Miami Heat(54-27)
Vs.
Philadelphia 76ers(18-63)
8:00PM
Miami, FL
American Airlines Arena
Coverage on Sun Sports and CSNP
Miami Heat Starting Lineup:
PG:Toney Douglas
SG:Dwyane Wade
SF:James Jones
PF:Shane Battier
C:Udonis Haslem
Miami Heat(54-27)
Vs.
Philadelphia 76ers(18-63)
8:00PM
Miami, FL
American Airlines Arena
Coverage on Sun Sports and CSNP
Heat Inactive List:
Mario Chalmers, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Chris Andersen(all out due to rest)
Philadephia 76ers Starting Lineup:
PG:Michael Carter-Williams
SG:James Anderson
SF:Thaddeus Young
PF:Hollis Thompson
C:Henry Sims
76ers Inacitve List:
Nerlens Noel(knee)
Tonight the Heat tip-off against a rebuilding 76ers team in the season finale of the regular season of the 2013-2014 NBA season. Finally the long 82 game regular season is coming to close for the Miami Heat tonight.
It was a season in which Miami didn't play consistent championship basketball, as they dealt with some issues such as lackluster defense, questionable mistakes late in games, and even playing teams who tried hard to knock off the back-to-back NBA champions no matter their record.
Throughout the season the Heat have dealt with Dwyane Wade's knee maintenance program and other minor ailments, which have caused fluctuating lineups to be put out.
Wade missed a substantial amount of games this season, twenty eight to be exact; which resulted in fewer minutes played together between Dwyane, Lebron and Bosh. With Wade missing that many games, it provided a slippage in the +/- on defense and offense when Dwyane and Lebron were on the court together. In contrast to the Indiana Pacers the Heat all season long weren't worried of grabbing the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs. Even though the Pacers were in a embarrassing slump not that long ago, giving the Heat a slight lead for the top spot in the East for about a week in April; Miami lost the lead in the East as they lost 4 out of 5 next games after grabbing the top seed.
With three more games left for the Heat and two games left for Indiana after the Heat's 98-86 victory over the Pacers last Friday, the Heat who had a half a game lead over the Pacers had to win out to end the season or win 2 games, then have the Pacers lose at least one of their final two games to finish the season with the top seed. The following night the Heat got beat on the road in Atlanta versus the Hawks during the return of Wade who was on a nine game hiatus, as he dealt with a strained hamstring injury. Then the Pacers won their next game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. After the win by Indiana the Heat needed the Pacers to lose their final game versus the Orlando Magic and win their final two games, but the Heat lost all chances to be the #1 seed in the East; as they were killed 114-93 versus the Washington Wizards on Monday night. Tonight in the final game of the regular season they Heat will rest Lebron James, Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen, and Chris Bosh, as the playoffs start this weekend on Saturday or Sunday. Greg Oden will be active tonight, as he has missed time with back spasms and a stomach flu since playing March 26th in Indiana. Many Heat players and Erik Spoelstra have recently pointed out that brutal the schedule between March and April has played a toll to them, which is why a little rest is needed for the players that played a lot of minutes throughout that stretch of time.
It was a season in which Miami didn't play consistent championship basketball, as they dealt with some issues such as lackluster defense, questionable mistakes late in games, and even playing teams who tried hard to knock off the back-to-back NBA champions no matter their record.
Throughout the season the Heat have dealt with Dwyane Wade's knee maintenance program and other minor ailments, which have caused fluctuating lineups to be put out.
Wade missed a substantial amount of games this season, twenty eight to be exact; which resulted in fewer minutes played together between Dwyane, Lebron and Bosh. With Wade missing that many games, it provided a slippage in the +/- on defense and offense when Dwyane and Lebron were on the court together. In contrast to the Indiana Pacers the Heat all season long weren't worried of grabbing the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs. Even though the Pacers were in a embarrassing slump not that long ago, giving the Heat a slight lead for the top spot in the East for about a week in April; Miami lost the lead in the East as they lost 4 out of 5 next games after grabbing the top seed.
With three more games left for the Heat and two games left for Indiana after the Heat's 98-86 victory over the Pacers last Friday, the Heat who had a half a game lead over the Pacers had to win out to end the season or win 2 games, then have the Pacers lose at least one of their final two games to finish the season with the top seed. The following night the Heat got beat on the road in Atlanta versus the Hawks during the return of Wade who was on a nine game hiatus, as he dealt with a strained hamstring injury. Then the Pacers won their next game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. After the win by Indiana the Heat needed the Pacers to lose their final game versus the Orlando Magic and win their final two games, but the Heat lost all chances to be the #1 seed in the East; as they were killed 114-93 versus the Washington Wizards on Monday night. Tonight in the final game of the regular season they Heat will rest Lebron James, Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen, and Chris Bosh, as the playoffs start this weekend on Saturday or Sunday. Greg Oden will be active tonight, as he has missed time with back spasms and a stomach flu since playing March 26th in Indiana. Many Heat players and Erik Spoelstra have recently pointed out that brutal the schedule between March and April has played a toll to them, which is why a little rest is needed for the players that played a lot of minutes throughout that stretch of time.
Another disappointing game for the Heat. I know is meaningless but still..... Anyways lets hope Heat gets back to the basketball they have us used to.
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