Whiteside, Wade Carry Heat Past Sixers, 108-99
MIAMI (AP) — Hassan Whiteside scored 26 points, Dwyane Wade added 16 and the Miami Heat moved a step closer to the playoffs by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 108-99 on Thursday night.
Josh Richardson scored 13 points, Tyler Johnson had 12 and Kelly Olynyk added 10 to help the Heat stay No. 7 in the Eastern Conference and move within a game of No. 6 Philadelphia.
Dario Saric had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, who got 19 points from JJ Redick and 17 from Joel Embiid. Marco Belinelli added 14.It came down to the fourth — Miami shot 13 for 18, Philadelphia 7 for 22.
And in the end, the Heat and 76ers split their four meetings this season. Combined score: Heat 409, 76ers 407. The Heat used 10 players — all 10 scored, all 10 had at least two rebounds, and eight of the 10 had at least two assists.
Miami controlled the fourth and led by 11 with 2:01 left, before the 76ers had one last gasp.
Redick was fouled by Whiteside before an inbounds pass came in, giving him one free throw. Redick added a jumper on the ensuing possession, and after a stop Belinelli connected on a 3-pointer — and just like that, after six points in 37 seconds, Miami's lead was 101-96.
The drama essentially ended there. Whiteside made two foul shots, and Wade slammed home a lob from Richardson with 50.6 seconds left for a nine-point edge. Embiid banked in a 3 from the wing to get Philly within six, but the outcome wasn't in doubt again.
Miami was up 12 late in the first half, before Redick willed the 76ers right back into things.
He was 3 for 3 from 3-point range in the final 2:42 of the half, helping Philadelphia get within two late before Wade made a spinning jumper with 1 second left that sent Miami into the break with a 53-49 lead.
No separation was to be had in the third quarter, either.
Miami led by four early, Philadelphia led by five twice — both times after 3-pointers by Belinelli — and the 76ers wound up leading 74-73 going into the fourth.
TIP-INS
76ers: Robert Covington missed all 10 of his shots. In the last 50 years, only two 76ers have gone 0 for 11 in a game — one of them being Covington, on Dec. 29, 2016. The other was Evan Turner, in 2013. ... Embiid's 5-for-17 night was his second-worst shooting effort of the season. His previous low was a 4-for-16 game against Boston on Oct. 20. ...
Heat: Miami's one player from Philadelphia — Dion Waiters — missed all four Heat-76ers games this season because of his ankle surgery. Waiters got his cast removed earlier this week. ... Wade is 23-4 in home games against Philadelphia. ... Whiteside made 9 of his 12 shots.
SWING GAMES
Double-digit leads have meant almost nothing in this Heat-76ers season series. Miami let an early 12-point lead get away Thursday — and that was no big deal compared to what happened in the first three matchups. Philadelphia won a game where Miami led by 24, the Heat won a game where they trailed by 13, and the 76ers had to scramble to win a game by six — after seeing a 28-point lead cut to four later.
EASY FINISH
The 76ers have 18 games left, and at least 13 will be against opponents who aren't in the playoff picture. They still face Brooklyn three times, New York and Atlanta twice. And they have only seven road games remaining — zero against teams with winning records.
UP NEXT
76ers: At Brooklyn on Sunday.
Heat: Host Washington on Saturday.
