FINAL: Miami 113, Philadelphia 103
Would it be more fitting than for Dwyane Wade saved the day? His 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench to pace Miami and snap Philadelphia's 17-game win streak. The Heat had six players in double-digit scoring. Wade set the Heat's record for most points in a playoff game by a bench player.
Ben Simmons (24 points) and Dario Saric (23 points) led the 76ers.
The series is now tied 1-1, with the next two games played at AmericanAirlines Arena. First will be Thursday with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Game 4 tips off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
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5:47 4Q: Miami 96, Philadelphia 92
It's going to be a wild finish here in Philadelphia. Sixers are waking up. Heat is going cold. Overall, it's a 16-5 run for Philadelphia.
8:58 4Q: Miami 93, Philadelphia 85
The Sixers are making this a game. That happens when a team hits threes. Heat needs to step up on defense and get a couple stops sooner rather than later.
The Sixers have scored 43 points in the last 15 minutes.
11:04 4Q: Miami 91, Philadelphia 75
Five quick points for Miami. Sixers call timeout. Miami has tied its largest lead of the game.
End of third quarter: Miami 86, Philadelphia 75
The Heat is 12 minutes away from tying the series at 1-1 before playing the next two games at home.
3:35 3Q: Miami 77, Philadelphia 65
Miami's holding firm with its 12-point lead. Dwyane Wade checks back into the game. Four Miami players in double figures, led by Wade's 21.
5:46 3Q: Miami 71, Philadelphia 59
The 76ers opened with a bigger lineup to start the second half, going with Amir Johnson at center. It worked out of the gate, outscoring Miami 9-2 in the opening minutes of the half before Josh Richardson hit a critical three and made a three-point play to extend Miami's lead back to double digits. It's been mainly tit-for-tat from there.
Richardson has 8 points in the third quarter
Hassan Whiteside picked up his fourth foul, as well. Back to the bench he goes.
HALFTIME: Miami 56, Philadelphia 42
Hello Dwyane Wade. The ageless 36-year old has game-high 21 points on an 8-for-9 shooting clip to lead Miami. Now, it's just a matter of finishing.
4:19 2Q: Miami 42, Philadelphia 36
The Heat is has is extending its lead. Now it remains to be seen if Miami can hold onto it. That was a problem on Saturday.
6:53 2Q: Miami 35, Philadelphia 31
Dwyane Wade is continuing to do Dwyane Wade things. He's up to a game-high 15 points and is now tied with Larry Bird for the 10th-most points in NBA Playoffs history at 3,897.
8:31 2Q: Miami 30, Philadelphia 29
The Miami Heat used an 10-0 running going back to late in the first quarter retake the lead. Dwyane Wade is making his presence known early off the bench. He's made his first four shots and both of his free throw attempts and has 12 points. Wade has either scored or assisted on every Miami point so far in the second quarter.
The Heat opened with the lineup of Justise Winslow, Dwyane Wade, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo, Rodney McGruder. Whiteside entered for Adebayo less than a minute into the quarter.
End of first quarter: Philadelphia 29, Miami 22
Foul trouble plagued the Heat throughout the opening period, causing Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside to sit for most of the first quarter.
A cold stretch during the middle of the frame ensued, allowing the 76ers to build a lead up to as many as nine points.
The Heat closed out the first quarter with the lineup of Wayne Ellington, Justise Winslow, Dwyane Wade, Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo.
Dragic and Wade have a team-best 6 points.
Some stat comparisons:
Philadelphia holds the edge in rebounds (16-10), assists (7-4) and points in the paint (18-10). Heat has been called for 9 personal fouls already.
2:44 1Q: Philadelphia 22, Miami 16
The Heat has been outscored 13-5 since Goran Dragic was sent to the bench with 7:25 left in the quarter.
Udonis Haslem talked to both Dragic and Hassan Whiteside while they were on the bench with two fouls each. Wayne Ellington also has two fouls already.
5:19 1Q: Philadelphia 13, Miami 11
James Johnson and Goran Dragic fueled Miami's offense in the early going. Johnson scored the Heat's first 5 points before Dragic scored the next six. Dragic went to the bench with two early fouls less than five minutes into the game. The 76ers then went on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game.
Miami also already has five early fouls. Philadelphia has none.
8:15 p.m.: Game on.
7:50 p.m.: The 76ers will be going small from the start, with 6-foot-10 Ersan Ilyasova starting at center. Ilyasova started the second half on Saturday and finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds in 31 minutes and 47 seconds on the court. How Hassan Whiteside responds early for Miami will be interesting to see.
