To prove their point, the Sixers were competitive for half a game against the Heat. They trailed by just four at halftime, having worked hard to overcome poor shooting with offensive rebounds.
Then when the second half opened, the Heat were gracious enough to miss their first 10 shots from the field. That should have provided a decent opening for the Sixers, one would think. But when Chris Bosh followed that 10th straight miss with a tip-in rebound, Miami still had the lead, 53-51.
Sufficiently chastened by their slow start, the Heat clamped down on the defense and then revved their offense in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of the final 28 points of the game.
"They overwhelmed us in the fourth quarter," Collins said. "They put a push on us and we didn't have any resistance."
Losing to the Miami Heat is nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to a lot of teams. Losing the way they did wasn't pretty, though. The Sixers live on forcing turnovers and getting easy fastbreak points, which was a large part of how they beat the Bulls earlier this week. Miami just decided that wasn't going to happen and committed only nine turnovers. When you take care of the ball and shoot 52 percent from the floor, it's hard to lose.
Conversely, when you don't shoot the ball very well, as the Sixers do not, then you have to get to the paint and get to the line. That's not easy against a team that collapses its defense as well and athletically as the Heat. The Sixers attempted just 14 free throws and were content to shoot from the outside most of the second half.
"They cranked it up a little bit on us," Thaddeus Young said. "They put together a solid run and it's all about being able to make a run. They made big shots."
