The 76ers were just as dominant in Game 1 as they were to end the regular season

The Philadelphia 76ers might never lose again. Seriously. Despite not having Joel Embiid, despite playing its first playoff game, despite going against a cagey Miami Heat team, they won Game 1 easily, 130-103. It’s the 76ers’ 17th win in a row, which is remarkable.

They did so in their customary quick-strike fashion. The Heat actually led this game by four at halftime, thanks to a solid second quarter where they made the game choppy.

But 76ers coach Brett Brown made a brilliant adjustment, moving Ersan Ilyasova into the starting lineup in place of Amir Johnson. That was enough to kick Philly’s hyper-active defense into motion, and they held Miami to a single field goal in the first eight minutes of the third quarter. By then, the lead was 11, and it would only swell from there.

Ben Simmons dominated the game without scoring or shooting well, putting up a near- triple double with 17 points, 13 assists, and nine rebounds. J.J. Redick and Marco Belinelli combined for a whopping 51 points on 29 shots, while Ilyasova had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Other than Kelly Olynyk, who dropped 26 points on 13 shots, nobody did much for Miami. Hassan Whiteside had just two points in 12 minutes and looked totally out of it defensively, which is the biggest problem of all.

Game 2 is Monday night at 8 p.m. If the 76ers are this dominant without Embiid, imagine what happens when he comes back.

Here’s how it happened.

While Ben Simmons was on the bench, the Heat were able to cut the lead by none. They made up no ground while the best player in the building was catching a breather.

This one is starting to look bleak for Miami. It’s a 22-point game with seven minutes left.

The 76ers have pulled away, but it doesn’t seem the Heat are too far out of reach. Philly has Miami a bit out of its comfort zone, running up and down the floor. This Heat team is awesome on defense, but their offense has never kept up. A running and gunning team like the 76ers are giving Miami real issues. At this point, Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova have combined for 35 points on better than 50 percent shooting from both the field and deep.

This isn’t looking too good for the Heat, but they’re only a few defensive stops away from closing the gap.

4:10 — Kelly Olynyk scores, marking the first Heat bucked in six-and-a-half minutes. Then Ben Simmons comes up court, crosses him up and stuffs it. Sixers up 12.

7:34 — The 76ers are on a 13-0 run.

10:00 — This is why RoCo is one of the league’s best defenders.

This has been a battle of tempo in the first half. The Heat are a grind-it-out team, and the 76ers are like basketball’s rendition of run-n-gun. Neither team, though, has forced its pace on the other team, with the exception of a few defensive stands by the Heat.

There have also been a whoooole lotta foul calls going on out here.

Sheesh.

6:00 — It’ still the Ben Simmons show.

8:00 — Ben Simmons is back. And immediately he dimes Dario Saric under the basket for an easy bucket, before finding Amir Johnson on a gorgeous feed. The man really changes the game.

The 76ers have caught up. They’re spraying the Heat from three, led by Marco Belinelli, Robert Covington and Ersan Ilyasova. As long as Philly plays at Miami’s slow pace, they’ll struggle, and the Heat did a good job of dictating the tempo after Ben Simmons’ early rampage.

This game is going to be a tug of war.

76ers fans may have thought they had this game and series in the bag, but the Heat are proving much tougher a playoff opponent than they anticipated. The Miami bench scored 18 points to Philly’s nine in the first quarter alone. And Hassan Whiteside has been locking down the paint.

7.8 seconds — Robert Covington got away with murder

3:50 — Dywane Wade checks in and somehow gets his first basket. The next trip down, he fools Richaun Holmes with a pump fake to draw the foul. Father Prime, ladies and gentlemen.

6:42 — Ben Simmons is aggressive

Simmons came out and missed his first shot. It almost looked like he had some playoff jitters going on. But since then, he’s dominated, looking like the best player on the court because, well, he is.

Simmons only has four points and two assists, and he’s only shot one-of-four from the field, but the likely Rookie of the Year has dictated the pace of the game. That’s exactly the opposite of what the slow-mo Heat want on the road.

No team is hotter than the Philadelphia 76ers entering the NBA playoffs, with 16 straight wins. But the Sixers will be depleted in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat on Saturday night because star center Joel Embiid has been officially ruled out by Philadelphia for the series opener.

Embiid suffered an orbital bone fracture and concussion on March 28 against the Knicks and hasn’t played since. The 7-footer has been cleared of the concussion but not yet cleared to play. When he does play he will likely wear a facial mask, which he has been wearing in practice.

Embiid averaged 22.9 points and 11 rebounds this season for Philadelphia, whose 52 victories nearly doubled their 2016-17 total (28) and is almost as much as their previous three years combined (56).

Who Philadelphia will have is Ben Simmons, who has piled up triple doubles at an alarming rate for a rookie. Simmons since the beginning of March averaged 11 points on 58.7% shooting, 10.1 assists and 9.3 rebounds in 23 games, of which Philadelphia won 20.

Miami returns to the playoffs after missing out two of the last three seasons. With 44 wins they captured the sixth seed, drawing the No. 3 Sixers in the first round. This is the second playoff meeting between Philadelphia and Miami, with the Heat prevailing in five games in the first round back in 2011.

The 76ers and Heat split their four games during the regular season, with each team winning both home games.

Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

Game time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Announcers: Mark Jones, Hubie Brown, Israel Gutierrez

Online streaming: Watch ESPN