7:25 p.m.: Miami will roll out its usual starting lineup for Game 2: Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, James Johnson and Hassan Whiteside. Tipoff is about 35 minutes away. The Heat is wearing red tonight.
Original post: The Miami Heat knows it needs this one.
After dropping Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers 130-103 on Saturday night, how the Heat fares Monday night in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center could have major implications on how the rest of the series plays out. A win ties the series at 1-1 before heading back to Miami for the next two games in the series.
A loss, however, drops the Heat to 0-2 and would make it an uphill battle for the Heat to stay competitive in the series. Since the first round of the NBA playoffs expanded to a best-of-7 series in 2003, only five teams that fell behind 0-2 to begin the playoffs won four of the final five games to advance to a second round, according to OddsShark.
The Heat is 10-6 all-time when a 7-game series starts 1-1. and 1-4 when it falls behind 0-2 . Its lone series win after dropping the first two games: the 2006 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on TNT and locally on Fox Sports Sun.
We will provide updates and analysis here throughout the game. Until then, here's a look back at our coverage to get you ready for the action:
▪ Setting better screens, getting Josh Richardson going among Heat priorities in Game 2
▪ Goran Dragic looking for improved results against familiar Sixers’ nemesis
▪ Heat pushing Hassan Whiteside to get back to being a 'force' regardless of Sixers lineup
▪ From columnist Greg Cote: This Heat season — and his own wavering future — depends on Hassan Whiteside rising up
▪ Heat preparing for Joel Embiid's return in Game 3
▪ Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo 'did OK' in playoff debut, but much more is needed
PHILADELPHIA -- Dwyane Wade sat alone, wrapping his 36-year-old knees in ice long after the Miami Heat practiced Sunday afternoon at Temple University. The media throng that covers the Heat seemed more focused on Hassan Whiteside's virtual no-show in the first game of this playoff series against the 76ers and the adjustments the team would have to make for this series to be competitive.
Wade's paltry 19 minutes in Game 1 didn't even register as a significant storyline at this stage in his career. That's about what he had been playing since rejoining the Heat after a midseason trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anything more he could give them than that was seen as a bonus, not something the Heat could count on.
Fellow Heat lifers Alonzo Mourning and Juwan Howard each came over to him as he worked on his knees and stopped for a conversation. Wade will be joining them as Heat emeriti soon enough. Always welcome around the team, always a part of the family ... once their playing careers were over.
I asked him why he was wrapping his own knees in ice. The Heat have plenty of trainers for tasks like that. Wade laughed and said, "I like doing this myself."
After all, how many more times would he wrap those knees in ice after a practice? No, if these are indeed the last days of his Basketball Hall of Fame career, Wade is determined to do everything exactly the way it should be done.
Which is how he approached Monday's game against the Sixers. The Heat had brought him back for games just like this: down in a playoff series, needing a win at all costs and desperate for the type of calming, veteran leadership the three-time NBA champion can provide.
Wade delivered a throwback 28-point performance in 26 minutes off the bench to propel the Heat to a 113-103 win and snap the Sixers' 17-game win streak.
"A lot of people think that if you do decide to go out it's because you weren't supposed to be able to play no more. It's not always supposed to be that," Wade told ESPN after the game.
Wade said he will take time after the season to decide whether to retire or return to the Heat for one more season.
"Just taking time to think, that's all I'm doing," Wade said. "Taking time to think and looking at every angle and what's the best situation for me to be in. That's all. It's a lot of different, it's a lot of different things that come into play."
Dwyane Wade outscored Philadelphia's bench 28-24 in Miami's Game 2 road win to tie the series at 1-1. David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
If he returns for another season, he said it will only be as a member of the Heat.
"Someone like Vince [Carter] can go anywhere and play. Every year, he can go to do a different location," Wade said. "I can't hop to here and there. So it makes it a little tougher."
Wade already did that, leaving the Heat two summers ago to sign with the Bulls. He signed with Cleveland this past fall after working out a buyout of his contract in Chicago.
"I had my little college tour," Wade joked. "It's like a kid whose parents don't want them to go out of state, but they go out anyway and they come back home.
"I feel like my experience was what I needed. I feel like it made me appreciate, it made the city of Miami appreciate everything."
The city and the team definitely appreciated what Wade did Monday night.
Philadelphia led Game 2 by as many as nine points in the first quarter. But then Wade checked in, and he single-handedly turned around the game in the first half, outscoring the Sixers by himself 21-20 over the final 15 minutes of the half.
