Monday, April 18, 2011
Posted: 9:33 p.m.Updated: 11:09 p.m.
By Reuben Frank
CSNPhilly.com
MIAMI -- They missed early, they missed late. They missed jumpers, they missed layups. Their starters missed, their backups missed.
This was a disaster.
Over the last seven quarters, were 31 of 105, Sixers coach Doug Collins said. Eventually, youve got to make some shots. Thats the way it is.
The Sixers endured one of the worst shooting performances in franchise playoff history Monday night, shooting just 34 percent from the field and losing 94-73 at American Airlines Arena in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Heat lead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, with the next two games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
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The Sixers 73 points are their third-fewest ever in a playoff game, behind a 65-63 win at Minneapolis against the Lakers when the franchise was based in Syracuse in 1954 and a 79-68 loss at Orlando in 1999.
The Sixers made 27 of 79 shots for 34.2 percent, their second-worst postseason shooting performance in the last 20 years. They shot 33.8 percent (25 for 74) against the Pistons in 2008.
If theyre playing great, theyre a better team, Collins said. If theyre playing on top of their game, theyre a better team. I mean, they won 58, we won 41. That doesnt mean that we arent going to play and compete and fight, but when they come out and defend the way they did and (Chris) Bosh and LeBron (James) play the way they did, its going to be very difficult for us to beat them.
Our starting front line ends up with 10 points. Our two leading scorers had eight. We cant win (like that).
The Sixers scored just 13 points in the first quarter, just 31 by halftime. At one point, they were 7 for 34 from the field. At another point, they trailed by 28 points.
We got the shots we wanted to get, Elton Brand said. We didnt knock them down.We need to make more shots, thats it.
Before Heat coach Eric Spoelstra emptied his bench midway through the fourth quarter, the Heat were shooting over 50 percent and had just six turnovers.
That means no fast-break chances for the Sixers. And when the Sixers cant run, they cant win.
Were definitely a team that likes to get out in transition and gets our fast-break opportunities, but tonight that didnt happen, Thaddeus Young said. Weve got to find some type of way to get stops and get out on the break.
The Sixers 73 points were their fewest in any game since they had 74 in a regular-season game against the Celtics in 2009.
The 21-point margin of defeat was the Sixers sixth-worst this year.
Guys, we had nine points off turnovers, and Ill bet you five of those came in the fourth quarter, at least, Collins said. We had eight fast-break points, and Ill bet you four came in the fourth quarter. If you look at those two numbers and we dont run, its going to be very difficult for us to score against this team.
Thats the makeup of our team. And I guarantee you that Eric Spoelstra has said, If we dont let this team run and get them in a half-court run, we can probably do a pretty good job defending them, and they did. They were great.
They are a 58-win team who people have penciled in as a possible championship team. What were doing is every single night going out and competing and doing our best. We put ourselves in a position to win Game 1. We didnt do that tonight. They jumped on us, and when they did we never could get up.
Complete opposite of Game 1, when the Sixers led by double digits early and clawed back to within a point late in the fourth quarter.
Our energy level tonight was much better than the first game, Spoelstra said. We werent as committed the other night as we were tonight. They jumped out to a 14-point first-quarter lead, and that got our attention. We were much more committed tonight. If that first game doesnt grab your attention, I dont know what will.
We kept saying that in the huddlesNo exhale. With that team, the way they run, with their speed, theres no chance to relax.
Going back to the end of the regular season, the Sixers have lost four straight, seven of their last eight and 13 of 21.
We got away with a lot of mistakes during the season, but were not getting away with them now in the playoffs, Andre Iguodala said. Its time for us to try to turn the page and try to play the right way.
This one got very, very ugly very, very quickly.
Collins yanked an ineffective Spencer Hawes after just 3 minutes and gave Marreese Speights some rare early minutes. Only to see Speights miss all five of his shots.
Young missed seven of his first eight shots. Lou Williams was 1 for 8 from the field. Brand had one point on 0 for 4 shooting with 4 minutes left in the third quarter before finally getting his only basket on a goaltending call. Iguodala missed six of eight shots.
And so on.
I dont think weve been getting good quality shots, Iguodala said. We have to do a better job creating for one another than we have these first two games.
The Sixers five starters combined for just four first-half baskets. The starting frontcourt finished with four baskets and 10 points in 79 combined minutes.
Young shot 8 for 20 and led the Sixers with 18 points, 10 in the meaningless fourth quarter. Evan Turner added 15 and Jrue Holiday had 12.
Theyre playing with confidence and a full head of steam, Turner said.
The Sixers have lost three straight playoff series since beating the Hornets in the first round of the 2003 postseason, and theyre 2-12 in their last 14 road playoff games.
Miamis Big Three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade drove the lane freely, shooting a combined 23 of 43, scoring 64 points and pulling down 24 rebounds.
James finished with a game-high 29 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists, Bosh had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Wade 14 and six.
We were just in tune from the start, James said. We knew we had to come out defensively from the start. We knew we had to be in tune with the game plan right from the jump and did a great job holding them well below their season averages.
For the Sixers to avoid a sweep and send the series back to Miami theyll have to win one of the next two games at the Wells Fargo CenterThursday night or Sunday afternoon.
Weve just got to continue to fight, Williams said. Obviously were dealing with a team that has a lot of guys who can score. We just have to fight. They did what they were supposed to do, which was come out and protect home court first two games and send us back to Philly with a sour taste in our mouth. They did a good job of coming out and hitting us hard and not allowing us to really get back into the basketball game, but going back to Philly well have the opportunity.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
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