Friday, March 8, 2013
Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat March 8 2013
It's going to take one heck of a game from the Philadelphia 76ers to stop the Miami Heat's win streak at 16 games.
With the 76ers dropping 10 of their past 11 games, it's clear that their season is heading in the completely opposite direction.
Chris Bosh starts things off with a nearly air-balled layup. That sounds about right.
76ers 1, Heat 0รข€”11:34 remaining in the 1st quarter
The Miami Heat's winning streak continues to grow. While the team insists they're focused on the bigger picture, a home matchup with the struggling Philadelphia 76ers seems to pose little threat to the team's red-hot run.
Miami can win its 17th straight game, matching the 12th-longest streak in NBA history and the league's best this season, with a victory over the Sixers on Friday night.
The Heat (45-14) already defeated Philadelphia once during the streak, 114-90 on Feb. 23, and now look for their 13th consecutive win in this regular-season series.
Eleven of the Heat's 16 straight victories - one shy of the Clippers' run to close 2012 - have come by double digits. However, three of four this month have been by seven points or fewer.
They needed some late-game heroics from LeBron James in a 97-96 win over Orlando on Wednesday. James provided the game-winning layup with 3.2 seconds left to extend the franchise-record streak, though the team doesn't sound preoccupied with the number.
"It really doesn't affect us," said Dwyane Wade, averaging 27.7 points and shooting 61.9 percent over the last seven games. That stretch includes 33 points on 14-of-18 shooting against Philadelphia.
"In a sense, we want to win, and we want to win every game we play. The day it comes where our streak gets broken we move on to the next game. Obviously, it is great, when you look back at it one day and say, 'Oh, we won that many games in a row.' But right now, we are just playing."
Instead, Miami still has its focus set on winning a second straight championship. A win Friday is the next step on that road, as the Heat would become the first team to clinch a playoff spot - with 22 games to play.
"We don't even talk about it," James said of the streak, during which he's averaging 28.2 points and shooting 61.0 percent. "We don't really get caught up into the streak at all. What we are trying to do is bigger than a streak."
