Heat beat 76ers 99-90 in Game 6 to advance to East finals
PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Butler scored
32 points and waved “bye bye” to the Philly
crowd as he sent the Miami Heat into the Eastern Conference finals with a 99-90 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night in Game 6.
The Heat will play the winner of the Milwaukee-boston 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.
Joel Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, scored 20 points for Philadelphia on 7-of-24 shooting.
Coming off a 35-point victory in Game 5, the Heat wore down a battered Sixers team. Embiid looked gassed as he gamely tried to carry the Sixers. He had little lift and had a pullup jumper blocked by Bam Adebayo in the third.
The Sixers parted with Butler in large part because they chose Ben Simmons
over him. Simmons was unhappy and forced a trade this season to Brooklyn for James Harden. Harden, a three-time scoring champion, was supposed to shoulder the load with Embiid for a potent postseason push. Harden instead all but disappeared in the playoffs. He had a fantastic Game 4 at home against Miami but otherwise was a turnover machine. When
he lost another ball that led to a Heat
bucket and an 80-63 lead in the fourth, the
Sixers were booed off the court.
Harden scored all of
his 11 points in the first half. He had four turnovers and four baskets.
Few in Philly would give The Beard a passing grade.
Coach Doc Rivers implored his team to “fight for this!” in the
huddle during the fourth. The 76ers just fell flat.
The Heat are thrilled with an NBA championship still in play. Max Strus had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Even another abysmal night from 3-point range — Miami missed 21 of 28 attempts —- failed to matter.
Embiid again gutted out a postseason game in his mask (right orbital fracture) and with torn ligaments in
his right thumb after
he was only cleared to return last week from
a concussion. He held the back of his head
after he knocked it on the court after a fall late in the second
quarter. Embiid still played 22 minutes in the first half and scored 14 points.
Embiid missed the first two games of the
series as he recovered from the concussion. The Sixers lost both
games in Miami. Would a healthy Embiid have made a difference? Maybe not but it’s still another sudden end to the Allstar cornerstone who has yet to taste a conference final.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Heat: Kyle Lowry sat out again with his left hamstring injury.
He paced the Heat
sideline like a coach and called over his teammates during free throws and other breaks in action to talk strategy.
76ers: Danny Green left in the first quarter with a serious left
knee injury. Embiid went up for a bucket and crashed on Green as they tumbled to the court. Green, who averaged 5.9 points this
season, grabbed his leg and was carried
off the court.
TIP-INS
Heat: Are 7-1 in closeout Game 6s
since 2006 . ... Won their 30th career playoff series.
76ers: Have not advanced past the second round since 2001.