Sixers Burned by the Heat

I missed the beginning of last night’s game out to dinner in the city with a group of friends.  While I was gorging myself on unlimited Brazilian steak, the Heat were carving apart the Philadelphia defense on their way to a 114-90 Miami victory.  The 114 points were the second-most points allowed by the Sixers on the season even with the Heat resting their starters for the majority of the fourth quarter.  Philadelphia lost each of the four quarters as they were never able to get key stops when it mattered to try to climb back into the game.

Miami got whatever it wanted on the offensive end outscoring Philadelphia 40-26 on points in the paint, while shooting an exceptional 58.4% from the field and only committing 7 turnovers as a team.  As usual, Lebron James was the star of the show recording his third triple-double of the season with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists.  James looked like a man among boys out on the court, getting to whatever spot he desired on offense and flying around on the defensive end in snagging a game-high 9 defensive boards.  As the Miami lead grew in the second half, the crowd’s loudest cheers were on Lebron highlight-reel plays rather than any positive Sixers actions (as few and far between as those were).  Dwayne Wade’s performance should also not go unnoticed, as he tallied a game-high 33 points on 14-18 shooting.

Despite the poor defensive effort from Philadelphia, a few players actually had good games offensively.  Jrue Holiday put up 21 points on 8-11 shooting, adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists.  Nick Young and Dorell Wright were hot from long range totaling 19 and 17 points, making 3 and 5 three-point field goals, respectively.  Unfortunately, the pair management deemed better than having Josh Smith both had poor outings with Turner committing a game-high 5 turnovers and Hawes shooting 1-5 from the field while only grabbing 2 rebounds in 25 minutes.  How a seven-footer could average less than 1 rebound per quarter defies the laws of physics.

Fortunately for Sixers fans, they will not have to dwell on this loss for too long as the team takes on the Knicks tonight.  Unfortunately for Sixers fans, if Philadelphia keeps playing like this, tonight’s game will only serve as a fresh wound to their dwindling playoff hopes.