Sixers Bow To Heat In Opener, 97-87
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)—The three kings paid a visit to the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday night, and they arrived with all the peripheral trimmings of local sports stars and celebrities, you name it. The who's-who crowd was there to see the NBA's traveling rockstar show of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. By the way, the Miami Heat were there, too. This team was built to wrest the NBA title away from the Los Angeles Lakers and some already placed them in that realm before playing a game.
The twist is that the Heat hadn't won a game before visiting the 76ers, and granted this was just Game 2 for the Heat in the NBA's marathon season, someone would have to be victim No. 1. That victim happened to be the 76ers. It took a game, actually a game-and-a-half, but the Heat finally arrived and once they did, they spoiled the 76ers' season opener, 97-87, and also ruined the debut of 76ers' rookie Evan Turner, one of the bright spots for the Sixers.
Wade and James Jones combined to score 50 points for Miami, viewed by many fans as the NBA bad-guys with the controversial way superstar James announced he was going to the Heat. Sixers' fans let James have it raining down boos on him every chance they got. It had no effect. The 76ers were competitive for a little over a quarter. Their last lead was 26-24 in the second quarter, but from there, they lost complete control of the game when Miami went on a 14-2 run that placed the Heat back in command.
Philadelphia's defense completely fell apart in the third quarter, when the Heat ripped through the Sixers in a 31-18 quarter.
The surprise was Jones, who made 6-of-9 three-point shots, while James scored a quiet 16 and Chris Bosh added 15. The Sixers were led by Turner, the overall second pick in the draft, who finished with 16 points off the bench.
The Heat came into the game with some vengeance in their eyes. The pre-season hype had Miami being deemed by some as the uncrowned NBA champions. It didn't help that they were beat by the defending NBA Eastern Conference champion Boston, 88-80, to open the season. The Sixers were going to face the brunt of that, though it took a half for Miami to start rolling.
"That Miami team is a really good team to say the least they're a terrific defensive team and when they spread the floor, they're tough to defend," Sixers' coach Doug Collins said. "I was incredibly pleased with our players. They fought and they battled all the way to the end. Miami has championship aspirations and we're learning how to be competitive every night."
Collins opted not to start Turner, who turned 22 on Wednesday, but emphasized he wasn't starting his best players. The Sixers received 57 of their 87 points off the bench. Starters Jason Kapono, Spencer Hawes and Jrue Holiday combined to score a meager eight points. And for as hard as it to believe, not one Sixers' starter took a foul shot. Not one.
It was a pleasure, however, to see Turner do so well and go strong at Wade in the third quarter.
"Evan came into tonight and was terrific," Collins said. "We had some guys play very, very well; Evan is a gamer, he really is and I was so proud of him. He hadn't taken a shot in three days and he was terrific tonight. But I like I keep saying, my best guys are the starters."
Once former Sixer Jerry Stackhouse nailed a pair of free throws with less than 20 seconds in the third quarter put Miami ahead 80-54 that pretty much spelled the end for the Sixers.
The Sixers added some cosmetic points in the end, one time getting within 95-87 on Andres Nocioni's trey with :56 left to play.
"You can't hold your head down," Turner said. "Coach told us he's going to play the ones who compete and who are willing to play. I think the fans appreciated the way we battled the whole game. When is the last time you heard the fans applaud after a loss?"
Reported by: Joseph Santoliquito
