MIAMI–The Eastern Conference race in the NBA is heating up, no pun intended, as teams like the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers are battling with each other for the top seed in the East and home-court advantage in the playoffs.
When it comes to the East, everybody is talking about the Sixers as they added James Harden to Joel Embiid. The talk is centered on that pairing as well as the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, the star-studded, yet maddening, Brooklyn Nets, and the red-hot Boston Celtics.
However, nobody is talking about the Heat. A team led by Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and others, they are the ones sitting atop the East and right now and after knocking off the Sixers on Saturday, Embiid gave his respect to Miami.
“They’ll be great,” Embiid said of the Heat. “They’ve been doing it all season while missing a couple guys too. That’s what they do. Obviously, tonight (Saturday) they played us very tough. Last time we were here, we won the game. They’re a really good team. Tough defensively and then offensively, if they’re going to make shots like they did, its going to be hard to beat them.”
The Heat did just make the NBA finals in 2020 and while they might not have the star power as other teams in the East, the Sixers have to be ready for a battle if they were to be matched up with Miami at any point in the offseason.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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