Six-seed still in sight for Heat; Thunder bolster playoff hopes, eliminate Jazz
Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each scored 24 points, and the Miami Heat kept alive their hopes of avoiding the NBA’s play-in tournament with a 129-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Max Strus and Bam Adebayo both added 14 points. Miami started fast, leading 41-31 after a quarter. It recorded 39 assists, tying the franchise record for most in a game originally set on Feb. 15, 1997, against Philadelphia.
The Heat (43-37) would have to win both of their remaining games (at Washington and home against Orlando) and have Brooklyn lose both home games this weekend (to Orlando and Philadelphia) to move into the No. 6 spot and avoid the Play-In round. Miami took the Southeast Division title with the win.
Philadelphia (52-27) has already secured the third spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A win Thursday night would have sealed a first-round matchup against Brooklyn. Joel Embiid scored 21 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter. James Harden chipped in 14 points in limited minutes.
In another Thursday game with major playoff implications, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points and Oklahoma City strengthened its hopes of reaching the play-in tournament with a victory over short-handed Utah.
Josh Giddey had 17 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, while Aaron Wiggins scored 15 for the Thunder, who snapped a three-game losing streak. They are 10th in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of Dallas with one game remaining.
Kris Dunn had 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Jazz, who were eliminated from postseason contention.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
