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 3rd quarter point differential in the NBA… and fittingly the Heat started the 3rd 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 3rd. 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 3rd quarter points.
- Iguodala made a half-court shot at the buzzer of the 3rd quarter that nearly counted but was waived off by the officials.
- Heat began pulling away at the start of the 4th 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.