MIAMI — The Philadelphia 76ers picked up a crucial 109-105 win over the Miami Heat on the road on Thursday as they continue their push up the standings in the East. Philadelphia is one-half game behind the seventh-place Heat and one game behind sixth-place Indiana.
While the Sixers are eighth with five games left, they can certainly move up. Philadelphia has a rather easy schedule in the final five games, and with Joel Embiid teaming with Tyrese Maxey the Sixers can beat anybody in the East.
“We don’t care where we end up,” Embiid said. “For me personally, I didn’t have to come back, but I wanna play. I love playing basketball and I wanna be on the floor. It doesn’t matter — obviously, I’d rather not be in the play-in, but if that’s the situation we’re in, that’s where we end up, that doesn’t change the goal which is to go out there and try to win every single game so it doesn’t matter where we end up.”
They will face the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs on the road before returning home to face the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets.
Of those five opponents, only the Magic have a record above .500.
“Every game matters,” Maxey added. “Every game is a playoff game at this point. Like honestly, we’re in, like, the March Madness situation. Every game is — not an elimination game — but every game is important. So for us to just go out here and make sure that we’re prepared. I know the coaching staff does a great job of that and we’re gonna go out there and try to win games and win every single game that we can down the stretch.”
If the Sixers can get everybody on the same page with Embiid, Philadelphia is going to be a serious threat to the East’s top teams. It isn’t going to matter what seed they are.
“The key to us getting together — we haven’t played with each other for a long time so that’s another part that we need to figure out quickly,” Embiid added. “I think the key for us is to get healthy.”
On the flip side, it’s rare to see a Cinderella type of run in the NBA. The Heat reached the finals as a No. 8 seed in 2023. To see that two years in a row would be unheard of.
However, with Embiid and Maxey, the Sixers can certainly do it.
“I think we have a pretty good chance,” Embiid finished. “We just need to find a way to get on the same page and I need to find a way to get back close to where I was.”
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