Wade turns back the clock, Heat win
PHILADELPHIA » Dwyane Wade turned in a vintage performance, scoring 28 points to end the 76ers’ 17game winning streak and lead the Miami Heat to a 113103 Game 2 win over Philadelphia Monday night and even the first-round playoff series.
Playing without injured All-Star center Joel Embiid for the 10th straight game, the Sixers nearly pulled off an epic comeback and rallied from 16 down to just two points late in the fourth.
Philly fans were going wild and suddenly the homecourt edge that had made the Sixers unbeatable for a month seemed like it would perk the team back up for one more notch on the winning streak.
Wade buried two big buckets down the stretch that pushed back the Sixers and tied the series as it shifts to Miami for Game 3 Thursday.
The Sixers lost for the first time since March 13 to Indiana. They won 16 straight to end the regular season and the first game of the playoffs.
Wade’s play resembled his glory days at times and he carried the Heat in a sensational second quarter that was the difference. He pumpfaked his way to 15 points in the quarter — impressive enough, even moreso that he outscored the potent Sixers by two points.
The 36-year-old Wade made his first seven shots of the game and passed Larry Bird for 10th on the NBA’s career postseason scoring list.
After a Game 1 victory where they couldn’t miss, the Sixers couldn’t make a big bucket in the first half. The Sixers made a team playoffrecord 18 3s in Game 1 and missed a whopping 16 of 18 3s in the first half. Robert Covington missed all five and Dario Saric was 0 for 4. The Sixers made four baskets and scored 13 points in the quarter.
The Heat slowed the game down — exactly the kind of style where the Sixers needed Embiid in the middle — and used a collective of defenders on Ben Simmons that rattled the rookie point guard early.
The passing-and-pushing offense that got the Sixers to the No. 3 seed in the East failed them for the first time since early March.
But there was life the fourth.
Saric was fouled by Wade and sank both from the line to make it 91-82 and he followed with a 3 the next time down that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Saric broke up a pass on defense that led to a Simmons dunk and suddenly 18 straight wins was within reach.
Ersan Ilyasova made a tip shot to close to 98-96.
Wade contributed with baskets, assists and free throws over the final 4 minutes to close out the win.
Simmons led the Sixers left in with 24 had 23.
TIP-INS
points and Saric
Heat: Goran Dragic scored 20 points and James Johnson had 18.
76ers: Philly native and Hollywood star Kevin Hart rang the ceremonial Liberty Bell and sat courtside a few seats down from Allen Iverson . ... Team consultant Jerry Colangelo was at the game.
EMBIID UPDATE
Embiid wore his black mask and put on a 3-point shootout in pregame that had fans going wild with each shot. Again, there was no timetable on when Embiid would return if at all.
“I can’t wait to get him back,” coach Brett Brown said. “He, to me, is the difference maker. Joel Embiid changes the dynamics in many ways of this team. There will be a reintroduction of him back into the team.” this series,