Miami Heat geared up to sweep the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round
The red hot Miami Heat will face off the struggling Philadelphia 76ers for their fourth meeting of the first round playoff series at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night. The superstar trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris
Bosh of Miami has absolutely smacked the Sixers in the first three showdowns and the Heat leads the series 3-0.
Despite of inadequate support from the rest of the cast, the big 3 of Heat are carrying the action outstandingly, leaving few options for the Philadelphia to gain any sort of momentum. It’s very rare for any opposition to put up
an upright performance when James and company are firing on all cylinders as the Sixers are facing the heat at the moment.
After losing two straight games at the American Airlines Arena, the Sixers were hoping to make a strong comeback in their own building. The team displayed a better performance with five players landing double figures however; their
efforts yet again proved to be insufficient against the formidable unit from South Beach. Wade and James were incredibly instrumental on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court and racked up 32 and 24 points respectively to secure the third consecutive
win that night.
James said after the Thursday’s victory, "We're a desperate team right now. We want to continue to play that way. D-Wade had an unbelievable game ... and we're ready to close it out."
The most dominating aspect of the streaking Heat is the All-star James’ all-embracing motivation to win the NBA title this year, more than any other player in the league. Despite of having the league’s best record last year in
his appearance as a Cavalier, the Cleveland failed to advance to the NBA finals.
Although, Sixers race to the next round is quickly turning out to be a wild goose chase but the team will be desperate to avoid the humiliation of a sweep. All of the Sixers’ starters have to put up decent performances in Fridays
meeting in order to overpower the Heat.
It’s not an easy task for the home team however they need to capitalize on the fact that Miami’s bench is not performing well, and if they can defend the big 3, Philadelphia might have a chance to wrap up a postseason victory.
The Sixers also need to counter the Heat in the clutch moments of the game. They need momentum down the stretch and that can only be done by putting tight screens on James and Wade.
On the other hand, the Heat has all but won the series. However they need to fire up their bench sooner rather than later, because once they come across the big boys of the league, the Boston Celtics in the next round, there will
be no second chances.
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