HEAT OFF AS MIAMI GETS ITS TICKET TO CONFERENCE FINALS

MIAMI Heat has punched its ticket to the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals with a 99-90 win over Philadelphia 76ers as Dallas Mavericks avoided elimination in the West.

Jimmy Butler (pictured) scored

32 points to fuel the Heat against his former team, the victory in Philadelphia giving Miami a 4-2 triumph in its best-of-seven second-round series against the 76ers.

“I think he’s one of the ultimate competitors in this profession,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler.

“He was brilliant all series. He saw there was an opportunity to end this tonight and he wasn’t going to let this get to seven (games).”

But Phoenix Suns, the top seeds in the West after amassing the best regular-season record in the league, will head home on Sunday needing a game-seven win after losing 113-86 to the Mavericks in Dallas.

Luka Doncic scored 33 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out eight assists for the Mavericks, who seized control in the second quarter, closing the first half on a 19-6 scoring run to take a 60-45 lead.