The heat is on: Miami wins 17 straight en route to clinching a playoff spot
Friday night’s game for the Miami Heat was one of many different streaks. The Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers for their 12th regular season win in row while also building up their win streak at home to 13 games. Most impressively, they kept their 17-game overall win streak alive en route to clinching a spot in the playoffs.
The Heat blew the 76ers away in Friday night’s 102-93 win, a game that featured a 25-point game by Lebron James alongside 10 rebounds, while Dwyane Wade also had a great game, shooting for 22 points. Chris Bosh, Ray Allen and Shane Battier all put up more than 10 points each with 16, 12, and 11 points respectively, completely trouncing the 76ers as the game blew open in the fourth quarter.
“We got better tonight,” Lebron James said after the game. ”And that’s the most important thing.”
The Heat were down by nine late in the third quarter, but ate into the deficit to end the quarter with a 76-75 lead. The offense erupted in the fourth quarter as the Heat burst forward on a 17-4 run to finish the game.
”With the atmosphere here in Miami and with what we had on the line with the streak that everybody outside is probably tired of hearing about, we knew they were going to play very well,” Wade said. ”We were able to work the game, work the game, until we were able to pull away.”
What’s even better about the victory Friday night is that the Heat clinched a playoff spot after the win, making them the first team to do so this season. It truly was a great game, hard-fought all the way, but there was nothing the 76ers could do to contain the surging Heat. At 46-14 they are the best team in the NBA right now and will need to keep playing hard as the season winds down into the playoffs.
