No comeback needed for Heat

Photo by: Wilfredo Lee

AP

Photo

Miami Heat's LeBron James, rear, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Spencer Hawes (00) and Evan Turner, foreground, during the first quarter of Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Monday, April 18, 2011 in Miami.

Associated Press

MIAMI

LeBron James outscored Philadelphia’s entire starting five in the first half by himself.

So did Chris Bosh.

So did Dwyane Wade.

And that pretty much tells the tale of a night the 76ers would rather forget.

No comeback required for the Miami Heat this time — they went wire-to-wire on the lead, and moved two wins from advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

James scored 29 points, Bosh had his second straight double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Miami took a 2-0 series lead with a 94-73 victory over the abysmally shooting 76ers on Monday night.

Showing no signs of the migraine that he battled Sunday, Wade scored 14 points for Miami, now 17-3 in its last 20 games and halfway to winning its first playoff series since the 2006 NBA finals.

“Our energy tonight was much better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “from beginning to end.”

Thaddeus Young scored 18 points and Evan Turner added 15 for the 76ers, whose starters were outscored 76-29 by the Heat’s first-string. Philadelphia shot 34 percent for the game, and after getting 42 points in the paint in Game 1, were held to 24 in that department Monday.

The 76ers find themselves needing to buck some serious history. Miami has never lost a series after winning the first two games (6-0), and the Philadelphia franchise is winless in 16 tries after falling into an 0-2 postseason hole. And then there’s this — only 14 teams have won after losing the first two games of a best-of-seven NBA series.

“If they’re playing great, they’re a better team,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said. “OK? If they’re playing on top of their game, they’re a better team. I mean, they won 58, we won 41. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to play and compete and fight. But when they come out tonight and defend the way they did ... it’s going to be very difficult for us to beat them.”