The Miami Heat won Game 1 of their first round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers 97-89, despite spotting Philadelphia a 14-point lead in the first quarter and very nearly blowing a 16-point second-half lead.
Seemingly in honor of their notoriously fickle fan base, the Heat failed to show up for the first quarter. Philadelphia took an early 25-11 lead, shooting 61% from the field in the opening period. The Sixers led 31-19 after the first quarter, while Dwyane Wade and LeBron James could only muster a combined 5 points on 1-of-4 shooting to start the game.
Miami came roaring back in the second quarter, though, taking their first lead of the game midway through the quarter behind contributions from bench players James Jones, Mario Chalmers, and Joel Anthony.
The Heat also changed their defense, playing a zone which befuddled the Sixers and created few open shots. Miami took a 54-49 lead into the half, out-rebounding the Sixers 17-5 in the second quarter.
Miami's momentum continued in the third quarter, as the Heat extended their lead to 16 points and Philadelphia continued to struggle on the offensive end.
But the momentum did not last. The Heat seemingly fell asleep in the fourth quarter, failing to score for 4:37 at one point and allowing the Sixers to pull within a point with just over two minutes to go.
Enter Dwyane Wade, who sat out most of the quarter after committing his fifth personal foul. With Philadelphia in the penalty, D-Wade attacked the basket, drawing three fouls in the final two minutes and making a circus shot while falling away from the baskets on one of those fouls. He scored 5 of his 17 points in that stretch.
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"I was just reading the game, getting off the ball a lot, just trying to read how they defended me so at that moment I thought I would get a little aggressive," Wade said of his last-minute outburst.
Despite Wade's late-game heroics, he and LeBron James did not play up to caliber. The two combined for 38 points and shot 10-of-27 from the field. Though the two added 10 assists and 4 blocked shots, it was not the kind of performance Heat fans had hoped to see from their twin cornerstones.
Into the void left by Wade and James stepped Chris Bosh, who led all scorers with 25 points, adding 12 rebounds.
The Heat were able to pull away late, but the box-score shows Miami has plenty of corrections to make before Game 2. The Heat shot 42% from the field, well below their season average. They were especially cold from three-point range, only shooting 4-of-17 from beyond the arc.
The Heat and Sixers will face off in Game 2 Monday night at 7 p.m. in Miami.
David Hill is a Miami native and former owner of a youth replica Rony Seikaly jersey.
