Sixers in at No. 7; Embiid big in 4th
NBA EASTERN CONF. PLAY-IN 76ERS 105, HEAT 104
PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers needed all the improbable tricks they could summon to even have a chance at winning their first play-in game in team history.
Nicolas Batum hit game-shifting three-pointers. Buddy Hield was in the mix. Even the promise of free chicken nuggets was enough to revive an offense and smother the boos from Philly fans that rained inside the arena.
But in crunch time, the game came down to Joel Embiid. Always Joel Embiid.
With the NBA MVP on the court, the 76ers proved they have a shot at a long postseason run as long as he’s in the lineup.
Embiid had 23 points, 15 rebounds and one huge assist to Kelly Oubre Jr. on a go-ahead three-point play that led the 76ers to a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playin tournament on Wednesday night.
“Lots of booing,” Embiid said, smiling. “We stuck together. It just shows you that I don’t play my best, I don’t get to my spots the whole game until the fourth quarter, and we still find a way to win.”
The 76ers earned the No. 7 seed and advanced to play the second-seeded New York Knicks in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
The Heat — who went from the play-in tourney to the NBA Finals a year ago — will host the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, with the winner getting the No. 8 seed.
Embiid exploded out of a quiet game late in the fourth and carried the Sixers back from 14 down in the second half. Embiid, who missed 43 games this season and finished out on a surgically repaired left knee, was a non-factor as Batum and Hield sparked the 76ers in the second half. Batum had 20 points.
“We won the game because of them,” Embiid said.
“Those guys stepped up and we won the game.”
But when the Sixers needed big buckets, who else was there but their big man?
Embiid buried a go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the arc with 2:33 left in the game for a 93-91 lead that sent a crowd — that had about booed the Sixers out of the building at the half — into a frenzy. After the Sixers blew that lead, Embiid again was clutch with a three-point play for a 96-94 lead.
With the game tied 96all, Miami’s Tyler Herro was whistled for a backcourt violation. Embiid slipped the ball to Oubre under the basket for the bucket, the free throw and a 99-96 lead they would not give up.
BULLS 131, HAWKS 116
CHICAGO — Coby White scored a career-high 42 points, and Chicago advanced in the play-in tournament, knocking out Atlanta.
White, whose previous high was 37, went hard at the rim throughout the game and had fans chanting his name down the stretch as the Bulls rolled past the Hawks.
Dejounte Murray led Atlanta with 30 points. But the Hawks came up short again after dropping their final six regular-season games.
Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago. DeMar DeRozan finished with 22 points and nine assists.
Ayo Dosunmu added 19 points after missing the final four regular-season games because of a bruised right quadricep, and the Bulls shot 56.8% from the floor.
Atlanta’s Trae Young and Clint Capela each scored 22. Young, who missed 23 games late in the regular season because of a torn ligament in his left pinkie, had 10 assists but committed six turnovers. Capela grabbed 17 rebounds. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 21 points.