The Philadelphia 76ers scraped past the Miami Heat in a 105-104 victory Wednesday night in the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in seed matchup to advance to the NBA postseason and secure the No. 7 seed in the East.
𝘾𝙇𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙃𝙀𝘿.#ForTheLoveOfPhilly | @betPARX pic.twitter.com/7RjFB5bJCd
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 18, 2024
The Sixers were led by superstar Center Joel Embiid, who scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help them advance to their seventh straight postseason appearance. Philadelphia forward Nicholas Batum also contributed 20 points, 18 of which came from beyond the arc, to give the Sixers a spark off the bench.
Heat guard Tyler Herro led Miami in scoring, recording 25 points and adding on a game-high nine assists, while his counterpart Jimmy Butler scored 19 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out five assists. However, Herro and Butler’s efforts were insufficient to capture a victory against the Sixers. Miami came up just short and now moves on to the second round of the play-in tournament, where they will take on the No. 9 seed Chicago Bulls on Friday, April 19, at 7:00 p.m. EST.
The Sixers will face the red-hot No. 2 New York Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Knicks are fresh off a five-game win streak. Game one of the Sixers vs. Knicks series begins on Saturday, April 20, in Madison Square Garden at 6:00 p.m. EST.
