MIAMI — The Philadelphia 76ers were able to withstand a lot of body blows from the Miami Heat and walk away with a 109-105 win on the road. Philadelphia is now just half a game back of the Heat for the No. 7 seed in the East and a game back of the Indiana Pacers for the No. 6 seed.
Joel Embiid played in his second game since undergoing a meniscus procedure on his left knee back on Feb. 6 and he played well. The big fella had 29 points and four rebounds on 11-for-25 shooting. As he continues to work his way back from the injury, he shot just 3-for-12 from the floor in the second half.
“A little bit better than that first game,” Embiid said after the win. “Especially, my chest and my throat. My legs are still pretty heavy, but I felt a little bit better than that first game back. You could see the first two quarters and part of that third quarter and I just ran out of gas.”
On the flip side, the two-man game between Embiid and Tyrese Maxey appeared to pick up right where they left off in January. Maxey was unable to play in Tuesday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder so this contest was the first time the two of them played together since.
“Like I said last game, I’m just here to try and get all these guys open,” Embiid stated. “He was pretty open today so I’m happy that he took care of his own business and made shots. He made them pay for the way they were guarding and I just didn’t think we played that well.”
Embiid is right. The Sixers really didn’t play great. It was a weird game of runs. Philadelphia started the game up 12-0, but Miami responded with a 17-4 run in the second quarter to take the lead. The Sixers then went on a 20-1 run and built an 18-point lead, but the Heat then went on another run to end that half and into the third quarter to build a lead of their own.
Even in the fourth quarter, the Heat were up by eight before Philadelphia stormed back to win the game.
“We had spurts where to start the game, we were great, and then part of that second quarter and then the third quarter and to end the first quarter, we were bad,” Embiid finished. “We probably missed, like, eight shots in a row. Especially, 3s so we just gotta stay consistent, but I’m gonna be better. We’re gonna be better.”
Joel Embiid on his two-man game with Tyrese Maxey and the team’s overall play tonight in Miami #Sixers pic.twitter.com/aRQ3emsPUz
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) April 5, 2024
The Sixers will now head to Memphis on Saturday to take on the Grizzlies.
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