For a half on Wednesday, the Miami Heat‘s zone defense flustered the Philadelphia 76ers And triggered boos from the home crowd at Wells Fargo. A hot run from 3 and a totally free chicken promo triggered the 76ers and their fans as Philadelphia rallied from a 14-point deficit to a 105-104 win over the Heat in the NBA play-in competition.
With the win, the 76ers advance as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs to deal with the No. 2 seed New York Knicks in the preliminary. The loss puts the Heat in Friday’s play-in removal video game versus the Chicago Bullswho beat the Atlanta Hawks in their play-in competition video gameThe winner will make the No. 8 seed. The loser’s season will be over.
Jimmy Butler apparently hurt
The Heat might be short-handed for that video game. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Jimmy Butler is feared to have actually suffered an MCL injury in the very first half of Wednesday’s video game. He’ll have an MRI to identify the nature of the injury, per the report. Butler appeared to hurt his knee throughout a fall in the very first quarterHe got up hopping and played the remainder of the video game. He hopped gingerly down the tunnel of the Wells Fargo Center postgame.
Heat control initially half
Philadelphia treked through a slow very first half that Miami managed en path to a 51-39 halftime lead. The 76ers could not overcome or over the Heat zone as they shot 32.6% from the field and 3 of 18 (16.7%) from 3.
Philadelphia’s 11th turnover of the half permitted Miami to take a 37-26 lead, triggering a chorus of boos from the home crowd. A 9-0 Heat run topped by a Tyler Herro 3 offered Miami a 51-37 lead and triggered more boos from the Philadelphia faithful. The 76ers looked done.
76ers, crowd come alive after halftime
The crowd woke up midway through the quarter when Miami’s Caleb Martin missed out on 2 totally free tosses, activating a complimentary chicken promo.
When the 76ers reacted with a 5-0 go to cut Miami’s cause 59-53, the fans remained in a craze. Nicolas Batum led a 3-point barrage that saw the 76ers go 5 of 9 from cross country in the 3rd quarter as the 76ers cut their deficit to 74-69. Batum’s 5th 3 of the video game early in the fo