The Sixers had been blown out of games with healthy rosters, yet with a depleted lineup they competed.
They entered Friday’s game with just 10 available players. Subtract Christian Wood, who was called up from the D-League hours beforehand, and that left them with nine to face the playoff-contending Heat.
Jahlil Okafor (shin), Nerlens Noel (knee), Kendall Marshall and Nik Stauskas (upper-respiratory infections) did not play. At the start of the game, the absences showed. The Sixers trailed 20-4 less than five minutes into the game.
Then the Sixers began to fight back. After the initial deficit, they trailed by 10 at halftime. They outscored the Heat in the second and third quarters, including a 10-0 run to take the lead. But they had to chase the Heat the entire fourth. The Heat won, 112-102, for their fourth straight victory (see Instant Replay).
“The first six minutes kind of set the stage,” Brett Brown said. “I was proud of our guys. We got hit hard early. … With the personnel that we had after the start that we had, I thought that our guys fought.”
The Sixers have been shorthanded at points throughout the entire season. Friday, though, they were down three starters, including their leading scorer and leading rebounder.
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The Sixers had an advantage with the pace, outscoring the Heat 22-13 on fastbreak points, while the Heat outscored them in the paint, 50-36. The Sixers also committed a season-low eight turnovers (which lead to 10 points by the Heat), an area of the game that has caused them to give up 20-plus points at times.
“I thought that we ran more purposeful offense,” Brown said. “They did play last night, they’re not a young team. When you look at their starting five -- Joe Johnson, Luol Deng, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade, Goran Dragic -- you start looking at those resumes and you start looking at some championships, and years played and moneys earned. That’s a hell of a starting five.”
The Heat were without Chris Bosh, who has been sidelined because of blood clots. They have been finding their own keys to success through his absence.
“What we wanted to do was approach this game to see how many times we could play to our identity,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Defensively that means tough, physical, limiting easy opportunities in the paint.”
The Sixers will play the Heat again on Sunday in Miami. Noel and Okafor are considered day to day. The players that are available will be looking to reverse this loss.
"Our guys didn’t go away, they fought back," Brown said. "I was happy with the performance tonight."