In the first half Wednesday, Miami's zone defense confused the 76ers and drew boos from the Philadelphia crowd.
Then, Philadelphia came from a 14-point deficit to beat the Heat 105-104 in the NBA Play-In Tournament, and the 76ers and their fans were thrilled by their rushing three-point lead and free chicken promotion.
With this win, the 76ers will advance to the Eastern Conference playoffs as the seventh seed and will face the second-seeded New York Knicks in the first round. The loss leaves the Heat in a play-in elimination game against the Chicago Bulls, who defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Friday's play-in tournament game. The winner will receive the No. 8 seed. The loser's season is over.
The Heat may be short on players for that game. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic: There are concerns that Jimmy Butler may have suffered an MCL injury. The first half of Wednesday's game. According to reports, he will undergo an MRI scan to determine the nature of his injuries.Butler appears to have injured his knee during the game. First quarter decline. He stood up with a limp and played the rest of the game. He limped carefully down the Wells Fargo Center tunnel after the game.
Heat dominates in first half
Miami took control of Philadelphia's slow first half and stormed out to a 51-39 lead at halftime. The 76ers were unable to penetrate the Heat zone as they shot 32.6% from the field and 3-of-18 (16.7%) from 3-point range.
Philadelphia's 11th turnover of the first half gave Miami a 37-26 lead, prompting a chorus of boos from the home crowd. A Tyler Herro 3 goal gave the Heat a 9-0 lead, giving Miami a 51-37 lead and prompting more boos from Philadelphia fans. It looked like the 76ers were finished.
76ers crowd comes alive after halftime
However, the crowd woke up midway through the quarter when Miami's Caleb Martin missed two free throws and a free chicken promotion was activated.
The fans went wild as the 76ers responded with a 5-0 run to cut Miami's lead to 59-53. Nicolas Batum hit a series of 3-pointers in the third quarter, and the 76ers made 5 of 9 from long range, closing the gap to 74-69. Batum made his fifth three of the game early in the fourth, giving the 76ers a 79-76 lead for the first time since the first quarter.
From there, the game was a back-and-forth battle, with Philadelphia pulling away in the final moments. The 76ers made free throws late in the game as Miami tried to extend the game with a lead in the final seconds.
Embiid struggles, still leading 76ers
Joel Embiid scored 11 points in the fourth after struggling for most of the game. After missing the final game of the season to rest from a knee injury that sidelined him for 29 regular-season games, he was far from his best, hitting 6-of-17 from the field against Miami. He still finished with 23 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, and five assists. Batum made six 3-pointers off the bench and recorded 20 points and five rebounds.
After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, the 76ers finished the game with 15. After a disastrous initial effort, he went 9-of-17 from three in the second half and 12-of-35 (34.3%) from long range for the game.
Jimmy Butler led Miami's defensive onslaught in the first half, posting 19 points, five assists, four rebounds and five steals. His steals repeatedly led to easy buckets on the other end for the Heat. Tyler Herro overcame a poor shooting night (9 of 27) to lead the Heat with 25 points and nine assists. Bam Adebayo had 10 points and 12 rebounds against Embiid.
However, the Heat's defense was unable to slow down Philadelphia's 3-point shots in the second half, and they ultimately fell short.
How will the 76ers fare against the Knicks?
The win sets up an interesting matchup between Philadelphia and New York in the first round of the playoffs. Despite missing the MVP candidate and losing the play-in tournament, the 76ers are certain of making the playoffs with Embiid back in the lineup. If he's close to full strength in Game 1 and beyond, the 76ers won't be a normal No. 7 seed.
The Knicks, on the other hand, won't be playing at full strength. All-Star Julius Randle is out for the season with a shoulder injury. However, OG Anunoby missed 27 games in the second half of the season with an elbow injury, but returned. He appeared in the final six games of the regular season.
Game 1 between the Knicks and 76ers is scheduled for Saturday at 6pm ET at Madison Square Garden.
