Game #81: Miami Heat (45-35) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (27-53)

Use this post as your Open Game Thread:

Tonight the Heat will wrap up the ‘away' portion of their schedule when they face off against the Sixers at the Wachovia Center.  Miami enters the game in a tie with Milwaukee for 5^th place.  Each team has two games left, but the Heat has by far a much easier schedule.  Miami plays tonight at Philly and Wednesday at home against New Jersey, the worst team in the NBA.  

Milwaukee gets to host Atlanta before finishing up their regular season in Boston, with one of those games being a 1^st round playoff preview.   As it stands now, the Hawks have a 1-game lead over Boston for 3^rd place.  Whether you are hoping for the Heat to play Atlanta or Boston, it's really difficult to know what root for as far as Miami winning or losing.

The bottom line is that the Heat are going to bust their collective asses to win both remaining games on the schedule, so the wise thing would be to just sit back and let the chips fall where they may.  The best thing for Miami is for them to be playing the best ball possible heading into their first round matchup, whoever it may be against.

GAME NOTES

• The last time Miami visited Philly they absolutely demolished home team, beating the Sixers by 27 while holding them to just 37.9% shooting.  In the 3 games between the teams this season, the Heat has held Philly to 41.5% from the field. 
• Philly matched a franchise-high by hitting 14 three pointers in their last game, with former Heat sharpshooter Jason Kapono hitting 5 of them.  No shock there...
• After completing their sweep of the Knicks last night, Miami now looks to complete a season sweep over the Sixers for the first time since 2005-06. 
• Miami is 7-10 on the 2^nd night of back-to-backs.  This will be the last time that happens this season. 
• The Heat is hoping to end the regular season by winning their last 8 consecutive road games.  The last time they had a road-streak like that was December 04-January 05. 
• This will be the Sixers final home game...so expect them to have a little boost from the crowd, for what its worth. 

Tipoff from the big bank at the Philly Sports Complex is set for 7pm.  Is tonight the night for J-O after his restful game in Manhattan last night?  We shall see...