Heat Hit Rock Bottom, As LeBron Looms
By Chris Posada
For fans of “Seinfeld”, December 23rd is Festivus.
After Tuesday’s game, it might be time for the Miami Heat to air some grievances.
The Heat fell victim to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers, 91-87, to drop their record to 13-16 overall, and 5-10 at home. Philadelphia, who has made it a point to be as awful as possible, improved to 4-23. In a game that saw the Heat take a 23 point lead as late as the third quarter, the Sixers stormed back to pull off the upset.
After sitting out Sunday’s game, Dwyane Wade returned to lead all scorers with 23 points, on 9 of 21 shooting, and led the team with 6 assists. Unfortunately, only six of his points came in the second half – all in the fourth quarter. He looked to be moving well, as clearly he was taking a day off as a precaution. Shawne Williams was the other bright spot, as he scored 17 points, on 6 of 9 shooting, and hit 3 three-pointers. The slump he was going through at the beginning of the month seems to have gone by the wayside.
The Sixers were led by Michael Carter-Williams’ 20 points, 5 assists, and 6 steals. His activity on the defensive end helped jump start the Philly comeback, as they were stripping Heat players and causing turnovers.
Rookie KJ McDaniels was electric, dropping 13 points off the bench, while fellow rookie Nerlens Noel had 10 rebounds. Luc Mbah a Moute chipped in with 19 points.
Things that pleased me: Today was a nice day.
Things that annoyed me: Aside from the Heat losing to the %$#&ing Sixers? Where do I start?
The Heat took a 15 point lead into the half. The Sixers looked like a team that had no idea how to run a functional offensive set. Miami pushed the lead to 23 points with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Then it all fell apart.
The Heat would score 18 points from that point on.
The Heat offense just stalled, like it often does in the third quarter. This time, they got too comfortable and took the foot off the gas, ready to coast into Christmas. Miami bottomed out in the fourth quarter, scoring nine total points in the period. And as the game was slipping from their grasp, Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra clung too long to a lineup of Norris Cole, Mario Chalmers, James Ennis, Danny Granger, and Udonis Haslem, while trying give Wade and Luol Deng extended rest. That lineup would give up a Sixers 11-2 run to help them take the lead before the reinforcements arrived with just under six minutes remaining in the game.
Things that perplexed me: In the second half, the Heat scored 10 points in the paint. They completely decided that going to the basket was not a thing they would bother with. As Philly got more active on defense, the Heat were doing everything they could to not risk turning the ball over any more than the 14 they had in the half. So they settled for jumpers. It’s what they always do. The Heat would go on to shot 5 for 24 outside the paint over the course of the half. They shot more threes (16) than shots in the paint (12) in the second half.
Scale of 1 to 10, how bad did I want to throw a lamp because of Mario Chalmers?: 3. Aside from being a part of that abysmal lineup in the fourth quarter. Chalmers finished with 11 points, on 4 for 8 shooting, with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Of course, he had 4 turnovers, as getting a game without Wario making an appearance was too much to ask.
What we’ve learned: The Heat’s “Jekyll and Hyde” routine continues, as they look tremendous for parts of a game, then turn into a complete disaster for the rest. On Tuesday, Miami just couldn’t revert back to what they were doing right in the first half. A loss to a team that has become a punchline for tanking is not something the Heat need as they go into their biggest game of the regular season.
You Know Who and the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming, and the Heat look like they need both a Festivus and Christmas miracle to pull off an upset of their own.