Sixers try to stop the bleeding vs. Heat

By John McMullen

The star-studded Miami Heat invade Philadelphia Thursday in search of a commanding 3-0 series lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinals set with the overmatched Philadelphia 76ers.

The Heat blitzed the Sixers, 94-73, in Game 2 on Monday in South Beach behind LeBron James' 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Saturday's series opener came down to the closing minutes but Monday's tilt was a wire-to-wire drubbing that was all but decided by halftime with Miami holding the Sixers to 26 percent shooting in the opening 24 minutes en route to an 18-point lead.

"I always felt that when they wanted to, they were as good as any defensive team in the NBA," Sixers coach Doug Collins said of Heat.

Chris Bosh chipped in 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Dwyane Wade played through persistent migraine headaches to net 14 points for the Southeast Division champions in Game 2.

"Our energy was much better from beginning to end," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "The biggest thing we wanted to do was come into the game with a lot more of a motor and energy to set the tone."

Thaddeus Young ended with a team-high 18 points while Evan Turner added 15 on 6-of-10 shooting off the bench for the Sixers.

"I thought Miami played a great, great game," Collins said. "If they are playing on top of their game, they are a better team. That doesn't mean that we aren't going to play and compete ... but it is going to be very difficult
to beat them."

Philadelphia shot a woeful 4-of-20 from the field in the opening frame and never recovered. Lou Williams, the Sixes' leading bench scorer during the regular season but hobbled by a hamstring injury, went 3- for-10 from the field in Game 1 and 1-for-8 for eight points in Game 2.

Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, meanwhile,  were held to five and three points, respectively, for Philadelphia.

Miami also swept Philadelphia in a three-game season series in 2010-11, winning by an average of 10 points a contest. The teams have never met in the postseason before.

Game 4 in the set is also scheduled for Wells Fargo Center on Easter Sunday.