The Miami Heat (1-0) kicked off their second title defense with a sound victory over the Chicago Bulls last night, and now head to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers in their opener at 7:00 p.m. ET. Live stream the game here; Heat fans can listen in on 560 WQAM, while 76ers fans can do the same on WPEN 97.5.
The Heat dispatched Derrick Rose and the Bulls last night and appeared to be in championship form, which is bad news for the Sixers who appear to be in full tank mode for the highest draft pick possible.
New head coach Brett Brown admitted this season is about rebuilding, but dismissed talk of tanking or losing on purpose.
"When you're looking to rebuild, and you're not on the side of the win column as much as you'd like to be, it's got to be done out of respect, out of work ethic, a competitiveness, a toughness," Brown said. "I feel like we're not skipping steps, we're not cheating the system, we're going about it like we're building something. That's why they hired me. That's what I intend on trying to do."
Starting shooting guard Evan Turner was less eloquent in dismissing tanking talk when he said, "No matter how you put it, losers sit there and say ... we're going to lose. I'm not a loser."
However, neither is LeBron James, who started off his season with 17 points, eight assists, and six rebounds against Tom Thibodeau's vaunted defense. Brown knows about losing to the Heat, having served as an assistant coach for the Spurts during last year's NBA Finals.
"Everyone knows the last time I saw them (it) was a huge disappointment," Brown said. "The hangover from all that still exists a little bit. There's an excitement to start the year, and it just so happens to be against the best team in basketball. Any time you can get a true benchmark of where you want to be as an individual or as a team, then it's an honest reflection to aspire to get to where we want to go."
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