Heat at 76ers
THE STORY: The Miami Heat are now two steps closer to their championship dreams and look as though they have the Philadelphia 76ers completely outclassed. The Heat did what they were supposed to do as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, taking the first two games at home. But after competing hard in a loss in Game 1, the 76ers rolled over in Game 2. Philadelphia will be searching from some energy from its home crowd when it hosts Miami in Game 3 on Thursday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT, CSP
ABOUT THE 76ERS: Philadelphia jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 and climbed within a point in the fourth quarter, giving it the confidence that it could win in Game 2. But the 76ers barely even got a chance. They managed only four field goals in the first quarter of Monday’s Game 2 and went into the half down, 49-31, with no idea how to attack the Miami defense. The Philadelphia starting five was outscored in the first half by each member of the Heat’s “Big Three.” The 76ers’ franchise has never won a playoff series (0-16) after dropping the first two games.
ABOUT THE HEAT: Miami has never lost a playoff series after winning the first two games and looked unstoppable on Monday, locking down on the defensive end and spreading it around on offense. LeBron James led the way with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Chris Bosh chipped in 21 points and 11 boards in the 94-73 triumph. The lead grew to as much as 28 points in the second half before Miami took its foot off the gas. The presumptive favorites before the season started, the Heat finally looked like a team that could win the championship on Monday.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Bosh has recorded a double-double in each of the first two games for the Heat. Andre Iguodala has totaled nine points on 4-of-15 shooting through two games for the Sixers.
KEY STATISTIC: Shooting percentage. Not matter how tight the defense is, there is no excuse for the 25.6 percent that the 76ers shot from the field in the first half of Game 2. They recovered to shoot 34.2 percent for the game but dug themselves too big a hole early. The Heat shot 50 percent in the opening half.
LAST WORD: “If they’re playing great, they’re a better team,” Philadelphia coach Doug Collins said of the Heat. “OK? If they’re playing on the top of their game, they’re a better team. I mean, they won 58, we won 41. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to play and compete and fight. But when they come out (Monday) and defend the way they did. … It’s going to be very difficult for us to beat them.”