This is going to be a really interesting series as the Sixers play team basketball while the Heat ride the Big Three. Neither coach (Doug Collins or Erik Spoelstra) have had much success coaching in the playoffs, which gives this series even more spice. Here’s a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: Second year point guard Jrue Holiday really stepped up his game for the Sixers this year. He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Sixers this year and he averaged 35.4 minutes, 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Holiday should be able to do pretty much whatever he wants to against Mike Bibby.
Mike Bibby can still nail an open three pointer but that’s about all the Heat let him do. Bibby played in 22 games (12 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He is going to have a hard time containing Jrue Holiday, so don’t be surprised if Mario Chalmers gets a lot of P.T. in this series.
EDGE: BIG FOR THE SIXERS
SHOOTING GUARD: Jodie Meeks’ whole game is shooting the basketball as he doesn’t like to pass, play defense or rebound. Meeks played in 74 games (64 starts) for the Sixers this year and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 10.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
Dwyane Wade is likely going to abuse the Sixers in this series. D-Wade played in 76 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 37.1 minutes, 25.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game. I think he’s going to improve on those numbers in this series as the Sixers are going to have big time trouble trying to defend him.
EDGE: GIGANTIC FOR THE HEAT
SMALL FORWARD: Andre Iguodala will have to have a big series offensively to make LeBron James work hard on the defensive end of the court, or the Sixers will be in some trouble. Iguodala played in 67 games (all starts) for the 76ers this year and he averaged 36.9 minutes, 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He will need to post better numbers than that in this series if the Sixers are going to be truly competitive in this series.
LeBron James seems to play his best basketball in the first round of the playoffs, so he might explode in this series. James played in 79 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 38.8 minutes, 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Iguodala is a tad gimpy coming into this series, so look for James to take advantage of that.
EDGE: HEAT
POWER FORWARD: Elton Brand had a good rebound year for the Sixers in 2010-11. Brand played in 81 games (all starts) for the Sixers this year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Brand will need to really step up in this series to keep Chris Bosh away from the paint.
Chris Bosh had a so-so year for the Heat. But, he can change all of that by stepping up in the playoffs. Bosh played in 77 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 36.3 minutes, 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Bosh will need to get tough in the playoffs and get his fair share of the rebounds.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR THE HEAT
CENTER: Spencer Hawes is not the classic type center. He is a good long range shooter but he’s not a muscle man at either end of the court. Hawes played in 81 games (all starts) for the 76ers this year and he averaged 21.2 minutes, 7.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. The Sixers would benefit if Hawes played closer to the basket in this series.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas is back in the starting lineup for the Heat at center. He played in 72 games (51 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Ilgauskas could have a decent series as his game is very similar to Hawes’ game.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR 76ERS
BENCH: The Sixers’ bench was a big key to the overall success of the team, and Doug Collins is going to use these guys a lot. SG/PG Lou Williams gives the Sixers instant offense off the bench. He played in 75 games (0 starts) for the 76ers this year and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 13.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. SF Thaddeus Young is a very solid basketball player and he will likely get a lot of P.T. to hassle LeBron James. Young played in 82 games (1 starts) for the 76ers last year and he averaged 26.0 minutes, 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.1 steals per game. Rookie SG Evan Turner is likely going to get to challenge D-Wade a lot in this series. Turner played in 78 games (14 starts) for the 76ers this year and he averaged 23.0 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. SF Andres Nocioni hustles when he’s on the court and that will likely get him some minutes in this series. He played in 54 games (17 starts) for the 76ers this year and he averaged 17.2 minutes, 6.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. PF/C Marreese Speights gets into the Dog House quite a bit but the Sixers are going to need him in this series. Speights played in 64 games (1 start) for the 76ers this year and he averaged 11.5 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
The Heat generally don’t use the bench much, but that could change a little bit in this series. PG Mario Chalmers will likely get his fair share of P.T. in this series to help with defending Jrue Holiday. Chalmers played in 70 games (28 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 22.6 minutes, 6.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. SG/SF Mike Miller was counted on to be a force off the bench but it just didn’t happen this year. Miller played in 41 games (2 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 20.4 minutes, 5.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Heat will need the Miller they expected to get when they signed him to show up in this series. C/PF Joel Anthony will likely be used to help out defensively in this series. Anthony played in 75 games (11 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 19.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. SG/SF James Jones will likely get some P.T. in this series. He played in 81 games (8 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. SG Eddie House dropped 35 points into the basket in the season finale, but he likely won’t have a big role in this series. House played in 56 games (1 start) for the Heat this year and he averaged 17.5 minutes, 6.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Center Erick Dampier played in 51 games (22 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 16.0 minutes, 2.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Dampier will likely get some P.T. in this series for the Heat. PF Juwan Howard played in 57 games (0 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 10.4 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He won’t likely get on the court unless the game is a blowout. That’s also the case with center Jamaal Magloire who played in 18 games (0 starts) in which he averaged 8.8 minutes, 1.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. PF Udonis Haslem has vowed to play in this series but I have my doubts about that. He played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 26.5 minutes, 8.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
EDGE: 76ERS
COACHING: Doug Collins led his troops to the playoffs this year, beating the odds. Collins has a 373-328 (53.2%) career record during the regular season and he is 15-23 (39.5%) during the post-season. Whenever I think of Doug Collins though, I always think that he’s the guy who couldn’t win anything with Michael Jordan.
Erik Spoelstra took a lot of heat early this year when the Heat were struggling. But, he righted the ship as the Heat finished up with a 58-24 record. He now has a 148-98 (60.2%) record during the regular season and he is 4-8 (33.3%) in the post-season.
EDGE: EVEN
PREDICTION: I think the Sixers will get one win at home in this series, but I have the Heat winning this series in five games.
