PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers entered the regular season home finale with the Miami Heat on Thursday with nothing to play for. The Sixers already know they will be the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs while the Heat are still chasing the No. 6 seed to avoid the play-in tournament.
The sense of urgency on both sides was obvious. The Sixers really didn’t have any while the Heat had a ton of it as they look to move up in the standings before the postseason begins.
Miami built up a 25-point lead in the first half and while the Sixers worked their way back into it, the Heat then put it away as they walked away with a 129-101 win. It was just one of those nights at the tail end of a long NBA season.
“We just didn’t come to play tonight (Thursday),” said coach Doc Rivers. “We didn’t have great energy. Very difficult game to have energy, honestly. It was an exercise tonight.”
It was one of those games on the NBA calendar that every playoff team has to battle with. Philadelphia had absolutely zero to play for while the Heat have everything to play for. It was obvious from the jump in this one.
“I wasn’t sure if I could sense their sense of urgency or our lack of urgency,” Rivers added. “I wasn’t sure which one was which, but clearly, you knew they were going to come with everything they had. This was a tough game and a tough game for me even before like I really struggle with playing guys at all. I really did. Just it was a tough one.”
Miami shot 55.7% from the floor and 18-for-39 from deep while Philadelphia shot 51.3% from the floor and 10-for-36 from deep. The Heat also out-rebounded the Sixers 42-32 as the effort level tilted toward Miami.
Despite the obvious, Joel Embiid is not using that as an excuse for this loss.
“It’s not an excuse,” Embiid added. “You’re on the court, you still gotta compete, still gotta try to win the game. You still got to be able to compete and try to win.”
The Sixers have two, also meaningless, games left before the playoffs begin. They will take on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and finish up with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
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