Joel Embiid showed why Philadelphia always have a shot at a long postseason run when 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 play-in tournament on Wednesday night.
Embiid exploded out of a quiet game late – there were boos from 76ers fans as the team struggled – in the fourth quarter 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 until his late surge as as Nicolas Batum and Buddy Hield sparked the 76ers in the second half. Batum had 20 points.
“Lots of booing,” Embiid said with a smile after the game. “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 advance to face the second-seeded New York Knicks in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
The Heat – who went from the play-in tourney to the NBA Finals a year ago – meet the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, with the winner getting the No 8 seed and a match-up with the first seed Boston Celtics.
Chicago set up Friday’s meeting with the Sixers after Coby White scored a career-high 42 points to help clinch a 131-116 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. 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.
“I’m just grateful to be where I’m at. That first playoff series I ever had in my career didn’t go how I wanted it to go. And then last year, I played better in the play-in, but this year, I didn’t come into the game saying I was going to put the team [on my back]. I just wanted to be aggressive and take what the defense gave me and try to lead.”
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.
Heat star Jimmy Butler had four steals in the first half, and gutted out two free throws after he slipped and appeared to tweak his right knee, perhaps a reason he scored only two points in the fourth. Butler said he would need an MRI on Thursday but it appears he will be out for several weeks.
“It felt like I couldn’t do too much, which sucks with the timing of the game and everything,” Butler said. “I hope that I’m fine. I hope that I wake up tomorrow and can still stick-and-move. Right now, I can’t stay that’s the case.”