Miami still confident in spite of 3-1 deficit

MIAMI — Flash back to Game 2 of the series between the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers.

All was well for the Heat. The cute story was how guard Dwyane Wade and comedian Kevin Hart were exchanging trash talk before and after the Heat’s victory.

Two games later, and with the Heat on the brink of elimination, there is no room for fun. They need a victory tonight in Game 5 in Philadelphia to keep the season alive. The 76ers lead 3-1 in the best-of-7 series.

“I was just having fun with that in Game 2,” Wade said. “It’s not about him. It’s about us. It’s about these 15 guys going on the road against a team that’s looking to close us out to win their first playoff series. We got to do what most people don’t think we can do.”

Only 11 teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit in league history. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the last team to do it when they defeated the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. The Heat did it in 1997, rallying against the New York Knicks in the conference semifinals.

“It’s not necessarily us against the world,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s us against the Philadelphia 76ers. We have to find a way to finish games. They’ve really nailed us in the fourth quarters in all four games — except the one we were able to pull away. We just have to do better. Through three quarters we’ve been up. It’s going to require a full 48-minute game of absolute our best effort.”

The Heat have struggled in the fourth quarter throughout the series. They have been outscored by 42 points in fourth quarters. They led by many as 12 in the third quarter of Game 4 before faltering in the fourth. In Game 3, they trailed by two entering the fourth before being outscored by 18.

“You know they’ve really stepped up their defense with their activity, their length, and we have to be able to execute to detail, and we haven’t been able to do that consistently,” Spoelstra said. “That’s probably one of the biggest reasons we were able to hold them off in Game 2. We were able to get some points and get us some breathing room with our execution. But we weren’t able to do that the last couple games.”

What the Heat isn’t lacking is confidence. The fact they have proven they can win in Philadelphia has them thinking they can force a Game 6 and shift the series back to Miami.

Still, there is always the pressure of knowing the season will end with another loss in this series.

“Human nature, any guy that’s down 3-0, 3-1, human nature is for you to doubt,” Wade said. “That’s going to be human nature. Anybody that says they don’t doubt, they’re lying. It’s going to be a moment of doubt, a second of doubt. But you get over it.”