"Best" and "Worst" awards: Sixers vs. Heat
My look at some of the best and worst performances and happenings from the Sixers 114-110 victory over the Miami Heat Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center:
Best performance: How can you not give this award to Michael Carter-Williams? Anyone who witnessed this game realizes that Carter-Williams gave the Heat the business. The Sixer rookie point guard made four three-pointers en route to scoring 22 points. He also finished with 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds. His nine steals are a record for a player making an NBA debut. His assists were the second most by a player making his debut.
Worst performance: I couldn't avoid handing this award to Shane Battier. The Heat power forward missed all seven of his three-point attempts and went 1-for-8 overall. He finished with two points and four fouls in 23 minutes, 41 seconds.
Best defensive performance: Carter-Williams also gets this award with his nine steals. All seven of his rebounds came on the defensive end.
Best performance in a losing effort: Some could argue that LeBron James deserves this award since he scored a team-high 25 points to go with 13 assists. But I gave it to Chris Bosh. The 6-11 center/forward finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Bosh made 8 of 13 shots – including 2-for-3 on three-pointers. LeBron, meanwhile, made just 1 of 6 shot attempts in the fourth quarter.
Worst statistic: The Heat missed 10 straight field-goal attempts from 4 minutes, 55 seconds left to 9.6 seconds remaining.
Best statistic: This award goes to the Sixers' first-quarter shooting. They made their first 11 shots en route to shooting 73.7 percent in the first quarter.
Best of the best: This goes to the 19,523 fans, who packed into the Wells Fargo Center. They truly gave the Sixers a home-court advantage. The arena was electric Wednesday and the home team fed off it.
Worst of the worst: The Heat's decision to rest Dwyane Wade. Let's face it. The upset probably would have been avoided if the all-star shooting guard played. But the Heat rested him due to "a little soreness" following Tuesday's game against Chicago Bulls in Miami. Translation: They didn't think they needed Wade to beat the Sixers. I bet the Heat won't rest him the next time the teams meet.
- Keith Pompey
Follow and contact Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter at @PompeyOnSixers.