2011 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs
First Round – Game 4
Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Sunday, April 24, 2011, 1:00 pm Eastern, TV: ABC
Opening Line: Heat -6
Current Line: Heat -6
Opening Total: 186
Current Total: 188.5
Money Line: Heat -260 / 76ers +220
The second-seeded Miami Heat (61-24) will look to complete a four-game sweep of the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers (41-44) on Sunday by using the same formula that has earned them wins in the first three games. The Heat (-6) have simply relied heavily on their Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series against the 76ers and have not needed contributions from anybody else along the way to get to this point.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas is the only other Miami player besides James, Wade and Bosh to score 10 points in the series, and he managed to accomplish that in a 100-94 victory in Game 3 on Thursday. Wade led the way with a game-high 32 points while James added 24 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. The team has won seven games in a row straight-up, covering the spread in five of the last six.
Philadelphia had gotten off to a great start for the second time in three games, leading 29-21 after the first quarter. But the Sixers collapsed in the fourth quarter yet again, getting outscored 27-19 after leading by two points at the end of the third. Elton Brand had a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds while Jrue Holiday had 20 and dished out eight assists.
The biggest issue for the Heat now is trying not to look past Game 4 and a potential matchup with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Celtics also lead their series with New York 3-0 and can advance by beating the Knicks later in the day. Miami’s coaches and players are trying to say the right things but have no doubt been looking forward to facing Boston.
“It wouldn’t be right if Miami and Boston didn’t meet in the playoffs,” Wade said. “Everyone is expecting that, but we both have to finish our business.”
“We don’t look ahead,” James said. “No one on this team looks ahead. This series isn’t over yet. We got Philly to worry about. If we get to Boston, whenever that happens, then we’ll get ready to take care of business, but I’m not looking ahead to those guys because we still have to finish what we started.”
Philly has played worse than any team in the playoffs lately, so it is hard to imagine seeing a repeat of the scenario that unfolded in Indiana on Saturday when the Pacers avoided getting swept by Chicago with an 89-84 victory. The 76ers have dropped eight of their last nine games dating back to the regular season, going 1-8 against the spread over that span as well with the UNDER cashing eight times.
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