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The Philadelphia 76ers qualified for the playoffs of the National Basketball Association (NBA) after defeating the Miami Heat 105:104 at home in a meeting of the play-in tournament of the League.
Philly rallied from a 12-point deficit at the break, and the team was inspired by Joel Embiid - 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Cameroon center, who also dished out 5 assists. Nikolas Batum had a strong performance off the bench - 20 points, including 6/10 from three. Tyrese Maxey scored 19 and Kelly Oubre Jr. contributed 11.
For Miami, Tyler Hiro scored 25 points, but his efforts were not enough for success. Jimmy Butler finished with 19, Jaime Jaques Jr. added 15, and Bam Adebayo and Kevin Love finished with 10 points each.
So Philly will square off with the East's second-seeded New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. The season isn't over for the Heat, as Erik Spoelstra's team will play the Chicago Bulls to determine the opponent for the conference-leading Boston Celtics. The Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks 131:116 at home.
Kobe White destroyed the Hawks with 42 points. Nikola Vucevic had a double-double - 24 points and 12 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan added 22. Ayo Dosunmu scored 19. For the Hawks, Dejounte Murray scored 30 points, Clint Capela and Trae Young scored 22 each and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 21 points, but it wasn't enough and Atlanta was sent home. /BGNES
