The Sixers are coming off the biggest win of the year as they took down Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls 98-82 at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. It doesn’t get any easier for the Sixers (16-6) as LeBron James and the Miami Heat (16-6) come to town. The Heat are coming off of a 105-97 loss to the Bucks but they have won eight out of their last ten games. The last time the Sixers beat the Heat was in game 4 of last year’s first round player series when Lou Williams hit a game winning three-pointer with under 10 seconds to go. This is their second meeting this year and first at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers might be without starting center Spencer Hawes for the ninth straight game as he nurses a strained left Achilles. He is listed as a game-time decision. The Sixers, along with the Bulls and Pacers, are the only teams who have yet to lose consecutive games this season. Tonight’s game ends a seven game homestand as the Sixers head to Atlanta tomorrow to take on the Hawks at Philips Arena tomorrow night. The Sixers are 12-2 at home and both losses have coming in overtime (the Nuggets and the Nets). They are first in the league in points allowed per game giving up a mere 85.9 points per game. Only four teams, the Blazers on opening night, the Jazz in the third game of the year, the Nuggets on January 18th in overtime and the Heat on January 21st, have scored more than 97 points on the Sixers.

As for the Heat, they seem to have had the Sixers number in the regular season. Last year, the Heat swept the regular season series 3-0 and also swept the regular season series the year prior. They have won their last three regular season games in Philadelphia. In Wednesday night’s loss to the Bucks, LeBron James scored 24 points in the first quarter to set a franchise record. James ended up with 40 points in the 105-97 loss. Miami is also 4-0 against the Atlantic Division this season.

Tipoff is tonight at 7:00 pm. The game can be seen on Comcast Sportsnet and heard on 94.1 WIP.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports
Email: Dolan@WhizWitSports.com

Coming off of a huge 90-76 win over the Atlanta Hawks in Philadelphia last night, the Sixers (11-4) travel to Miami tonight to take on LeBron James and the Heat (10-4). After starting the year off 5-0, the Heat are just 5-4 over their last nine. They are coming off of a 98-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. The Sixers are 10-2 over their last 12 games. This is the two teams first match-up since they met in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs in which the Heat won in 5 games.

For the Sixers, they will be without starting center Spencer Hawes for the third consecutive game. Rookie center Nikola Vucevic will get his third career start tonight. Vucevic played well last night. In 29 minutes, he had eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Thaddeus Young poured in a game high 20 for the Sixers and Elton Brand hauled down 16 rebounds last night at the Wells Fargo Center. Tonight is the second night of a back to back for the Sixers. So far this year the Sixers are 4-0 in the second game of a back to back. This is a tough matchup for the Sixers as they are only 4-3 on the road while the heat are 5-1 at home.

Unfortunately for the Heat, they will be without starting point guard Dwayne Wade as he sits out his third straight game with a sprained ankle. In the previous two games without Wade the Heat fared well. They took down the San Antonio Spurs 120-98 and the Lakers 98-87. Mario Chalmers will likely start in place of Wade. The Sixers front line, without the help of Spencer Hawes, will have its hands full as the Heat average 46.3 points in the paint and have scored 50+ points in the paint in 7 of their 14 games so far. Just as the Sixers bench has provided big shots this year, Miami’s bench has also been one of the keys to their early season success. Norris Cole, the rookie guard out of Cleveland State, is averaging 9.3 points per game and he dropped a career high 20 against the Boston Celtics back on December 27th.

Tipoff is slated for 7:30 pm at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. The game can be seen on Comcast Sportsnet and heard on the radio on 94.1 WIP.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports