Miami Heat: Ben Simmons and Philadelphia 76ers ego too much for Heat

The Miami Heat fell 106-102 to the Philadelphia 76ers last night in Wells Fargo Center, unfortunately, cementing the Heat’s spot as the 9th seed in the Eastern Conference.

With the Miami Heat not being able to keep up with the grit of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat saw another game escape them in the 4th quarter, as the star power was too much for Miami late in the game, even without Joel Embiid in this one.

The Heat and Sixers are turning into a legit rivalry, except that the Sixers have essentially owned this rivalry making it completely one-sided. If you couldn’t tell through our title, the ego and boastfulness of the Sixers is shown through their very-confident fandom as well as the sly smirks from their players (see Ben Simmons).

As the Heat didn’t exactly create a nice relationship with the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs last season, you can imagine that the Sixers’ players and front office don’t necessarily respect this Heat team (think Justise Winslow stepping on Embiid’s face mask).

Aside from the petty relationship between Sixers’ and Heat players, you can point to one huge reason why the Heat started off this game so poorly: Hassan Whiteside vs. Boban Marjanovic.

Erik Spoelstra’s quote via Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel illustrated the big man struggle best here, ” He was beating us down the court,” Spoelstra said of Marjanovic. “That’s what was most disappointing.” The fact that Whiteside is a $100 million dollar man that can get beat out by a below average center that has turned himself into a parody around the league is laughable. Marjanovic had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the first half, helping the Sixers lead the Heat 57-50 and making Whiteside look like he just woke up from a coma and didn’t know how to use his body.

To be frank, Whiteside looked like a player trying to be bought out of his contract, as he only got 10 minutes of playing time in one of the worst games of his career.

I won’t highlight anything about this game, even though it was only a 4 point loss, but the only positive thing to take away from this dreadful game was the return of Derrick Jones Jr., who replaced the injured James Johnson early in this one due to Johnsons’ shoulder impairment. With the athleticism of Jones Jr. and Goran Dragic returning soon, you could finally see a revival for the Heat.

Ultimately, this game just felt like a slap in the face for the Heat, especially when Ben Simmons could barely smile when doing a jersey swap with Dwyane Wade. Moreover, you can expect one Simmons and Winslow fight at one point in their careers against each other, as its obvious, this Heat team isn’t friendly with any Sixer play (think Dragic and Winslow in last years first round).

As the Heat are behind the Detroit Pistons in the standings, it makes tomorrows game even more important, as the Heat are playing at home against the Pistons (return of Wayne Ellington), check it out at 7:30 PM Eastern.