Dwyane Wade outscored the Philadelphia 76ers by himself in the last 15 minutes of the first half, and the 76ers never had a lead after that. ESPN Stats & Info
When Philadelphia made a 21-7 run in the fourth quarter to close to within two points with 4:29 left in the contest, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra brought Wade back in. From there, Wade immediately went into closer mode:
A steal off of Philadelphia forward Dario Saric that led to a dunk.
A pass to a cutting James Johnson for a dunk on the very next possession.
A key offensive rebound following a Goran Dragic missed layup that led to a second-chance scoring opportunity for Dragic, forcing a 76ers timeout with 2:25 left and Miami leading 104-96.
And then a 23-foot jumper over Ben Simmons to seal the win with 47.9 seconds left, trash-talking comedian and Philadelphia native Kevin Hart afterward.
"That's what defines Dwyane Wade," Spoelstra said. "We've seen that so much before over his career, and he's not going to be logging the 40 minutes a game that he used to. But in these compact minutes, he can settle the group with his experience and his level of experience just to add a little bit of calm for some of our young guys.
"It was meant to be this kind of game for every single minute tonight; he needed to reach back and have one of those games. He has a great maturity and great presence to understand that it might be different the next game -- and facilitate, he will do that as well. It was a very calming effect on the rest of our guys."
Heat veteran Udonis Haslem sits at the locker next to Wade. On Monday night, he marveled at the throwback performance.
"He's a guy that lives in moments," Haslem said. "When you think about the career that he's had, there's those moments. And when we're in those moments, there's no person I'd rather have on my side than him."
The Heat brought back Wade for nights just like this. He's no longer quick enough to earn his old nickname, Flash. If anything, his value now is in settling the team, slowing things down and mentoring the Heat's younger players.
"He's still one of the best players, but he slows everyone down," Heat forward Josh Richardson said. "When he has the ball, it's like he has his own pace. He never gets sped up ... I hope I get to that point one day."
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Wade was 7-for-8 on midrange jumpers Monday night and 11-for-16 overall. The only three Sixers defenders who were able to force him into a miss were Saric (0-1), JJ Redick (1-4) and Marco Belinelli (2-3). Wade made all eight shots he took with other defenders on him, including both shots over the 6-foot-10 Simmons.
"I mean, he's my height, I have no idea how [Wade shoots over Simmons]," said 6-foot-4 Heat guard Tyler Johnson. "I think it's just years. The experience of seeing it. They've thrown every defense at him that he could ever see."
On this night, no defense, not even Father Time, was going to stop Dwyane Wade.
Photo: Mitchell Leff (Getty)
It’s true that the Miami Heat dominated most of last night’s Game 2 against the Sixers, only wobbling late in the fourth quarter before being steadied once again by Dwyane Wade. It’s true that Wade was spectacular, and hewed much closer to the 2010 version of himself than the player he’s been recently. It’s also true that imagining the Heat and Wade reproducing last night’s performance three more times is tough to do.
Game 2 felt like a 99th percentile game for Miami, in which everything went exactly right for them. After getting torched for 130 points in Game 1, the Heat came out viciously engaged on defense, and spent the first half bullying the Sixers into submission. All those screens and pin downs that were producing wide-open looks from three in Game 1 were blown up by sheer defensive effort, and no Sixers player was allowed a comfortable second with ball. Philly scored only 13 points in the second quarter.
Ben Simmons had it particularly rough, getting mugged up and down the floor by the likes of Justise Winslow and James Johnson, who forced Simmons to shoot 3-of-8 in the first half. He was dealing with this shit almost every possession:
Meanwhile, Wade was out of his mind. He all but singlehandedly built the Heat’s 14-point halftime lead by going 8-of-9 from the field to score 21 points in the first half. He cooled off in the second, scoring just seven points, but showed up late with a few clutch plays to save the Heat as they were beginning to come apart.
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And that’s the rub: Despite how perfectly executed Erik Spoelstra’s defensive game plan was, and despite Wade’s unexpected and revelatory performance, the Heat were really circling the drain late in the game. Their double-digit lead felt oddly tenuous throughout the second half, and the Sixers were a bucket shy of snatching it away late in the fourth.
