Sixers notes: Heat determined to close out series

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Friday, April 22, 2011
Posted: 6:45 p.m.

By John R. Finger
CSNPhilly.com

Three games into the 2011 NBA playoffs and weve learned that it will take an extraordinary effort for any team to beat the Miami Heat. In fact, the much-hyped team some thought would dominate the season appears to have found its stride in the first-round matchup against the 76ers.

The Heat have rocketed to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, despite the Sixers meticulous game plan and spirited effort. The idea, of course, is that in taking the lumps against the Heat, the youthful and inexperienced Sixers will build off the defeat and be better for it in the years to come.

Thats the conventional wisdom, as it goes.

But dont think for a second that the Heat are too keen about serving as the masterful sensei to the young Sixers. When the teams take the floor in Game 4 on Easter Sunday afternoon, Miami is bent on not heading home without an opponent on tap for a Game 5 on Wednesday.

When the opportunity comes to close out a series, you want to do it as quickly as you can and not leave anything to chance, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after Friday afternoons practice at Saint Josephs University. Thats the most important thing.

Coincidentally, the last two seasons the Heat won an elimination game before finally succumbing in a first-round series. Last year, the Celtics led the Heat 3-0 in the series, but a victory in Game 4 pushed it to a fifth game.

At the very least the Sixers are trying to emulate last years Heat in Game 4. With two days off before the next game, Spoelstra ran practice hoping to guard against a letdown.

We have to keep our edge. Today was more of a mental rest daya physical rest day. Saturday we really have to grab hold of that sense of urgency and desperation we had the last two games and that edge. That will depend on our collective mental state. Saturday we will know if we are prepared to take the steps to win the game on Sunday. If our mindset isnt right well know when we leave practice Saturday.

In NBA history, no team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. However, its happened in other sports, including with the NHLs Philadelphia Flyers just last year when they came back from a 3-0 hole to beat the Boston Bruins in the Easter Conference semifinals.

According to LeBron James, the Heat are on guard against another Philadelphia miracle.

Ive been a part of the league long enough to know that it hasnt happened before that teams came back from being down 3-0, James said. At the end of the day, thats not for us. We dont want to mess around with history.

During the first three games of the series, the Heats vaunted Big Three of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have carried nearly the entire statistical load for the team. In Game 3 the trio scored 75 of the teams 100 points and in three games they have accounted for 202 of the 291 (69.4 percent) of the teams points. Bosh, James and Wade also have grabbed 88 of the teams 148 (60 percent) rebounds in the series and 35 of the 50 assists.

Needless to say the Big Three is more than just a clever nickname.

Still, the Heats all-stars have been pushed to perform by the Sixers. Its not exactly Globetrotter stuff going on out there Bosh, James and Wade have been so good because they have had to be.

The Sixers came out Thursday with their backs against the wall and they played well. We just have to play basketball and understand that nature of the game. Theyre going to fight so were going to have to fight with them, Wade said. At the end of the day we want to win the game and, obviously, it will close out the series, but we just have to focus on that game.

Since going to the Finals in 2001, the Sixers have been in seven playoff series, posted a 1-6 record and are 3-7 in elimination games. Though Sixers coach Doug Collins says he doesnt believe in moral victories, a win in Game 4 could certainly qualify as one.

Cant beat the Heat?
Needless to say, there has been a lot of heat on the Heat this season. With three of the best players on the planet on one team, its been championship or bust this season for Miami.

Dont think for a second James doesnt know it, either. With the playoffs in full swing, the Heat will be the one team everyone keeps an eye on.

We didnt come together to win regular-season games, James said. We dont take that for granted and we dont undervalue the regular season, but were here to win the championship. Thats the only thing thats missing.

When asked if he had been watching other playoff games and rooting for friends on other teams, James was to the point.

Im rooting for us, he said. Im not rooting for nobody else.

Meanwhile, the questions about The Decision still follows James and his departure to Miami from Cleveland. Though born and raised in nearby Akron, Oh., James alluded to the notion that he wasnt really a hometown kid in Cleveland and his departure should be seen as just another ballplayer jumping to a new team.

Certainly the folks in Cleveland may disagree.

It wasnt my city. It wasnt my city and it wasnt my team, either, James said. I was just a player and I helped get that franchise to leaps and bounds that it never seen before and there were players before me like Mark Price and Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty and guys before me. The city was not built on LeBron James. Im here.

Here is Miami or earth?
Wade gives what he gets
Though Wade posted standout stats in the first two games of the series against the Sixers, there seemed to be a little something missing from his game. As it turned out, he was battling migraine headaches, an affliction in which 10 percent of the U.S. population suffers.

According to journals, a migraine is a headache that lasts from four to 72 hours with symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to light andor sound, and the symptoms are generally aggravated by routine activity. According to statistics, up to 75 percent of migraine sufferers have a family member that also suffers from the headaches.

Needless to say, playing basketball in an arena in front of 20,000 people is not the best tonic for Wade

But then again, nobody seems to have come up with a way to stop him on the court.

I fear it a lot when I wake up and during the day. I fear it a lot of the time. Its something that consumes my mind, sometimes, Wade explained. Fortunately no one else in my family deals with itIm the only one. But it is something that is mind consuming. Im always thinking about it when I look at the lights too long and when I wake up in the morning. Unfortunately, its just something I have to deal with.

Wade says he is going to visit with doctors in Miami with the hope of staying on top of his headaches. One possibility is to curb some of his eye sensitivities and he may even try out new contact lenses.

Coincidentally, Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is also a migraine sufferer and famously played games in the NBA Finals during the 1980s with the headaches.

E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com

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