2011 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs
First Round – Game 2
Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat, American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
Monday, April 18, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: TNT
Opening Line: Heat -9.5
Current Line: Heat -9.5
Opening Total: 189.5
Current Total: 189.5
Money Line: Heat -650 / 76ers +425
The second-seeded Miami Heat (59-24) did not look good early or late in Game 1 of their first-round series against the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers (41-42) on Saturday, but they were dominant enough in between to pull out a 97-89 victory for a 1-0 lead. The Heat (-9.5) beat the 76ers for the fourth time this season and will look to get off to a much better start in Game 2 on Monday.
Philadelphia blew a 14-point lead after letting Miami come back from a 16-point deficit less than a month ago. The 76ers led 31-19 after the first quarter but did not give up despite trailing by as many as 16 late in the third quarter. They went on a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull within 88-87, but the Heat responded by scoring nine of the last 11 points.
“Second time in three weeks that we had a big lead and let it slip,” Philly forward Elton Brand said. “Right now, it’s the playoffs. Win these games or go home. So it’s more of a discouraging feeling knowing that we could have won these games.”
Chris Bosh scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Miami while LeBron James added 21 and 14. Dwyane Wade is the only one of the trio to win an NBA championship and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Bosh has never advanced past the first round and took a team-high 17 shots from the field. James made 4 of 14 from the floor but sank 13 of his 14 free-throw attempts, as his team scored 19 more points from the charity stripe.
Philadelphia was led by Jrue Holiday’s 19 points, but Andre Iguodala scored just four even though he also had a team-high nine assists and eight rebounds. Iguodala has been bothered by a knee injury and missed the previous two games. Louis Williams also has been dealing with a strained hamstring and made just 3 of 10 shots – including two 3-pointers – and finished with 10 points.
The key to getting back in this series for the Sixers is getting Elton Brand to defend Bosh better in the paint and forcing him to play defense. Brand totaled 17 points and seven boards but will need to demand the ball more. He made 8 of 14 shots from the field while Thaddeus Young attempted a team-high 20 off the bench and ended up with 20 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
It is worth noting that the Heat have covered the spread in the two meetings this year in which they were favored by single digits and are 0-2 vs. the line when they are chalk of more than 10. The UNDER is 3-1 in the four games between the teams, although Game 1 was on an OVER pace at halftime when Miami led 54-49.
Now that you have read this Game 2 NBA betting preview featuring the Heat & 76ers, check out the NBA odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.
