Sixers' familiar refrain

MIAMI - Copy and paste this phrase: The 76ers tried hard and lost.

That would apply to nearly all of the team's games so far this season, except for the three victories and a couple of losses in which they didn't actually try that hard.

On Friday night, the Sixers "worked their tails off" against the Miami Heat.

But they still lost, 99-90, at American Airlines Arena.

Although playing hard seems like a prerequisite for being paid to play basketball, right now it's the last straw of dignity for a Sixers team that is tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for the NBA's worst record.

"Our guys played their tails off," Sixers coach Doug Collins said. "You saw that. That was a high-level basketball game. Our guys fought like crazy. We've done that all year long. That is so disappointing that they can't taste a win."

The Sixers dropped to 3-13. The Heat snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 9-7.

The Sixers did play hard.

They rotated on defense, limited open shots, scrambled for rebounds, and put themselves in a decent position to win the game.

But they didn't win the game.

"It's amazing," Collins said. "If I said to you we outshot them from the field, outshot them from two, outrebounded them, had more assists . . . and we lose. They make 11 more free throws, that was the game."

There was some frustration at the looseness of the whistles, especially when the contact involved Miami superstars Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. On more than one occasion, the Sixers were demonstrable in their frustration.

Wade and James combined for 43 points and went 18 for 23 from the free-throw line.

Miami finished the game 23 for 29 from the line, while the Sixers went 12 for 21 - a discrepancy in attempts that does not quite cover the final margin, but leaves enough room for interpretation.

"When you have a team who has a couple of superstars, they're going to get to the line," said Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala, who scored 20 points. "It's just tough . . . it's just the way they're going to call it."

Early in the second quarter, it looked as if Miami was about to blow open the game. At the same time, Collins inserted guard Jodie Meeks, who scored 18 first-half points and finished the game with 21.

Meeks was 8 for 13 from the floor and 5 for 8 from three-point range.

"He gave us a chance," Collins said. "Sometimes as a coach you start playing hunches and you say, 'I'm going to give him a roll.' He made some huge shots."

Despite the familiar outcome, the Sixers seemed upbeat about the potential of snowballing Friday night's effort into coming games, including Saturday night's home game against the New Jersey Nets.

"I think this will help us out moving forward . . .," Iguodala said. "The way we played, I would say things are looking OK despite our record. We've been playing some decent basketball; we haven't been playing bad."

The Sixers haven't played bad.

It is as Iguodala said: They've played decent.

They've played decent, they've played hard, and they've lost.