Dwyane Wade's 28 Points off the Bench Propel Heat to Win vs. Ben Simmons, 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers lost much more than a 17-game winning streak Monday.
In a testament to the suddenness of the NBA playoffs, Philadelphia watched the streak and home-court advantage in its series vanish when the Miami Heat left Wells Fargo Center with a 113-103 victory in Game 2.
Dwyane Wade dialed back the clock with 28 points, Goran Dragic added 20 and Miami's defense prevented a 76ers team coming off a 130-point performance from establishing the same type of consistent offensive rhythm.
The 76ers still trimmed a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to just two behind an impressive stretch from the Ben Simmons and Dario Saric combination, but Wade tallied a steal, dunk, assist and critical offensive rebound in a quick burst to keep the home team at bay and prove there is still something in the tank for the future Hall of Famer.
Miami's defense was under the spotlight considering the 76ers haven't missed a beat without big Joel Embiid and looked unstoppable in Game 1. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that Embiid cleared the league's concussion protocol but was still out for Monday's matchup.
The onus has fallen on Simmons to carry the offense, and he was just one rebound short of a triple-double in Game 1. While he still finished with 24 points, eight assists and nine rebounds in Game 2, Justise Winslow and others made life more difficult on him by getting into his air space and limiting his passing lanes (NSFW video).
Simmons and Saric (23 points and nine rebounds) still scored, but the strategy of swarming other shooters cut into Philadelphia's offensive flow. As a result, the 76ers turned it over 14 times while shooting just 19.4 percent from deep.
The Heat's response on that end of the floor wasn't particularly surprising since they were seventh in the league in defensive rating this season, per NBA.com, and their formidable effort was on full display in the second quarter when they held the home team to just 13 points and took control of the game.
One perspective was it was just a matter of time before the 76ers eventually regressed:
JJ Redick was the primary culprit at just 1-of-7 from deep for 11 points after scoring 28 in the opening contest, but there weren't many clean looks for any shooters until Simmons and Saric forced the issue in desperation mode during the comeback.
The visitors needed plenty of offense as well in the uptempo game, and they relentlessly attacked the lane without Embiid there to protect the rim, either scoring or forcing defenders to collapse and opening perimeter looks.
Six players scored in double figures in a balanced offensive effort, but it was Wade who scored 21 first-half points and provided a critical offensive spark off the bench following his team's slow start.
The 36-year old veteran will probably be hitting fadeaways from the elbow until his 80th birthday, and he made some history in the process by passing the great Larry Bird:
While he was quiet for much of the second half, he calmly re-entered the game in the stretch run—after his team had choked away almost its entire lead—and put the game on ice, further cementing his status as a Miami legend.
Attention now turns to a critical Game 3 swing contest on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, where Miami will look to hold on to the home-court advantage it won Monday.
The Heat were 26-15 at home this season and just 18-23 on the road, so winning one of the first two games in Philadelphia was critical. They have the opportunity to put Philadelphia's back against the wall if they hold serve at American Airlines Arena.
