76ERS 106, HEAT 98
Another loss stokes frustration
PHILADELPHIA - When the Heat was winning a franchise-best 14 consecutive games from Dec. 6 to Jan. 1, there was no reason for players to find blame, send veiled messages or worry about the mind-set of others in the locker room.
But 11 games -- and six losses -- later, the rose-tinted glasses are long gone, and frustration is oozing its way through the locker room as the Heat tries to figure out how it has gone from great to barely mediocre in a span of three weeks.
The Heat lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 106-98 on Monday at the Wachovia Center as Allen Iverson scored 45 points with 11 assists, leading a Sixers team that scored 27 points in transition and shot 39 free throws.
But it wasn't Iverson's 45 points or Samuel Dalembert's 11 rebounds, three blocks and three alley-oop finishes or Kyle Korver's 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals that the Heat was dissecting after the game.
The team was more concerned with its own deficiencies, and there was little agreement as to what those deficiencies were.
Shaquille O'Neal, who scored 24 points with five rebounds, faced a double-team the entire night, said in thinly veiled terms that Eddie Jones needs to contribute more.
When asked about the frustration of not having a healthy Dwyane Wade, who was hobbled Monday with a turned left ankle and banged left knee, O'Neal said Wade still did his job.
'We have to make `Flash' look good,'' O'Neal said of Wade. ``It doesn't matter if he's 100 percent or not. When he cuts in the lane and draws and kicks, you have to hit the shot.
``Some of the guys on this team have to take it personal. When your man leaves you to go double on somebody, you have to take it personal. Because other teams are hitting shots when we double, so you have to hit shots.''
Jones was 3 of 12 from the field for the game for 14 points, getting most of his shots after the Philadelphia defense collapsed on O'Neal or Wade.
Wade was just 3 of 13 from the field for 17 points, but managed 11 assists and six rebounds despite limping badly through most of the second half.
Wade's comments didn't seem directed at anyone in particular, but he, too, said he managed to create plays despite his injury.
''The defenders were still coming to me, and I set my teammates up for open shots,'' Wade said. ``I try to be the one who brings the energy when it's not there. In the second half, once I came back, I couldn't do as much. We still got good shots, they just didn't fall.''
DOUBLE-TEAM
The poor shooting from the edges made it easier for the 76ers to commit two players to O'Neal, who normally likes that situation.
''I like when teams front-and-back me, because all you have to do is move the ball and then throw it over the top,'' O'Neal said. ``But you have to know how to make the pass, and you have to want to make the pass. We have to know what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. We're not a team that's going to come down and shoot outside shots, so we have to go inside-out, inside-out. That's the only way we're going to be effective.''
But O'Neal's opinions certainly are not the consensus among the team. There are some in the organization that believe O'Neal could play with a more consistent effort, and that a more active O'Neal on both ends of the floor would help make up for any shooting woes.
POSSIBLE TRADE?
Meanwhile, there is a growing concern that the recent play will soon convince Heat president Pat Riley to pull off a trade before the Feb. 24 deadline.
O'Neal told the team that it should do no worse than 30-10 in the final 40 games. The Heat started its final 40-game stretch Monday.
''Luckily we had that 14-game winning streak and still have somewhat of a cushion,'' O'Neal said. ``But we can't keep playing like that.''
