Sixers lose final home game

Home is where the 76ers go to lose.

Some nights, those losses were big, by more points than fans care to remember. Other nights, those losses were in-between, but defeat was always inevitable.

On Monday night, the loss came in the final seconds, but it seemed appropriate nonetheless.

On a baseline jumper by Udonis Haslem, splashed with 1.3 seconds remaining, the Miami Heat defeated the Sixers, 107-105.

The Sixers (27-54) finished the season 12-29 at home. They play their final game of the 2009-10 season on Wednesday against the Magic in Orlando.

Monday's game came down to Miami superstar Dwyane Wade, who held the ball until the final seconds and then penetrated the right lane and - surprising everyone in attendance - kicked it to Haslem for that 14-footer.

Made shot, game over . . . almost.

Sixers coach Eddie Jordan immediately called a time-out, during which he designed a three-option play: guard Jodie Meeks off a triple screen, swingman Andre Iguodala off a double screen, and finally center Samuel Dalembert for a lob pass.

The ball went to Iguodala, who had nailed a step-back three to tie the game with 20.8 seconds remaining, but Iguodala caught it near halfcourt, two defenders circling him.

His heave had no chance, caught no iron.

"We didn't get as clean a shot as I'd like at the end," said Jordan, stating the obvious. "It was a play I'd drawn up that we hadn't really gone over, just trying to do something a little different."

On Miami's game-winner by Haslem, Jordan put Iguodala on Wade, vetoing the suggestion of bringing a second defender to Wade, who finished the night with 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting.

"I liked Andre's match-up," Jordan explained. "There were opinions and suggestions about running at him, but we had the match-up I liked: I like Andre matching up against anybody one-on-one. And Andre did a well enough job to keep him from getting to the rim."

Wade didn't need the rim: He went to Haslem with an along-the-baseline, X-ray vision pass before getting that far.

"He made plays," Sixers forward Jason Kapono said of Wade. "Obviously having a superstar to close out a game is an asset, but it's the rest of the guys: They have a great cast around him. . . . Haslem has made that shot for nine straight years, at a great clip."

On Monday, it was the Sixers' shooting that surprised: 12 for 25 from beyond the arc. Kapono's outside shooting, combined with guard Jodie Meeks', kept them in a game they shouldn't have been in.

Kapono and Meeks combined for 45 points and nine three-pointers.

But in the locker room afterward, it was power forward Elton Brand who said it best: "It kind of sums up the year. We just can't finish it."