Sixers Heat Game 2 Recap

Well, we all knew it was coming, the inevitable Dwyane Wade game. Wade shot an irritating 11-17 from the field, as he did more than his share to steal a road win against the Sixers as he finished with 28 points in 26 minutes, off the bench.

The big story was the huge step backwards in the outside shooting from the Sixers as a team. A 7-35 (20%) line isn’t going to win many ball games for you; and the Heat do deserve credit for stepping up their defensive intensity and, even if they were getting away with some grabs and holds, they did what they needed to do to come back from a 27 point loss and get a road win.

The 2nd quarter was the big oof for the Sixers tonight. In the quarter, they shot just 4-21 from the field and 1-9 from three-point range. 6 minutes and 21 seconds in to the 2nd quarter, the Sixers had only mustered a mere 2 points. They finsihed that quarter alone with 8 quarters and looked out of sorts to the worst degree.

In the 2nd half, the Sixers repsonded, attempting to claw their way back in to the game. But the Heat answered each Sixers punch with a blow of their own. Brett Brown had an interesting tactical move late in the 3rd, as he brought in TJ McConnell off the bench (not Markelle Fultz) to take over the point guard duties for a foul troubled Ben Simmons. The small spark TJ had on the team really showed in the 4th quarter, in the form of Dario Saric.

Dario exploded in the 4th quarter, single handedly willing the Sixers back in to the contest, and putting the heat on Miami (sorry, I had to pun it).

The Sixers found themselves down just 2 with 4 minutes left and the tide had seemed to shifted in favor of the Sixers. Alas, Dwyane Wade ended the Sixers hopes at a miraculous comeback with a late steal and score to halt the momentum.

That is the first Sixers loss in South Philly since March 13th when they fell to the Indiana Pacers.

Still no official word on if Joel Embiid will be back for Game 3, but it’s apparent the Sixers would LOVE to have him back on the floor.

Keep a look out tomorrow for more on the Sixers regression in three-point shooting, and the absence of Joel Embiid .

Final Lines:

Ben Simmons: 24p/8r/8a

Dario Saric: 23p/9r/3a (and 5 steals?)

JJ Redick: 11p/4a

Marco Belinelli: 16p/3r

Ersan Ilyasova: 14p/11r

Robert Covington: 7p/8r/4a

Dwyane Wade: 28p/7r/3a

Goran Dragic: 20p/4r/3a

Next game is Thursday at 7 in Miami.