Butler turns up Heat, boots Sixers from playoffs

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 walked straight into another conference finals with the Heat.

“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 Philadelphia crowd as he sent Miami into the Eastern Conference finals with a 99-90 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night in Philadelphia.

The Heat reached the conference finals for the second time in three seasons, again with Butler leading the charge. He scored 14 points in the third quarter, when the Heat used a 16-2 run to take control.

Embiid scored 20 points on 7-for-24 shooting, but had no significant help. James Harden scored all 11 of his points Thursday in the first half and finished with four turnovers. When he lost a ball that led to an 80-63 Heat lead in the fourth, the Sixers were booed off the court.

Mavericks 113, Suns 86

In Dallas, Luka Doncic scored 33 points and the Mavericks beat the Suns to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals.

The home team has won all six games, none by fewer than seven points. The deciding game will be Sunday in Phoenix.

With the Suns seeking a second consecutive trip to the West finals, Devin Booker scored 19 points, but was shut out from 3-point range (0-for-4) while going 6-for-17 overall. Deandre Ayton had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 13 points.

The top-seeded Suns were held to a season low in scoring, regular season or playoffs.

Doncic played through an apparent left leg injury that briefly sent him to the locker room. Reggie Bullock scored 19 points and Jalen Brunson added 18 for Dallas. Spencer Dinwiddie had a series-high 15, all on 3s (5-for-7).

Memphis GM youngest top exec

The Grizzlies’ 33-year-old general manager, Zach Kleiman, received 16 of 29 first-place votes and was named the NBA basketball executive of the year, the youngest ever to win the award.