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What looked for three quarters like an unlikely upset turned out to be business as usual as the struggling Sixers fell to the surging Miami heat by a score of 102-93.
The Sixers hung in against the defending champs for most of the game, leading 20-11 in the first quarter and 53-47 at the half and trailing by one, 76-75. They were right in the thick of things, thanks to some aggressive offense and some uncharacteristic offensive efficiency form Spencer Hawes, until sometime around the nine-minute mark of the third quarter, the Heat realized they were losing and started trying.
To the Sixers' credit, they held LeBron James to 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 10-of-17 shooting. Because when LeBron puts up that kind of line nowadays, he's being "held" to that kind of game.
No other Heat player really stood out, except for Norris Cole and Chris Andersen, who, in 25 and 17 minutes, respectively, were notable for having extraordinarily stupid haircuts.
On the Sixers' end, Jrue Holiday distributed the ball well, with 13 assists (with the caveat of four turnovers, a couple of them quite ugly). Scoring the basketball, however, presented a greater challenge, as Holiday shot a regrettable 3-for-11 from the floor. Charles Jenkins, in a much-anticipated start, played 16 minutes and used them to put bugger-all on the scoreboard, collecting two steals, but attempting only three shots and grabbing one rebound.
Damien Wilkins delivered 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting in 26 minutes, but committed five fouls, making it a performance reminiscent of Matt Geiger coming off the bench to harangue Shaq in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals.
The Sixers continue to take on abstract concepts in Florida when they face the Orlando Magic on Sunday. Nik Vucevic is now on the Magic, in case you haven't heard, and I'm sure the "should of kept" discussion surrounding him will not get tedious in the slightest.