Heat beat 76ers in Game 6 to advance to East finals
PHILADELPHIA >> Jimmy Butler knocked Joel Embiid out of the playoffs, then walked over to his former 76ers teammate for a hug and a message.
“`I'm proud of him. I love him,'” Butler said he told Embiid. “Yes, yes, yes, I still wish I was on his team. I do love the Miami Heat though. I'm glad that I'm here.”
With another trip to the conference finals ahead, the Heat are happy to have him.
Butler scored 32 points and waved “bye bye” to the Philly crowd as he sent Miami into the Eastern Conference finals with a 9990 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday night in Game 6.
The Heat will play the winner of the MilwaukeeBoston
series. The defending champion Bucks lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 on Friday night 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.
Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, scored 20 points on 7-of-24 shooting.
James Harden scored all of his 11 points in the first half. He had four turnovers and four baskets. Harden, who has a $47.4 million player option for 2022-23, missed both shots in the second half and scored his last basket at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter.