Miami Heat Visit Philadelphia 76ers: Final Recap

The Miami Heat pulled off an emphatic victory, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 99-79. After a close first half, the Heat pulled away late with a 15-0 run to seal the deal. Dwyane Wade had a game high 26 points and LeBron James had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds (he also tallied 8 assists).

Chris Bosh (12 points) , Norris Cole (11 points), Mario Chalmers (13 points), and Mike Miller (12) all scored in double digits to help the Heat beat their Eastern Conference foes for a second time in a row. Here are some notes and observations from the last half of play:

• 76ers have the best 3^rd quarter point differential in the NBA… and fittingly the Heat started the 3^rd polar bear-cold by missing their first ten shots. They didn’t score a point until 6:52 was left in the quarter. Both teams held each other to 16 points in the quarter.
• Andre Iguodala had a N-A-S-T-Y transition dunk late in the 3^rd. Expecting to see that on ESPN’s top 10 tomorrow morning.
• I think the 76er announcers said LeBron James had big ears. I’m not sure if I absorbed that correctly. LeBron meanwhile rebounded from his tough first half and had 8 3^rd quarter points.
• Iguodala made a half-court shot at the buzzer of the 3^rd quarter that nearly counted but was waived off by the officials.
• Heat began pulling away at the start of the 4^th quarter; leading by 10 with 8 minutes to go.
• Heat outscored the 76ers 26-10 when the game was tied at 61 apiece, including a 15-0 run with 5 minutes left in the game, essentially ending the game.
• The 76ers pulled their starters with 3:30 left in the game.
• LeBron threw a half-court backwards pass of a rebound that somehow got deflected into Dwyane Wade’s hands and resulted in a dunk. And then the Heat officially went into "Dexter Pittman" time.

Impressed by: Dwyane Wade. Facing off against physically inferior wing defenders, Wade decided some post-punishment was in order. He scored at will from the post with a series of up-fakes and turnaround hook shots. He finished 10 of 20 from the floor.

Depressed by: Eddy Curry. No Eddy Curry sighting even with the 76ers lack of front-court depth. That’s two straight no-shows for the artist formerly known as Cheeseburger Eddy.

Next on the schedule: The Miami Heat take on the Toronto Raptors at home on Sunday 2/5/2012 with a tip-off time of 1:00 PM.

Miami Heat Visit Philadelphia 76ers: Halftime Update

Heat lead the 76ers 51-47 after two quarters. The Heat have been shooting quite well from the field (50% FG%) but have struggled from the line (54%). The 76ers are shooting nearly as well at 43%. Dwyane Wade leads all scorers with 13 points and Thaddeus Young is pacing the 76ers with 11 points. Here are some other stats and observations at halftime of the Heat/76ers game:

• Philadelphia came in to the game 1st in the league in scoring defense at 85.9 points a game and you can tell why. Their perimeter defenders were physical, alert, and aggresive trying to force Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers out of their comfort zones.
• However, with Spencer Hawes out and Tonny Battie starting in his place, the Heat's game plan out the gate was to attack the basket like the last piece of cornbread on Thanksgiving.
• By my count, Dwyane Wade had at least 6 post-ups in the first half, most of which results in made shots. Despite the 76ers aggressiveness, once Wade gets the ball deep in the paint, he's been impossible to stop.
• The Heat got into the bonus with 6 minutes left in the half, but failed to capitalize with their recurring porous free-throw shooting.
• A good first-half showing for the point guards for the Heat, Chalmers and Norris Cole. They combined to shot 5-7 on 3pt field goals and finished the half with 17 combined points.
• The Heat bench has been outscored 26-10.

Miami Heat Visit Philadelphia 76ers: Starting Lineups And Injury Report

The Heat is scheduled to take the court at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia tonight at 7:00 to take on the surging 76ers. The Heat made short work of the 76ers earlier this month, leaving Philadelphia with something to prove on their home court.

Miami Heat:

Udonis Haslem is still playing through a cracked rib. It may be affecting his performance on the floor, as his rebounding average has dipped from just over 10 per game down to its current level of 8.2.

PG - Mario Chalmers

SG - Dwyane Wade

SF - LeBron James

PF - Chris Bosh

C - Joel Anthony

Philadelphia 76ers:

Spencer Hawes is currently out with a strained left Achilles. He has missed nine games so far and is not expected to play anytime soon.

Nikola Vucevic missed four games with an undisclosed ailment, and has been available for the past two, although he hasn't logged any minutes, he could get some time on the court tonight

PG - Jrue Holiday

SG - Jodie Meeks

SF - Andre Igoudala

PF - Elton Brand

C - Tony Battie

Miami Heat Visit Philadelphia 76ers: Facts And Figures

The Heat and 76ers are tied behind the Chicago Bulls for second in the Eastern Conference with identical 16-6 records. The teams squared off in the Conference Quarterfinals last season, with the Heat handily dispatching the 76ers, four games to one. Since then, the Heat have lost Zydrunus Ilglauskus and Mike Bibby, and added Norris Cole and Shane Battier. The 76ers have added rookie Lavoy Allen and Francisco Elson. More importantly, they're playing with swagger. These Sixers look like the creme of the East. With the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic suddenly coming down to earth, the East is now dominated by the Heat, the Bulls, the Hawks and the Sixers.

Common Thread:

Neither team has a player who has played for their opponent tonight.

Team Milestones:

Chris Bosh plays in his 100th Miami game tonight.

With 33 minutes, Mario Chalmers moves past Voshon Lenard into 15th All-Time.

Seven field goals will move LeBron James past Lenard into 17th All-Time, with 990.

Four more 3-pointers will move James Jones past James Posey into 13th, with 215.

Two more assists will be enough for Mario Chalmers to pass Jason Williams into 11th, with 917.

One more block moves Udonis Haslem into 11th place, past Brian Grant with 185.

Team Leaders:

PPG:

LeBron James, 29.7

Chris Bosh, 20.4

Dwyane Wade, 20.3

RPG:

LeBron James, Udonis Haslem - 8.3

Chris Bosh - 7.8

APG:

LeBron James - 7.0

Dwyane Wade - 5.5

Mario Chalmers - 4.0

SPG:

Dwyane Wade - 2.1

LeBron James - 1.8

Mario Chalmers - 1.4

BPG:

Dwyane Wade - 1.5

Joel Anthony - 1.0

Chris Bosh - 0.8

Miami Heat Visit Philadelphia 76ers: Game 23 Preview

The Heat visit the surprising 76ers in Philadelphia tonight. Can the Heat overcome their recent road woes and take down Doug Collins' overachievers?