The Miami Heat sealed their ticket to the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday as Jimmy Butler scored 32 points in a 99-90 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The win in Philadelphia gave the Heat a 4–2 victory in a best-of-the-second round series win against the 76ers. They will face either the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks or the Boston Celtics for a place in the NBA Finals.
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The Bucks took a 3-2 lead in that series in game six in Boston on Friday.
“We needed to get one (on the road). We played well, scored shots, guarded and got the job done,” Butler said.
Sixers, playing star center Joel Embiid with a torn ligament in his right thumb and a facial fracture that required a protective mask, quickly picks up the pace, only one point behind – 49-48 – at halftime. .
This was despite the first quarter departure of Danny Green, who suffered a left knee injury and was taken to the locker room after Embiid inadvertently got up for a low basket from the middle of the first quarter on him. had fallen.
However, the Heat caught fire in the third quarter, with Butler scoring 14 points in the period as Miami scored the 76ers 25–15 to take control of the competition.
The former Sixer Butler added eight rebounds and four assists on the night. Max Strauss scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Miami, who doubled and tripled-team embezzlement to keep the Sixers at bay.
Embiid finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. But Embiid connected on just seven of 24 shots off the field and former MVP James Harden didn’t pick up the offensive slack, ending with 11 points on four of nine shoots.
Harden lost both shots in the second half.
Miami reached the conference finals for the second time in three seasons since Butler joined the team after the 2019 season – when the 76ers essentially let him go because they brought in Ben Simmons.
A disgruntled Simmons was deported to Brooklyn this season in exchange for Harden. But the three-time NBA scoring champion hasn’t shown aggressive form, the 76ers were looking to take some of the burden off Embiid and the 76ers haven’t made it past the second round since 2001.
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