The Miami Heat fall apart again, this time to the Philadelphia 76ers

The Miami Heat fall apart in an 104-102 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Miami Heat traveled to Philadelphia in their last game before the All-Star break, in need of a momentum win. However, a second half collapse would take that opportunity away, as the Heat fell 104-102 to the 76ers.

Goran Dragic, preparing for this weekend, put himself in All-Star mode. Off to a fast start, it was the Dragon who took matters into his own hands. One night after he had 28 points at Toronto, he had nine quick points to start things off. A 9-2 run gave Miami an early advantage, but there was a clear presence that rebounding would be an issue throughout the game.

Joel Embiid was out with a sprained ankle, so the Heat relentlessly attacked the basket in return. Balancing it out, Josh Richardson and Wayne Ellington kept the spacing of the offense with their perimeter shooting.

It’s all about the defense

It was the defense that stepped up once again in the first half.

Closing the passing lanes, the 76ers struggled to set up their offense. A steal by James Johnson set up Ellington for a fast break basket to open up a 40-25 lead, only a couple of minutes into the second quarter.

Johnson was everywhere. He continued to attack the paint and grabbed his eleventh point ot the night in just seven minutes of action.

Rebounding continued to be a struggle in the first half for the Heat though, only bailed out by the poor shooting performance from the 76ers, leading to many second chance opportunities. Unfortunately, the Heat gave those up.

On the other hand, it was a great shooting performance from the Heat, going 52 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from the arc in the first half.

Luke Babbit made his return to the court, knocking down a corner three to give the Heat their largest lead of the game, up 24 points in the third quarter.

76ers cold shooting turn hot

The cold shooting of the 76ers from the first half didn’t carry over into the second.

Their shots finally started to fall, as Philadelphia went on an 8-0 run to start chipping away at the Heat’s lead.

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It was Johnson who found a connection with Hassan Whiteside on back-to-back possessions, with both resulting in a Whiteside slam. The offense finally found their stride again late in the third quarter, to reopen their cushion on the scoreboard.

That stride wasn’t enough to hold back the 76ers, who made things interesting going into the fourth quarter only down by eight.

In the fourth, Marco Belinelli caught fire and gave the Heat all they could handle. Frustration set in and things got chippy between both teams. Dwyane Wade missed a shot on one end of the court, then rushed to the other side to block a shot into the stands.

After facing a 24-point deficit in the third, the 76ers claimed the lead with just over five minutes left to play.

Late steals by Richardson and Wade came up huge in giving Miami another chance to not let the game slip out of their hands. But an unbalanced shot by JJ Redick would set up the 76ers for a win.

After an extremely well defended inbound play, the 76ers stepped out of bounds, giving the Heat one more possession. In what felt like a flash back, Wade stepped back for the game winning three, but was just short hitting the front of the iron.

Miami’s second half collapse couldn’t hold off the 76ers late push, as Philadelphia would go on to win 104-102.

Next: Miami Heat forward James Johnson: Then, now and what's to come

Hopefully, the All-Star break will do the Heat some good.