Heat finish off Embiid, 76ers 99-90, advance to East finals
PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Butler knocked Joel Embiid out of the playoffs, then walked over to his former 76ers teammate and hugged him, told him he loved him and was proud of him.
Butler then headed out of a familiar court a winner — and straight into another conference finals with Miami.
“Now I’m where I belong,” Butler said. “Guess where I should have been a long time ago.”
Butler scored 32 points and waved “bye bye” to the Philly crowd as he sent Miami into the Eastern Conference finals with a 99-90 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday in Game 6.
The Heat will play the winner of the Milwaukee-Boston series. The defending champion Bucks lead that series 32, with Game 6 today in Milwaukee.
The Heat reached the conference finals for the second time in three seasons, again with Butler leading the charge. Philly fans — and many inside the 76ers organization — still can’t believe the franchise let Butler get away after the 2019 season. He did not mess around and scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the third quarter when the Heat used a 16-2 run to take control. Butler scored 33 points in Game 3 and 40 in Game 4 and took 29 shots in Game 6.
“I think he’s one of the ultimate competitors in this profession,” coach Erik Spoelstra
(right) and the 76ers’ Joel Embiid embrace after Miami’s series-clinching win over Philadelphia on Thursday.
said. “He was brilliant all series long. The challenges only get tougher here. He saw there was an opportunity to end this tonight and he wasn’t going to let this get to seven.”
Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, had no significant help and scored 20 points with 12 rebounds on 7-of-24 shooting.
“I know I tried. I think for the most part, we tried,” Embiid said. “It just wasn’t good enough.”
Embiid remains to this day befuddled and hurt that the Sixers passed on Butler after forming a trio with Ben Simmons that — egos aside — could have contended for championships for years.
“I still don’t know how we let him go,” Embiid said. “I wish I could have gone to battle with him still.”
James Harden scored all of his 11 points in the first half for the 76ers — he had four turnovers and four baskets.
Coach Doc Rivers is signed through the 2024-25 season and another early exit — the 76ers were the No. 1 seed last year and lost in the second round — has made his job status a hot topic of conversation.
“I don’t worry about my job. I think I do a terrific job. If you don’t, then you should write it,” Rivers said. “Because I worked my butt off to get this team here. When I first got here, no one picked us to be anywhere. Again this year, the same thing. If that’s how anyone feels, write it. I’m going to feel secure about it.”