Sixers lose at home one last time

Home is where the 76ers go to lose.

After a season of defeats at the Wachovia Center, on Monday night, the Sixers finished their home slate the same way they played the rest of it: by losing.

Despite trailing for much of the game, the Miami Heat defeated the Sixers, 107-105.

The game came down to Miami superstar Dwyane Wade, who held the ball until the final seconds and then penetrated the right lane and - surprising everyone in attendance - kicked it to Udonis Haslem for a 14-foot jumper with 1.3 seconds remaining.

Made shot, game over.

Seconds before the Wade-Haslem connection, Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala hit a step-back three pointer from the right wing, tying the score at 105 with 20.8 seconds remaining.

At the final buzzer, Sixers managed nothing more than an Iguodala heave.

The Sixers (27-54), who finished the season 12-29 at home, play their final game of the season on Wednesday against the Magic in Orlando.

The Sixers lost despite shooting 12 for 25 from beyond the arc. They lost even though forward Jason Kapono and guard Jodie Meeks shot threes like layups, providing 45 points, most of which could be considered bonus scoring from guys not traditionally pumping in buckets.

Miami (46-35) weathered multiple Sixers runs, and came back from a deficit of 86-77 with 1 minute, 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Wade's 30 points led the Heat.

Except for one facet of the game, the Sixers had seemed to play a near-perfect first half: 55.0 percent shooting from the floor, 45.5 percent shooting from three, 18 assists on 22 field goals, and only three turnovers, none of which the Heat capitalized on.

What did this supreme shooting effort afford the Sixers? A halftime lead of the slimmest of margins, 54-53.

Miami kept pace by outrebounding the Sixers, 23-13, in the first half. Of those rebounds, a third were offensive; the Sixers snagged only one offensive rebound in the first half.

After the first quarter, Wade had numbers that looked below average, like he was just another ordinary player. In the first, Wade was 1 for 5 from the floor for four points.

For a large chunk of that first quarter, the Sixers looked as if they would stamp a double-digit lead on the Heat. With 5:10 remaining in the quarter, on an 11-foot jumper by rookie Jrue Holiday, the Sixers were ahead, 21-12.

Miami closed the quarter on a 15-7 run that included two offensive rebounds.

In the second quarter, Wade looked more like himself, splitting double teams for dunks and finding open teammates with X-ray vision passes.

Wade finished the half with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting.

The Sixers maintained their lead with some of their most efficient perimeter shooting of the year. Kapono finished the half with nine points on 4-for-6 shooting, guard Lou Williams had nine points on 3-for-5 accuracy from the floor, and Meeks scored 10 first-half points with a quartet of net-splashing jumpers.