Miami Heat Recap: Dwyane Wade and The Other James Propels Heat To First Win

What a difference a day makes.

After losing a hard fought battle versus the Boston Celtics on opening night, the Miami Heat bounced back to beat the Philadelphia 76ers. The game took place in the city of brotherly love, but there was anything but love on the minds of the Miami Heat.

Lead behind the 30 points of Dwyane Wade, the Heat would defeat the 76ers 97 to 87. The game wasn’t as close as the Final score suggested.

Miami was ahead 80 to 56 at the start of the fourth quarter and basically went in to cruise control, as they scored only 17 points in the quarter after putting up 31 points in both the second and third quarters.

Continuing From Last Night

Like they did in their first game of the season, Miami came out fully focused on the defensive end. They held the 76ers to 15 points while forcing them to miss 16 of their 23 field goal attempts while committing six turnovers in the period.  

The Heat would have its scoring woes also as they would only manage 18 meager points themselves, even though they scored on four of their first six possessions.

Their All-Star trio would combine for 16 of the team's first 18 points; Arroyo would contribute the other two.

For the second consecutive game, Arroyo proved why he isn’t the answer at the point position. He opened the game with two consecutive turnovers after the Heat scored on their initial trip down the floor; teams are leaving him wide open because of his limited range, yet Spoelstra continues to send this team out on the floor with an unbalanced roster. Pat Riley needs to make a call to his head coach and tell him what needs to be done.

LeBron James continued his trend of mishandling the ball and has developed a poor habit of jumping to pass. For the second straight game, James has struggled with his role of facilitator as he had over eight turnovers for the second straight game.

I doubt he’ll have that problem versus Orlando but we’ll just have to wait and see.

James Jones Sets the Tone

The Miami Heat erupted for 31 points in the second quarter. They were lead by James Jones, who finished the game with 20 points off the bench. Jones would score 12 points in the quarter and at the half, tied Dwyane Wade for the team lead.

The Heat needed every point as their defense faltered, allowing the 76ers to score 26 points with mostly reserve players. The 76ers bench would score 20 of their 26 points.

The Heat would get back on track in the third quarter. With the 76ers starting unit back in the game, the Heat would go on a 31 to 13 run.

Dwayane Wade would set the tone scoring 10 points in his eight minutes of play. He would go on to score eight additional points in the fourth quarter. His numbers would be huge, as LeBron James would only score six points in the second half.

Chris Bosh also bounced back with a quality game, scoring 15 points on six of twelve shooting. He also finished tied with Dwyane Wade for the team lead in rebounds.

In conclusion

This was a team that posed little of a threat to the Heat. The Heat were able to build some continuity versus a poor offensive team that plays solid defense.

They won't find the pickings as easy as this game when they entertain the Orlando Magic for their season opener on Friday. 

It’ll be interesting if Mario Chalmers finally sees action. He hasn’t logged a minute of play in the first two games, with the Orlando Magic having the tank of a point guard named Jameer Nelson.

My mind leaves me to believe that Spoeltsra will finally wise up and make the right call.