Truth being revealed
Here's the difference between the Miami Heat and the 76ers. In the first quarter of Saturday's opening game, the Sixers delivered their best shot. They scored 31 points, shot over 60 percent from the floor, led 31-19, and were bouncing all around the court. What happened? Miami was knocked slightly onto its heels, tossed a smidged off balance, and needed half of the second quarter to stand upright and reclaim the lead. Half of one quarter. Just a few minutes. You could have gone to grab a hot dog and by the time you returned, Miami had already put together its 12-0 run and was once again leading.
Truth being revealed
Here's the difference between the Miami Heat and the 76ers. In the first quarter of Saturday's opening game, the Sixers delivered their best shot. They scored 31 points, shot over 60 percent from the floor, led 31-19, and were bouncing all around the court. What happened? Miami was knocked slightly onto its heels, tossed a smidged off balance, and needed half of the second quarter to stand upright and reclaim the lead. Half of one quarter. Just a few minutes. You could have gone to grab a hot dog and by the time you returned, Miami had already put together its 12-0 run and was once again leading.
Today, Miami offered a return blow. The Heat swarmed on defense all game, created turnovers, and worked around an ailing Dwyane Wade to create some decent offense. What happened? The Sixers were wiped off the floor. This wasn't even the best Miami can offer. Perhaps defensively it was, but in other areas it was simply solid, strong, good. And the result was that the Sixers weren't even competitive, couldn't even score, were limited to 1 for 13 shooting from their three primary interior players (Spencer Hawes, Elton Brand, and Marreese Speights) and 2 for 8 from their best all-around player (Andre Iguodala).
Afterward, it wasn't as if coach Doug Collins wanted to pretend that this was "just one of those games" that happen in a "long NBA season." No. He gave it to you straight: when Miami is good, there's absolutely nothing the Sixers can do. Put it another way? Miami's best is better than the Sixers' best, although more accurately you could say Miami's good is better than the Sixers' great.
This is the truth, and since we said all along the truth is revealed in the playoffs, that's what's happening. The Sixers' interior is being dominated by an opposing interior that isn't actually considered top notch, but merely mediocre. Iguodala can't create any offense during the postseason, not when defenses have shifted out of their oh-it's-just-another-regular-season-game style and into do or die. And the team's halfcourt offense, when boarded inside that half-court line, just doesn't have the pieces (enough shooters, enough big men, any go-to scorer) to compete with a team like Miami.
(On a positive note: Evan Turner looked good tonight and Jrue Holiday has had a strong presence in both games. Also, Thaddeus Young continues to play 100 miles an hour and pile up numbers, which would be beneficial if they were supporting-actor numbers instead of leading-role numbers ... but that fact is just another example of why the Sixers struggle in a post-season series.)
So what now?
Realistically, sitting here after the game and listening to Collins and the guys, the Sixers now understand the reality of the sitation. It's possible that Saturday's mild success had them believing in a vision that was really just a dream. Tonight, they got clobbered over the head by real life: Miami is so much better and Miami is going to end this series in four games, lopsided ones at that, if the Sixers don't find something that will work. Hawes must wake up, Iguodala must stop worrying about every other factor on the court -- the calls of the referees, forgotten plays, miscommunicated defensive assignments -- and play like a team leader, which in other games might not mean scoring, but when your team can't even reach 75 points, definitely does mean scoring. And Lou Williams must return to being Lou Williams because without him this team won't make it to halftime within arm's reach of Miami.
And even all of that -- for anyone who watched tonight's demolition -- might not produce victory, but it will keep things from getting embarrassing.
--Kate
Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click here to ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.
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Delaware Mike: Byron Scott and Barrington Levy in the same posting? Very impressive. How do the Sixers go forward? Who knows? But perhaps the Front Office and Doug Collins need to look closely at the other teams in the playoffs and less at the regular-season performance to get a better sense of what the Sixers need for both getting to and winning in the playoffs. Obviously, a star or two would be nice, whether Durant (he was brilliant in the first game against the Nuggets), Westbrook, Rose, Stoudemire, Kobe, but even teams without a star are playing extremely well, like the Pacers (the loss of Collison really hurt them last night), Grizzlies, Nuggets, Hornets (I know, Chris Paul). Sixers are still a mediocre half-court team, lacking consistent outside shooting and being extremely soft inside. They could use Reggie Evans (free agent) and Kyle Korver (no chance) and need Evan Turner to step it up if possible (paging Herb Magee). Not sure about Dalembert (tend to agree with 76erfn), but Hawes has been truly awful down the stretch and in this series, and Speights has lost his shooting touch, and then there is Iguodala, who in 7 seasons has yet to figure out how to create his own shot. Of course, the Sixers might have played much better against any of the other eastern conference teams in the playoffs, but we will not find out this season.— chuckw- Talent wins and the other team goes home— shawnmac
- the Sixers have been falling for weeks now. they had several chances to over take the Knicks but couldn't. they could have at least been competitive against Boston. they just flat ran out of gas (injuries) or desire (making the playoffs alone) as they are not the same team they were only a month ago. Iggy is who we all know he is, though. a 12 mil a year "defensive stopper" that can fill a stat sheet but not really deliver as a "best player" on the team. just hope that this beat down by the Heat doesn't crush their spirit for next year.— kangerookid
- Quarterback...? Interesting. I was a box safety. Pg / Ss. It gets physical on the court.— combocancer1975
Keith Pompey has been an Inquirer reporter since September 2004. He takes over the Sixers beat after covering the Temple men’s basketball team for the past three years and Temple football the past two seasons. Pompey also previously covered the Penn and Drexel men’s basketball team and Villanova football team after initially focusing on high school sports.
Pompey is a native Philadelphian and a University of Pittsburgh. Follow him on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers or reach Keith at kpompey@phillynews.com.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
