After three games versus the Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers now find themselves down three games to none. Like Game 1, the Sixers had a legitimate chance of winning, last night.
They found themselves up 75-73 after the third quarter, but like Game 1 the Heat responded to the challenge by going on a 15-4 run to take an 88-79 advantage with 5:41 left in the game. In much the same way as the first contest in Miami, the Heat enforced their will on Philly, and they never relinquished the lead after that point.
The question that needs to be answered is why do the Sixers continue to hang around with Miami but never pull it out.
Here are three reasons why the Sixers continue to come up short versus the Heat.
1. The Heat killed the Sixers on the boards in Game 3 by a 50-34 margin, and that has been a constant theme for them during the series. The Miami squad is averaging 49.7 rebounds per game as opposed to the Sixers 37.7. That’s a difference of 12 boards which means additional chances to score. Not many teams are successful when they are out-rebounded by such a large margin.
2. The Sixers are also settling for too many jump shots. They need to attack the basket and create more opportunities to get to the foul line. The 76ers have ONLY attempted 54 free throws during the series, and made 38 of them.
The Heat on the other hand are a whopping 78 for 98 from the line. That means Miami is making an average of 26 foul shots a game,
and the Sixers are only averaging 18 ATTEMPTS. Sure Miami has LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, and we all understand that in the NBA superstars get more calls than the average player. Knowing that, the Sixers have to take the ball to the basket more often and force the referee’s to blow their whistle.
3. The Sixers are just not good enough to outlast the Heat. Their best on ball defender is Andre Iguodala and he can only guard one of the big three. So if he guards James, who will guard Wade, or vice versa? And if by some chance the Sixers get lucky and Wade and James have an off night, Miami still has Chris Bosh. The Sixers simply don’t have enough talent to beat the Heat.
Miami is a loaded team that provides numerous mismatches for the Sixers. Doug Collins’ squad is a scrappy group of players that can play with most of the teams in the NBA. However until they add more star power to their lineup, they’ll continue to struggle with the top tier teams like Miami.
The Heat will close them out in four.
So WHY would we trade our best on ball defender Gary?
John…nice write up. Why in the heck havent they taken it to the cup more? Jrue and Thad looked like they had that goin early in the series. Jrue last night.
I know many hope im wrong but i picked the Heat to win it all. I think there ball movement and Brons ability to get to the hole will change the way teams d them up come Conf Finals time.And D-wade kills it nightly.They’re stacked frontline wise and there bench is picking it up.
It really comes down to 2 words when you think about it..
TALENT & EXPERIENCE
As the 76ers acquire more talent and gain more experience playing together, only then will be they legitimately be able to compete with the Top Teams in the NBA.. Bulls,Heat will rule the East the next 2-3 Seasons as the Celtics are getting old, the Knicks who knows and Orlando/Atlanta Hawks have let a good window of opportunity pass them by it appears.. The 76ers have at least moved up from a consistently bad team to a mediocre team but with a bright future..
Erock, I picked the heat too. They have too much firepower. You have the big 3 of course then you have deadly 3point shooter, eddy house is not bashful neither is the 3point champ jones. Then in defense they not only have size but they also have speed, they’re the fastest defense in the league. The sixers were in over there heads from the start.
Then you have guys playing scared (iggy, thad,) guys who have the ability yet lay down when guys that can match there athletisim and speed are on the floor. Take the games against the Grizzlies this year. The sixers lost there confidence and checked out in those games bc they were playing an opponent that can match or even exceed in some ways there athletic ability and speed. The same is true with this series against the heat. Miami is able to match or surpass whatever the sixers do. If they wanna run they heat can run, if they wanna slow the game down the heat will use there speed to disrupt it. The heat have a answer for everything the sixers try to do
You only need one reason. We’re the sixers.
We need a somebody. A billboard type player. A commercial type player.