The Miami Heat rallied late to beat the Philadelphia 76ers.
Thanks to a 20-3 scoring run to end the game, the Miami Heat rallied late to beat the Philadelphia 76ers and save themselves from being Philadelphia’s first win of the season. You never want to be that close to losing to the Sixers, but the Heat were able to come back from as much as 17 points down to get the win.
The Heat entered halftime down 47-32. Why? They weren’t making shots and couldn’t stop Philadelphia from making shots. At the half, Wade was the team’s only player with double-digit points at the time. The Sixers should get some credit for taking Hassan Whiteside out of the game by triple and even quadruple-teaming him at times. Whiteside, a stingy passer, didn’t know how to react most times.
The Heat hung in there, though, and rallied in the final period to get the win. The 76ers tried the Hack-a-Hassan strategy for a bit, and Erik Spoelstra went to a small lineup of Chris Bosh, Justise Winslow, Gerald Green, Wade and Goran Dragic to close out the game. That unit played strong defense and moved the ball well to get open shots that the Heat hadn’t seen with consistency all night. But it was just enough to steal the game and leave with the victory.
The 76ers were led by Roberts Covington and Isaiah Cannon, who scored 21 and 22 points respectively. Rookie center Jahlil Okafor added 16 points of his own.
Luol Deng went to the locker room in the third quarter after what appeared to be a shoulder injury and did not return to the game.
With 27 points, Wade moved to 49th on the all-time scoring list.
Three stars
Dwyane Wade was (Donald Trump voice)… fantastic… tonight. He single-handedly kept the Heat in the game through about three-and-a-half quarters, and finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 36 minutes.
Chris Bosh made just three of his 11 shots, but a big one came at the end of the game when he hit a 3-pointer to tie the game. He finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to give him his sixth double-double of the season.
Justise Winslow scored six of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a huge tip in to give the Heat the lead at the end of the game. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, five rebounds and one assist.
Highlights
Up next
The Miami Heat play the New York Knicks on Monday at 7:30 PM ET, on NBATV.