Sixers Tank So Hard in Season Finale

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Wednesday night’s season finale was the picture of a Shakespearean tragedy, full of tanking sound and fury, ultimately signifying nothing. Miami, new to the tanking game after being eliminated from the playoffs Tuesday night, fully intended upon doing everything in their power to retain their first-round pick. Coach Erik Spoelstra settled on the innovative strategy of never subbing his players. Four of his five starters played the full 48 minutes, with Udonis Haslem getting 7 minutes off the bench as the only sub. They played small forward Michael Beasley as their center! Ironically, the last time the Heat tanked, they ended up with Beasley with the 2nd overall pick. Time is a flat circle, as a certain Lincoln spokesman might say.

And yet, the Heat still won! They might have brought an innovative tanking strategy to the table, but the Sixers were built for this very moment. This game was their Shang Tsung after climbing the Mortal Kombat-esque ladder of tanking throughout the season. You’re playing without any big men, Miami? That’s ok, we’ll roll with JaKarr Sampson and Hollis Thompson as point guards, and we already have practice in doing so.

In order to keep his players somewhat fresh, Spoelstra employed a zone defense for long periods of the game. That strategy may have backfired, as it lulled the Sixers into taking a lot of the outside shots they’re not fully equipped to knock down. The team shot 5-29 from three on the game, with Hollis Thompson (19 points on 3-7 shooting from downtown) the only player to have a decent night behind the arc for Philly.

Meanwhile, the Heat started out white hot from the outside, hitting 10 of 16 threes to build an 18-point halftime lead. To the consternation of many a Sixers fan, Miami was visibly exhausted in the second half, and those tired legs led to plenty of misses. The Heat shot just 2-15 on threes after halftime, allowing the Sixers to march back into the game.

Ultimately, none of it mattered though. Despite having the lead as late as the fourth quarter, Orlando bowed out to Brooklyn; the Knicks never made much of a push against the Pistons. This created a situation with a few minutes left where Sixers fans flipped and said, what the heck, go ahead and win this one. Behind a late flurry by JaKarr Sampson (team-high 22 points), the Sixers found themselves up in the closing moments. Fittingly, Henry Walker, who had hit 5 threes to that point, found the range once again for his 6th triple of the game, putting the Heat ahead with 9 seconds left and propelling them to the meaningless victory. I guess you can’t just quickly flip a switch on tanking.

Other Game Notes:

• Zoran Dragic scored 22 points, easily eclipsing his previous career high of 3 (also against the Sixers when he was with Phoenix earlier this season!).
• If you would have told me in November that Sampson would someday score 22 points in an NBA game, I would have named you a liar. In all seriousness, Sampson becoming an actual NBA player has been one of the better stories for the Sixers this season.
• In keeping things light-hearted, Brett Brown let both Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid both draw up plays out of time-outs. Who would have guessed Embiid’s coaching career would start before his playing career ever did?

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Post-Regular Season, Pre-Lottery Odds

• Sixers pick = Philadelphia finished with the 3rd-worst record, one game behind the Knicks. They have a 15.6% chance of the first overall pick and a 46.9% shot of landing in the top three.
• Lakers pick (Top 5-protected) = Los Angeles finished with the 4th-worst record, so the Sixers need two teams behind the Lakers to jump into the top three and move the Lakers down. There is a 17.2% chance of that occurring (16.0% the Lakers move to 6th and 1.2% they move to 7th).
• Heat pick (Top 10-protected) = Unfortunately, Miami finished with the 10th-worst record, one game behind both the Nets and Pacers. The Sixers need any of the 4 teams behind the Heat to jump into the top three. There is a 9.1% chance of such a scenario.