For Sixers, easier said than done against Miami

MIAMI - It might not seem like it after last night's beat-down in South Beach, but the Sixers know exactly what they need to do to get back into their Eastern Conference series with the Miami Heat.

They know they need to change things on offense. They know they need to create offense out of defense.

They know they need to get into transition, push the pace and get easier scoring opportunities.

They told us what they need to correct after the 94-73 loss that dropped them to 0-2 in the best-of-seven-series, which moves to the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Whether the Heat will allow them to implement any of those adjustments, well now, that's the real kicker, isn't it?

"If [the Heat players] are playing on top of their game, they are the better team," Sixers coach Doug Collins said in a brutally honest assessment of what happened at the AmericanAirlines Arena. "They won 58 games. We won 41. That doesn't mean that we aren't going to play and compete and fight.

"But when they come out tonight and defend the way they did, it's going to be very difficult for us to beat them."

What was most discouraging about Game 2 was that it was a clear indication of how far apart the Sixers and Heat can be. Miami wasn't spectacular on offense but put on a defensive performance that made a mockery of any thought the Sixers might be able to pull off an upset.

This game was over after the first 12 minutes when Miami, despite scoring only 19 points and shooting 40 percent in the first quarter, still led by six.

The Heat wrapped a cocoon of defense around the Sixers and kept squeezing and squeezing as the game went on.

The offensive numbers for the Sixers were staggeringly frightening. In the first quarter, they shot 20 percent (4-for-20). After scoring 31 points in the first quarter of Game 1, the Sixers had only 31 points at the half of Game 2.

For the game, the Sixers shot 34.2 percent. The starting five combined for 29 points. The four active players on the roster who are 6-9 or taller combined for eight points on 3-for-13 shooting.

Because Miami has LeBron James and Dwyane Wade - two of the top five scorers in the NBA - as well as Chris Bosh, people sometimes don't recognize how good the Heat is on defense. Miami was eighth in the league in scoring, but defense helped it lead the NBA with a plus-7.46 scoring differential. The Chicago Bulls were the only other team with a plus-7.

Miami snuffed the Sixers, kept them from doing any of the things on offense that had made them into a playoff team this season.

It wasn't just that the Sixers had only eight fastbreak points. They had only five fastbreak opportunities.

They barely got anything off turnovers.

"If we don't run, it is going to be very difficult for us to score against this team," Collins said. "That is the makeup of our team."

The first quarter set the tone for the entire game. It wasn't only that the Sixers made one field goal inside the paint; they made only three shots from inside 12 feet in the first quarter.

If that is how their shot chart is going to look, there is absolutely no way the Sixers can beat any team, much less one as strong as Miami.

The Sixers are not a jump-shooting team. Only Jodie Meeks could be considered even remotely consistent from 15 or more feet.

In the first half, Thaddeus Young, who had a team-high 18 points, was the only Sixer to attack the basket aggressively, notching nine of the Sixers' 14 shots inside the paint.

If the Sixers take 29 of 43 shots from outside the lane, their shooting percentage, predictably, will stink.

"The first two games, our two key guys [Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand] haven't necessarily played great basketball," guard Lou Williams said. "A lot of this comes down to things we haven't done well. Obviously, that hurt us."

Collins said that since the first quarter of Game 1, when the Sixers made 14 of 21 shots, they are 31-for-105.

"It's the quality of shots we've been getting," said Iguodala, who has totaled just nine points on 4-for-15 shooting in the first two games. "We haven't been getting good quality shots.

"You have to credit the [Miami] defense. I haven't seen an open shot the whole series. Every time I get the ball, I see a guy in front of me. I get past him, and there is another guy there.

"These first two games, I've been really facilitating. I haven't really been catching the ball in a point of attack. Maybe I'll try to get into that area a little bit more."

The 73 points the Sixers scored was the seventh-lowest by an opponent in Miami history.

After scoring 31 in the first quarter of Game 1, the Sixers have averaged 18.7 points per quarter.

"Eventually, you've got to make some shots," Collins said. "That's just the way it is."

Yes, but is that the way it will be for the Sixers on Thursday?

If Miami comes out with the same defensive energy and effort, it's highly unlikely. *

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