Batum Gives Sixers A Big Shot In Win Over Heat
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
Butler’s Year Could Be Over
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
Philadelphia – The Miami Heat were hit with a triple whammy after they faced the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night in the NBA Play-In Tournament game. The winner would go on to face the #2 seed New York Knicks while the loser would have to face the winner of the Chicago Bulls/Atlanta Hawks game that was played later that night.
First, they lost 105-104 to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the Play-In Tournament. Second, they lost guard Jimmy Butler for possibly the rest of the playoffs and third, they now have to play another game to see if they can duplicate what they did in reaching the NBA Finals last year.
Things did not start off well for Miami as they fell behind early (12-4) after ex-teammate Kyle Lowry nailed a 3-pointer. Miami righted themselves and closed out the quarter on a 19-10 run ending the quarter with their first lead of the game 23-22 after a Jimmy Butler free throw. The free throw would come after Butler landed awkwardly on his right knee attempting a short jumper staying on the floor for several minutes. Butler stayed in the game but clearly favored the knee.
The momentum carried over into the second quarter for the Heat. Behind Butler’s 10 points they went into halftime with a 12-point (51-39) lead. Sixers center Joel Embiid led the team with 10 points but the rest of the team struggled from the floor shooting only 32% from the floor and 16% from 3-point land. Miami shot 43% from the floor hitting 30% from downtown. During the regular season, Philadelphia had never come from behind trailing by 12 points or more at halftime.
The third quarter saw Miami extend the thread to 13 (54-41) with 9:55 as the Heat concentrated their defense on Embiid and guard Tyrese Maxey. That’s when an unlikely Sixer stepped up to light a fire under the team. 35-year-old forward Nico Batum came off the bench and put life back into the struggling offense as well as providing timely defense. Batum entered the game at the 6:57 mark with the team trailing by 11 (59-48) and by the end of the quarter would nail 3-3 pointers reducing the Heat lead to 5 at 74-69. That was just his beginning.
When Embiid hit a 3-pointer with 11:06 it tied the score at 74. Neither team would go up by more than 4-points the rest of the way. With the score tied at 96, a lay-up by Heat guard Kelly Oubre, Jr would give them their final lead of the game but first Batum sealed the win with the defensive play of the night.
With the Heat down 3 (99-96) and only .26 seconds remaining, Miami’s guard Tyler Herro attempts a game tying 3-pointer. Batum steps up and blocks the shot sealing the 105-104 victory. Said Batum of the play, “we were expecting that play for them to go around, catch it, to go right and shoot it. I was expecting it.”
After the loss, it was announced that test revealed Butler has a possible MCL injury and will not be on the floor when they host the Chicago Bulls Friday night.
With the win, Philadelphia will face the New York Knicks who finished as the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The best of 7 begins Saturday, 6pm at Madison Square Garden with game 2 taking place Monday night before the series shifts to Philadelphia.
The New York Beacon sees the Knicks taking out the Sixers in 5 games. It will be the second straight year that the Knicks will advance to the second round. After taking out Cleveland in 5 games last year, they lost in 6 games to the Miami Heat.
