The Philadelphia 76ers visit the Miami Heat in Game 5 of their series in the NBA Playoffs Wednesday evening as the Sixers will look to build on the momentum they had at the end of Game 4 to stave off elimination and a series sweep.
According to NBA StatsCube, the Sixers' starting lineup is outscoring the Heat by 22.8 points per 48 minutes in 43 minutes together. If that means that Philadelphia needs to play Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, Spencer Hawes, Jodie Meeks and Jrue Holiday to guarantee a 22-point victory, then that's what the coaching staff should do!
It’s quite difficult to say what Philadelphia really needs to concentrate on to beat LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the rest of the Heat as the Sixers have been quite erratic throughout the first four games, but Michael Levin of Liberty Ballers has a few handy pieces of analysis that involve things to watch for while watching the Sixers try to overcome their inability to play offense in the second quarter as well as an interesting note on the foul disparity between the two teams.
While Levin’s tips will definitely allow Philadelphia fans to have more fun while watching Game 5, head coach Doug Collins says that the 76ers players are also having fun while looking to pull within one game of Miami in the best-of-seven series.
"They wanted to get down there," Collins told NBA.com. "And guys are loose. They’re having fun. It’s just a great time to be playing. Anytime you have the chance to play these kind of games, it helps them grow. I’m learning more about them every single day."
Hopefully Collins will gets a chance to learn even more about his players over the next couple of days as Game 6 would be on Friday, but for now, let’s just hope that the Sixers take care of business as we watch on TNT television at 6 p.m.