Heat win, advance to conference final

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. MAVERICKS 113, SUNS 86 » Luka Doncic scored 33 points and Dallas beat Phoenix to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals.

The home team has won all six games, none with a final margin closer than seven points. The deciding game is Sunday in Phoenix.

The Mavericks won when facing elimination for the first time in three tries with Doncic, their three-time All-Star.

The two losses came against the Clippers the past two seasons, including Game 7 in Los Angeles last year after the visitors won the first six games, a first in the playoffs. Dallas is playing beyond the first round for the first time since winning the title 11 years ago.