Sixers best not enough as Heat take Game 3

Sometimes your best just isn't good enough. Such is the case for the Sixers, who can't seem to beat the Heat no matter how well they play. It happened once again in Game 3, as the Sixers played their best basketball of the series yet still managed to find themselves losing another game to the Heat, 100-94, and are now one loss away from being swept out of the playoffs.

Game 3 started exactly like Game 1 of the series as the Sixers seemed to catch the Heat napping early on and built a 9-0 lead. From there it was all about holding off the Heat, who slowly but surely had their way with the Sixers, eventually riding Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in the 4th quarter for the win.

The Sixers got good performances from several players, including Elton Brand, who led the team with 21 points and 11 boards and seemed determined to keep the team from losing the game. Jrue Holiday also had a nice touch on his shot, hitting 4 of 5 from three and finishing with 20 points. Unfortunately, nothing they did could match Wade (32 points, 10 boards, 8 assists) and LeBron (24 points, 15 boards, 6 assists) as they pretty much did whatever they wanted to down the stretch.

While the series isn't officially over, the Heat have basically proven that the Sixers can't beat them. The Sixers deserve a ton of credit for playing hard and giving Miami a challenge within each game but they simply don't have the weapons to score with the Heat nor the defenders to stop them. The Heat were the worst possible matchup for the Sixers, who have the talent and athleticism to make even the best teams in the league have to sweat out every victory. While it sounds like a bunch of excuses, the team has nothing to be ashamed about; their best simply isn't good enough to beat an elite team like Miami.
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)