Heat vs. 76ers: Philly advances (2024)

A tale of two halves and excellent bench play earned the Philadelphia 76ers No. 7 seed as they held on to beat the Miami Heat 105-104 in their Play-In matchup Wednesday, setting themselves up to face the New York Knicks Saturday.

The Heat will play the Chicago Bulls, who beat the Atlanta Hawks 131-116 on Wednesday, for the final East playoff spot Friday.

Jimmy Butler hurt himself at the end of the first quarter when Philadelphia's Kelly Oubre fouled him in transition. Butler hardly moved during some late Miami possessions, shooting 5-for-18 for the night. Butler said after the game that he will get an MRI on his knee Thursday, adding that he was extremely limited as the game went on and felt as though he hurt the Heat more than helped them. The expectation is that Butler will be out multiple weeks, league sources told The Athletic.

PHILADELPHIA — Nicolas Batum was not included in every iteration of the trade the Philadelphia 76ers eventually completed with the LA Clippers in November. The 76ers pushed and the Clippers hedged, and on it went. But in the end, when the Sixers sent James Harden to Los Angeles, they got Batum.

The trade was one of several turning points for Philadelphia in their jagged season. It was supposed to be the benchmark of a transition for the franchise. Instead, it also landed them the man who kept this season alive.

As the Sixers completed their 105-104 comeback victory over the Miami Heat Wednesday night in a stilted and punchy affair, it was Batum, the 35-year-old French swingman with a nuanced game and a wet jumper, who helped lead the way. He did it, as he always does, with a quick trigger shot and an intellect that has made him a respected veteran in the Sixers locker room.

Read more here.

PHILADELPHIA — A few moments after pulling off another defensive miracle, Jimmy Butler grimaced, putting his hands on his knees. He signaled to a teammate to take the ball up the floor on the next possession, and not to wait for him. He couldn’t do the heavy lifting again.

At the end of the first quarter of his Miami Heat’s 105-104 loss in the Play-In Tournament to the Philadelphia 76ers, Butler suffered a right knee injury when Kelly Oubre Jr. fouled him. Throughout the night, Butler limped noticeably. As the Heat’s 12-point halftime lead disappeared and their offense ground down to nothing, Butler largely stood in the corner. The Athletic’s Shams Charania later reported Butler is feared to have suffered an MCL injury.

“Honestly, I thought the adrenaline would kick back in, and I’d be able to move,” Butler said. “That just wasn’t the case. I wasn’t able to do anything on either side of the ball. And I think I hurt us more than I helped us.”

That is up for debate, as Butler provided several key defensive plays to allow the Heat to even sniff winning, offering the possibility of advancing to the playoffs to face the New York Knicks in the 2-7 series. Instead, they will play the Chicago Bulls on Friday night in Miami for the right to face the juggernaut Boston Celtics in the first round. That series will start on Sunday.

What is clear, however, is that Butler’s diminishment is something the Heat offense cannot shoulder. He will get an MRI on his knee on Thursday and is hoping the results are better than his knee was feeling.

Continue reading.

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is feared to have an MCL injury in his knee, league sources tell The Athletic. The injury could sideline Butler for an indefinite period.

MRI to come.

With the 76ers' 105-104 win, one of the NBA's saddest streaks is officially history. Buddy Hield, in his eighth season with his fourth team, is finally going to the NBA Playoffs.

Hield was traded to the Kings, who famously went 16 years between playoff appearances, during his rookie season. He then went to Indiana in the 2022 Tyrese Haliburton trade, where he finished another season and a half outside the postseason. His streak looked on course to end this season; the Pacers seemed likely to reach the playoffs and the 76ers, his new team after the trade deadline, were on course as well. But Philly's late-season tumble without Joel Embiid threw some of that into doubt.

Hield is a free agent this summer. If he doesn't return to Philly, would he sign with another lottery team?

Game 1 (ESPN): April 20, 6 p.m. ET

Game 2 (TNT): April 22, 7:30 p.m. ET

Game 3 (TNT): April 25, 7:30 p.m. ET

Game 4 (ABC): April 28, 1 p.m. ET

Game 5 (TBD): April 30, TBD

Game 6 (TBD): May 2, TBD

Game 7 (TBD): May 4, TBD

PHILADELPHIA — The Miami Heat had the 28th-ranked clutch offense in the league this year, a major warning sign about the team's ability to execute throughout a slow-paced playoff game. Miami built a 12-point lead on the strength of a tricky zone defense that flummoxed the 76ers and created easy chances in transition. Once Philadelphia adapted, Miami just couldn't generate enough scoring. Other than Tyler Herro, Miami had next to no offensive creation, and that allowed Philadelphia to inch past them at the end.

The Heat will get the winner of tonight's game between the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night in Miami, with the winner moving on to play the Boston Celtics in the first round. However, Jimmy Butler appeared to hurt himself at the end of the first quarter when Kelly Oubre Jr. fouled him in transition, and Terry Rozier, the quick guard acquired in January for Kyle Lowry, has missed five consecutive games with a neck injury. Butler hardly moved during some late Miami possessions, shooting 5-for-18 for the night. If Butler is compromised and Rozier is unavailable, the Heat are going to need a little magic to get into the playoffs, and a lot to go further.

PHILADELPHIA — The Sixers didn't just win their Play-In Tournament game, they won the one that matters. This puts them into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, which is huge because it lets them avoid the Celtics in the first round. The Knicks will be a tough matchup, no doubt, but they're not the Celtics, who were the unquestioned regular-season juggernauts. The 76ers get to take the train to New York and back for the next two weeks or so in what might be a coin-flip first round matchup.

This was a great comeback for the Sixers. They figured out the Heat in real-time. Nothing encapsulated that like Joel Embiid, who struggled early and then took over late. he finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. His clutch buckets and huge assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. late in the fourth quarter helped seal the win.

A final 3 by Tyler Herro with 0.3 seconds left cut the deficit to one, but Kyle Lowry alertly threw the ball in right to Tyrese Maxey. He fumbled it, but it didn't matter with so little time left.

The 76ers win 105-104 and advance to face the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — I was a bit surprised when Nick Nurse went back to Kyle Lowry in the fourth quarter, given how well the 76ers were playing. However, Lowry has had a key steal and a tip to get an extra possession. As Philadelphia inbounded just now and the referees allowed a lot of physicality, Lowry was the player who never stopped moving, collected the ball from Joel Embiid and found Kelly Oubre, who was hacked.

Just a bunch of typically big plays from Lowry, even if they won't dominate the post-game highlight package.

Two plays earlier, Kelly Oubre cut backdoor on the baseline against Miami's zone and tried to get inside positioning. The pass wasn't quite there, so the 76ers didn't get him the ball.

But that time, the pass was there, and Joel Embiid made it