James Harden didn’t play against the Miami HEAT in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform this season. Joel Embiid is out for Game 1 with a right orbital fracture, and it’s unknown whether he’ll be able to play in this series.
Those are the two most important things to know going in, elementary as it sounds. While injuries may leave the status of significant players in flux, the HEAT were never going to face a 76ers team that they have played before. Philadelphia only played a healthy HEAT team once this season, for that matter, but Miami didn’t acquire a former MVP at the trade deadline.