The Miami Heat had the sixth seed on the line last night in a game they had to win. In their way were the Philadelphia 76ers who had an off night as a team and the Heat put together a solid team win to keep their chances alive at getting the sixth seed in the playoffs. Brooklyn still has a one-game lead in the standings over Miami and it’s coming down to the wire as the regular season ends on Sunday.
Miami dominated the 76ers in Philly last night, 129-101 in a game they needed to win. The Heat would much rather make the playoffs through the top six seeds and not have to compete in the play-in tournament. Brooklyn feels the same way and they control their own destiny essentially.
A win tonight for the Nets would almost certainly lock the sixth seed up for them with two games left, but Miami still has a fighting chance. Florida Sports Betting sites have the Heat at (+10000) to win the Finals this season.
CULTURE… it always shows this time of year. #WINNING pic.twitter.com/ZITLx7vka1
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 7, 2023
The Miami Heat need some help from the Brooklyn Nets if they want to steal the sixth seed in the playoffs
The game was never really in question for the Miami Heat who had a 67-46 lead at halftime. Philly came out flat and had a poor shooting night from deep, They combined to go 10-36 from deep last night and the threes were just not dropping.
Four of Miami’s five starters last night had double-digit points and two players off the bench joined the party as well. Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro both dropped 24 points last night while Bam Adebayo and Max Struss both had 14. Miami’s next game is on the road vs the Wizards, but they’ll need a loss from Brooklyn tonight to stay out of the play-in tournament.
Brooklyn has a home game tonight vs the Orlando Magic who is on the second game of a back-to-back. The Magic lost to the Cavaliers last night and don’t have much to play for as they’ve been out of playoff contention for a while.
