Everytime Mike Bibby misses a shot,
a puppy dies. He killed a whole litter today.
This is what a good draft pick looks like.
In a not-so-strange microcosm of their season, the Miami Heat failed to close out the sweep on the Philadelphia 76ers, and the series will be going back to South Beach at least one more time.
In watching the first quarter one could not help but see that Philadelphia was a team determined to not go quietly into the night. They came out with fierce defensive intensity, loading up on James or Wade anytime they came off of their usually dangerous pick and roll, hitting them hard and fast with multiple defenders. On offense, they hit their open shots and moved the ball around well and when the quarter would come to a close, Philly’s “Big 3” of Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, and Jrue Holiday would outscore their Miami counter parts 20-13. One of Miami’s biggest Achilles’ heels has been lack of consistent production outside of the Big Three, and that was on full display in the first, with no one else getting a basket until Super Mario Chalmers finally hit a three on Miami’s final possession of the half. Mike Bibby missed several open shots (Bibby would actually shoot blanks the entire afternoon) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas would score nothing as well, despite a number of tip-in attempts.
The second quarter would open with further trouble for the Heat, their rebounding nearly nonexistent after being huge in the first two games, and no one attempting to score other than James. Then about a quarter through the quarter, James Jones would step out of bounds; some jawing between teams would ensue, resulting in the dreaded double-technical foul on Thaddeus Young and Jones. The emotion would trigger one of the massively dangerous Heat runs that the team has become known for, with the team forcing 5 turnovers for 8 points letting James and Wade get out in transition and murder the Sixers with their highlight drives, including a sick alley-oop from Wade to James. They would end the half up two.
The third quarter was most likely painful for any Heat fan to watch, leaving me write things in my notebook like “Bibby is awful” and “Why is Bibby still in?” He would spend nearly seven minutes in to start the quarter. Bibby is on that team to hit spot-up shots. He doesn’t play defense well, and can’t create a play. He wasn’t hitting spot-up jumpers, so why was he in? Philadelphia continued to scrap mightily, but still only managed to break even and remain down only two, thanks to good ball movement leading to open looks.
The fourth quarter would see a giant of a defensive effort by Miami, including 5 block from the big three, but it would all be for naught, as Philly would ultimately pull out the win on a critical end of game sequence that saw Evan Turner hit a running jumper, then save a ball from going out of bounds, followed by consecutive threes from Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams, a beautiful block by Elton Brand, and then the rookie Turner drawing a foul and nailing both shots to go up four to seal the game.
The world was waiting for Miami to drop one to a lesser team, and it got its wish today. This is not some new development for the Heat, as they have spent a good part of the season drifting between dreadful and dominant. It is a problem many elite teams face, including the Lakers. The thing is, the Lakers have the personnel to be consistently dominant. The Heat’s bench is terrible. So instead of being the first to the second round, the boys from south Florida got to see the Celtics sweep the Knicks. So the Heat will have to see if they can close it out next game, and head into the Conference Semi-Finals with less rest than Mean Green.
Key Moment:
Brand cam through huge in this one with his clutch block on James with only 3.8 seconds remaining, preventing a possibly tying shot, and with Young grabbing the ball, winds up forcing a Miami foul that would give Evan Turner (who had an excellent performance) the opportunity to ice the game on his free throws.
What it Means for Miami:
Without overreacting to the loss (dropping a game does not erase a team’s elite status), it does typify all of the problems that Miami has. No bench production (16 points to Philly’s 36), lack of rebounding if Bosh doesn’t come ready to play, and issues closing games. These are all things Boston does on a fairly consistent basis. Their match-up in the next round is coming off of two strong games to sweep what is a better team. Miami still has a strong chance, but they are a vulnerable team, no doubt.
What it Means for Philadelphia:
This was a moral victory and little more. This win is nothing more than a treat for the great Philly fans before a prompt first round exit. This may sound harsh, but in reality, no one wins an NBA playoff series after being down 3-0. They literally lose 100% of the time. This may salvage some pride, but even Sixers’ coach Doug Collins has said that the Heat are a better team, something he said mainly because it is true. Make no doubt, though, that there is talent on this team, and I will be watching Evan Turner’s development carefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment