Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Max Strus added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Miami Heat moved within one win of a trip to the Eastern Conference finals with a 120-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
Victor Oladipo scored 13 for Miami, which got 12 from Bam Adebayo and 10 apiece from Tyler Herro and PJ Tucker. The top-seeded Heat now lead the East semifinal series 3-2 and improved to an NBA-best 6-0 at home in these playoffs.
Joel Embiid scored 17 points for fourth-seeded Philadelphia, which got 14 from James Harden and 12 from Tobias Harris. The 76ers were down 15 entering the quarter, then gave up 12 straight points to open the fourth quarter.
Game 6 is in Philadelphia on Thursday.
It was a tough night for the Sixers, especially for Embiid, their best player, who was already wearing a mask to protect himself from a facial fracture and dealing with a major thumb injury.
Embiid was rattled in the first quarter when he tried to dive into some baseline seats while trying to save a loose ball. He doubled over shortly after, clutching his back.
He stayed in the game after that scare.
He also stayed in the game after the next scare, which was much worse.
It came midway through the second quarter, when Miami’s Dewayne Dedmon missed a shot and Embiid grabbed the rebound. Dedmon, thrashing from the ball, made contact with it and ended up pushing it into Embiid’s masked face.
Embiid fumbled the ball and went down in pain, covering his face with both hands. Oladipo picked up the ball and scored to make it 42-31, but the squirming Embiid was much more important to the 76ers than giving up two points. Embiid sat idle for several moments, before returning to the Philadelphia bank and being treated by doctors.
And now Philly must beat the Heat in Games 6 and 7, with almost all odds pointing to how difficult that task will be.
All-time in the best-of-seven series, going into this round, the teams that won Game 1 of a matchup ultimately prevail 75.6% of the time. Game 1 winners at home, 85% of the time. Teams that start a series with a 2-0 lead, 92.4% of the time. And teams that win Game 5 with a 3-2 series lead end up advancing 82.2% of the time.
All of those stats favor Miami, obviously.
Tyrese Maxey hit a deep 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in the third to pull Philadelphia within 81-66. Any hope that remained for the 76ers at that point was short-lived.