The thing about playing redlined, full-court defense for the entire first half of a playoff game is that it can wear the defenders out just as much as it does the guys who are being harassed. You could see the Sixers, and Simmons in particular, taking advantage of their increasingly fatigued opponents as the game went on. The Sixers grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the second half, and Simmons started going straight through the chest of whatever tiring defender was put in front of him. He scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the second half, and at all times seemed poised to stamp Game 2 as The Ben Simmons Game. Wade put a stop to all that with his clutch steal-and-dunk, but I’m not sure if it bodes well for the Heat’s chances that after playing so well for much of the game they had to be rescued at the last minute by their 36-year-old bench player.
Unfortunately for the Heat, they’ve got an even bigger problem to worry about. Joel Embiid has cleared concussion protocol and seems, uh, eager to return to the court. If you’re a Heat fan, you might be able to convince yourself that Ebmiid’s return will perversely benefit Miami’s defense—Hassan Whiteside will suddenly become useful, and they should have a few less multi-screen possessions to fight through—but then you’ll remember what Embiid is capable of doing for his own defense. Miami’s offense hasn’t looked great in either of the first two games, and the addition of Embiid will only make it harder for them to wade through the Sixers’ swarm of long, athletic defenders.
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It feels like the Heat have a much harder road ahead of them than any team that just flipped home-court advantage should. More than anything, that’s a testament to just how deep and talented this Sixers team has become. It takes maximum effort to beat even a diminished version of this squad, and now the Heat will likely have to deal with them at full strength.
When Dwyane Wade was traded back to Miami, it was supposed to be something of a ceremonial homecoming. No longer a great player, he would pick up some bench minutes and have a few moments here and there and offer leadership on a good team headed for the playoffs, but mostly, it felt like a scripted, romantic ending to a great sports story.
Turns out, Wade still has some masterful basketball left in him.
With Miami's 16-point second-half lead, and perhaps its season, slipping away in Game 2 vs. the Sixers, Wade went full Flash with three potentially series-defining plays to completely reverse Philly's seemingly unstoppable surge, and ultimately send this series back to Miami tied 1-1 for Game 3 on Thursday. With just over four minutes remaining and Miami's lead whittled down to two, Wade re-entered the game and promptly did this:
In a game that featured grown-man defense, on both sides, all night long, this was unquestionably the biggest defensive play of the night. If you were watching the game, you know the kind of energy Philly was riding. Somebody had to do something for Miami, and quick, and Wade leaving Ersan Ilyasova, who has murdered the Heat through the first two games of the series, to rush Dario Saric's blind side is a combination of guts and instinct that only the great ones tend to summon in moments like this.
It only took Miami's lead from two to four, but it felt like a 10-point swing. Miami was able to settle in with at least a tiny bit of breathing room on the next defensive possession, which led to a stop, which led to Wade doing this on the Heat's ensuing possession:
D Wade dropping dimes! 👀 pic.twitter.com/2Dl77Jw1L9 — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 17, 2018
So now the lead is six with three and half to play, and when Goran Dragic hit a baseline jumper a minute later, the lead was extended eight just like that. But Dragic didn't create the shot himself. It came after an offensive rebound by -- guess who -- Wade, to extend the possession. None of these three plays were typical highlight plays. Wade, for the most part, isn't that kind of player anymore. Hasn't been for a long time. He didn't posterize anyone or cross some poor sap over. He snuck up on an unsuspecting ball-handler for a steal, he anticipated an opening in the defense and delivered a pin-point pass, he scrapped for an offensive rebound. Those are simply winning plays by a winning player, and Wade, on of the great winners of all time, the Heat's Manu Ginobili, can still do that.
It was the rest of the game where Wade was dropping highlights, hanging Euro-steps and step-back jumpers on helpless defenders like he was kid again. Late in the second quarter, Wade passed Larry Bird for 10th on the all-time scoring list with this piece of work:
With this bucket, @DwyaneWade passes Larry Bird for 10th on the @NBA's all-time playoff scoring list! pic.twitter.com/4ceSLlavFi — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 17, 2018
All told, Wade posted 28 points, on 11 of 17 shooting, and seven rebounds on the night, leading a Heat team that saw six players score in double figures in the type of balanced, scrappy effort we've come to expect, if not fully appreciate, from this solid-but-starless squad.
Now the attention shifts to Game 3 in Miami on Thursday, and you have to wonder if Joel Embiid will be back in uniform for the Sixers. For his part, Embiid is making no secret of his diminishing patience with wearing a suit on the bench. His face might be broken, but the man wants to play. From Embiid's Instagram account shortly after Philly's loss:
Embiid was apparently not happy about having to sit out. Joel Embiid's Instagram
Yeah, Thursday night is going to be fun.
Until then, enjoy your full D-Wade highlights.
