Heat Look To Eliminate 76ers
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) - The Miami Heat look poised to finally close out the series against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night at the American Airlines Arena.
The Heat had the game won on Sunday before giving up a furious rally to the 76ers. Philly won Game Four by four points over the Heat. But, one loss does not a series make, and Miami was downright dominant in the first two games at the AAA.
Heat forward LeBron James has been playing lights out basketball throughout the series. He's leading the Heat in scoring at 26.3 points per game, but more impressively, he's leading the Heat in rebounds with 10.8 per game.
James is doing all of this while shooting 49 percent from the field and dishing out 5.8 assists per game.
Fellow Heat star Dwyane Wade has been carrying his fair share of the load as well. Wade is averaging 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.
Wade has also chipped in with 2.3 blocks per game during the series against Philadelphia.
Chris Bosh has varied between downright dominating at home to playing great on the road. Bosh is averaging 19 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in the series.
At home, Bosh helped spark furious rallies by the Heat and was the team's most consistent player in games one and two.
James Jones has been a revelation for the Heat during the playoffs. He's averaging 7.3 points per game and is hitting big shots throughout the series.
Plus, he's the only Heat player shooting better than 30 percent from three-point land. He's hit 39 percent of his three pointers in the series.
But, as good as the Heat have played, they are likely to run into a buzzsaw in round two in the form of the Boston Celtics. Boston's point guard, Rajon Rondo, will create matchup headaches for the Heat and the Celtics have the best three point shooter in the game in Ray Allen.
Miami has a tough road to sled to get to the NBA Finals. But, job one is to get past the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip time for Wednesday's game is just after 7:00 p.m.
