CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers will play host to the Miami Heat on Wednesday in the 7 vs. 8 play-in tournament game to determine who will be the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.
This is the second straight season the Heat are in the play-in tournament. They emerged from it as the No. 8 seed in 2023 and made an improbable run to the NBA Finals. Therefore, Miami deserves respect from everybody around the league. Led by a unique star in Jimmy Butler, the Heat will certainly be no easy out for the Sixers on Wednesday.
Kelly Oubre Jr., who will be matched up with Butler at times, is not giving away any keys or secrets to the media in terms of defending him or the Heat.
“I’m not giving that team no secrets,” Oubre said when asked of the keys against Butler. “He’s smart. He watches this type of stuff and he gets fueled by anything. But he’s a great basketball player. I look forward to going against all the great basketball players in this league and adding my name up there.”
The Heat are famously known for their culture. Butler lives and breathes it. Essentially, it means Miami will work harder than everybody else, and, despite any so-called talent gap, the team will just find a way to rise to the challenge and get the job done.
Once again, though, Oubre isn’t giving any thought to that. He is focused on the Sixers.
“I don’t think about them, so I can’t answer that,” Oubre said. “That’s their stuff. They have a really great fan base. They always put hard-working teams together. Pat Riley, he created that culture over there, and it’s been working for them. But I don’t think about them at all.”
The Sixers and the Heat will match up at 7 p.m. EDT on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
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