Game 5 will be Tuesday night in Miami. Here are observations on the Sixers’ Game 4 victory:

Embiid back in business offensively

The Sixers were determined early on to get Embiid deep catches against smaller defenders.

That meant searching for the right angles to capitalize on Miami’s switching and fronting, as well as manipulating the Heat so help defenders were momentarily out of the picture. Harden pulled it off on two pretty high-low passes, and Tobias Harris also fed Embiid for an easy first-quarter bucket.

Threading the needle isn’t automatic, though. Harden committed three turnovers in the first period, including one when he couldn’t perfectly loft the ball into Embiid at the rim. And he struck the rim itself on a similar attempt in the second quarter. It’s tempting to force-feed Embiid, but the Sixers will sometimes have better options. Miami tried to make those challenging to explore at times by picking up Harden full court.

Embiid was very wide left on his first three-point attempt, but he banked in his second. He drew the third foul on Gabe Vincent with 8.4 seconds left in the first quarter when the Heat guard scrapped with Embiid for position at the top of Miami’s zone. Embiid’s two free throws gave him 15 points (on 5-for-6 shooting) in the opening quarter — just three fewer than he scored Friday in his Game 3 return to action — and put the Sixers up 30-28.

Wearing a mask to protect his right orbital fracture and playing on a torn ligament in his right thumb, Embiid of course won’t be his best physically anytime soon. The start of Game 4 was at least an encouraging indication that he can still dominate games on both ends.

Working around more Harden foul trouble

Even before Harden was called for his second foul on a charge with 3:05 to go in the first, Shake Milton remained in Sixers head coach Doc Rivers’ flexible rotation. Furkan Korkmaz didn’t play Sunday. The idea of Korkmaz minutes is certainly less appealing when the Sixers’ outside shooting is sweet and Milton shows he’s a capable two-way player.

The Sixers made a couple of key threes with Harden sitting. Matisse Thybulle hit his first triple since Game 2 of the first round. Tyrese Maxey drained one against the Miami zone, too. Bam Adebayo and the Heat’s offense in general were…