JOEL Embiid collected 23 points and 15 rebounds and Nicolas Batum drained six 3-pointers to lift the host Philadelphia Sixers to a 105-104 victory over the Miami Heat in an NBA play-in game on Wednesday (Wednesday in Manila).
Batum finished with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, and Tyrese Maxey added 19 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. recorded 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tobias Harris added nine points and 10 boards.
The seventh-seeded 76ers outscored Miami 66-53 in the second half to set up an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the second-seeded New York Knicks. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday (Sunday in Manila) in New York.
In the other game, Coby White poured in 42 points–the most he has scored in an NBA game–and the Chicago Bulls remained in the hunt for a playoff spot with a solid 131-116 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
White made 15 of 21 field-goal attempts and had nine rebounds and six assists for the ninth-place Bulls, who will visit the Heat on Friday (Saturday in Manila) with the winner claiming the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The loss ended the season for the Hawks, who finished the regular season 10th in the East.
Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic recorded 24 points and 12 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan had 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Ayo Dosunmu added 19 points for the Bulls, who shot 56.8 percent from the field, including 11 of 26 (42.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Miami’s Tyler Herro contributed 25 points and nine assists, and Jimmy Butler had 19 points, five assists and five steals.
Rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 15 points off the bench for the Heat, who will look to capture the eighth seed on Friday when they host the winner of Wednesday’s game between the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls.
Haywood Highsmith sank a floater to tie the score at 96-96 with 1:30 left. Oubre connected on a driving layup with 36 seconds left and made the ensuing foul shot to complete the three-point play.
