They played a tough team tough. The Miami Heat have displayed a season-long grit in that regard.
But now, at a time in the season when every game — and every victory — matters, coming up short left a mostly empty feeling after Thursday night’s 106-102 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
“It still comes down to you want to win in this building against a very good team, you’re going to have to buckle down and get two or three stops in a row and we weren’t able to do that,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after his team fell to 26-31.
Despite 19 points from Dwyane Wade and a comeback from an early 11-point deficit, the Heat did not have enough on a night 76ers center Boban Marjanovic outscored Heat center Hassan Whiteside 19-4.
“He’s big,” Whiteside said. “He’s unlike guarding anybody in the NBA.”
The Heat dug in with their defensive disposition in limiting the 76ers to 16 points in the third quarter and moving to a 75-73 lead heading into the fourth.
But after pushing to a five-point lead early in the final period, their largest of the night, the Heat then saw the 76ers rally behind consecutive 3-pointers from JJ Redick and Tobias Harris for a 96-90 lead with 5:01 to play.
From there, a 3-pointer from Josh Richardson drew the Heat within 96-95 with 3:39 to play, leading to a 76ers timeout.
Matching baskets by Wade and Jimmy Butler then left the Heat still down one.
Wade then scored again, on a floater, for a 99-98 Heat lead.
With Whiteside on the Heat bench, Marjanovic then secured an offensive rebound and converted two free throws for a 100-99 Philadelphia lead, with a Redick 3-pointer with 64 seconds left putting the 76ers up 103-99, effectively ending it.
“We weren’t able to get those two necessary stops there at the end,” Spoelstra said.
It ended with the 76ers attempting 35 free throws to the Heat’s 12, despite the Heat outscoring Philadelphia 66-52 in the paint.
“I’m not even going to get into it,” Spoelstra said, “and I told our players not even to get into it. It doesn’t look right.”
Said Wade, “We’re doing our job. Our job is to attack, put pressure on the defense and be aggressive. So we’re doing our job. And there’s nothing more we can do. It’s just out of our hands from that standpoint.”
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Five degrees of Heat from Thursday’s game:
1. Whiteside woes: The previous time Whiteside played at Wells Fargo Center his night was limited to 10:05 of action on April 24 in the Heat’s season-ending Game 5 loss to the 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.
Whiteside was outscored 19-2 by Joel Embiid that night, creating an offseason of questions about Whiteside’s future.
Thursday, with Embiid sidelined for knee maintenance, Whiteside instead was matched against massive Marjanovic, the 7-3, 290-pound center acquired along with Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers at the Feb. 7 NBA trading deadline.
This time, Whiteside was outscored 16-0 by Marjanovic in a first half that ended with the 76ers up 57-50, with Marjanovic 6 of 6 from the field, with eight rebounds, over the first two periods.
Whiteside then missed a pair of free throws on a trip to the foul line early in the second half, creating cheers from fans for the free Wendy’s Frosty.
Whiteside’s first points came on a short shot with 7:56 left in the third quarter, with a fierce dunk amid a Heat rally following thereafter.
“He was beating us down the court,” Spoelstra said of Marjanovic. “That’s what was most disappointing.”
2. Wade’s world: Thursday’s game marked Wade’s final regular-season game in the place where he played his first. That was on Oct. 28, 2003, an 89-74 Heat loss. Wade scored a team-high 18 points that night, with Allen Iverson scoring 26.
“A lot going through my mind the night before and the day of, but just really excited to get it going and to show Miami that they did well by drafting me,” Wade reflected of that night on Thursday, amid this retirement season. “I wanted to prove something.”
Iverson was at the heart of the 76ers video tribute offered in the first quarter.
“I’ve always been a big fan of him. Still am,” Iverson said in the presentation.
Wade then received one of the loudest ovations when introduced amid his “One Last Dance” season, scoring 11 first-half points to keep the Heat afloat.
He ended the game by exchanging jerseys with Ben Simmons.
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3. Another setback: Spoelstra joked before the game that without a single injured player he actually had to take time to consider his inactive list.
“I actually love that,” he said. “I have to make a decision. I haven’t had to do that for months.”
Forward James Johnson, recently demoted from the starting lineup, then retreated to the locker room in the second period with an injured left shoulder, with the team reporting that X-rays were negative. He did not return, after scoring three points and grabbing one rebound in his seven minutes.
“We’ll probably get him an MRI when we get back to Miami,” Spoelstra said, “but you know he’s a tough guy and one what hates to come out.”
That opened the door for the return of forward Derrick Jones Jr., who had been out since Jan. 27 with bone bruises on his right knee. With a thunderous third-period dunk, Jones showed he had not lost any of the hop in his step.
4. Dragic waits: Back on the road with the Heat for the first time since his December knee surgery, Goran Dragic was made inactive by Spoelstra, who said he made the move because he otherwise might not trust himself to fast-track the point guard’s playing time.
Spoelstra said he is encouraged about where Dragic is headed.
“I’ve seen the things that can really help our team, yeah,” he said. “You’re talking about an All-Star, veteran, reliable player. We need that.”
With Dragic out, Rodney McGruder remained in the rotation.
5. Waiters works: Sidelined by his January 2018 ankle surgery for last season’s playoff series in his hometown, Dion Waiters had a solid effort in the Heat’s lone visit of the season, closing with 18 points.
“He played better the second half, more assertive,” Spoelstra said. “And defensively a little bit more of a presence than he was in the first half.”
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