The Philadelphia 76ers almost managed to rally against a tough Miami Heat team, but fell short in the end after struggling throughout the game against their zone defense. Joel Embiid is fully aware of how to beat the zone, but head coach Brett Brown noted the Sixers prepared for it, but didn't execute like they were supposed to, making the mistake more mental that fundamental.

“Move the ball,” Embiid said when asked how to beat the zone, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps. “Make shots.

“I feel like in the fourth quarter, I was a little bit aggressive and my teammates found me. In the first half, that wasn't the case. We have to do a better job at being locked in from the beginning.”

That lack of early aggression could have cost the Sixers the win, now no longer undefeated at home, sporting the only blemish in a 14-1 home record.

“I think that we ended up overthinking it too much,” said Brown. “I think that we have been quite good against the zone this year, with the fifth-best offense against the zone, so they tell me.

“I feel like it put us on our heels, and I don't think that we responded the way that I thought we would, and I think it crept into our defense. It watered us down on both sides of the ball, and finally, we got some life going in the fourth period.

“It was as much a mentality, mood swing, as it was anything. I think that structurally, we got the ball inside and we were 12-for-39 from the 3. It watered down our mood.”

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Embiid regrets the lack of early punch, acknowledging that his team was well-prepared to tackle the zone, but didn't execute as expected.

“In the first half, I don't even remember myself being in any action or getting the ball,” said Embiid. “[The zone defense] was in the scouting report. We knew they were going to do it, we were prepared for it, but I guess we didn't act on it. We didn't do what we talked about.”

The big man had a brilliant 22-point, 19-rebound effort against the Heat, but the Sixers shot only 42.2% from the field, including 30.8% on their 39 3-point tries — a large reason for their struggles against a savvy defensive team.