{"id":13599,"date":"2022-05-13T09:01:15","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T09:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/not-good-enough-miami-heat-scorch-punchless-sixers-to-reach-nbas-last-four-nba\/"},"modified":"2022-05-13T09:01:15","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T09:01:15","slug":"not-good-enough-miami-heat-scorch-punchless-sixers-to-reach-nbas-last-four-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/not-good-enough-miami-heat-scorch-punchless-sixers-to-reach-nbas-last-four-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Not good enough&#8217;: Miami Heat scorch punchless Sixers to reach NBA&#8217;s last four |  NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Jimmy Butler knocked Joel Embiid out of the playoffs, then walked over to his former 76ers teammate for a hug and a message.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">\u201c&#8217;I&#8217;m proud of him.  I love him, &#8216;\u201dButler said he told Embiid.  \u201cYes, yes, yes, I still wish I was on his team of him.  I do love the Miami Heat though.  I&#8217;m glad that I&#8217;m here. &#8220;<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">With another trip to the conference finals ahead, the Heat are happy to have him.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"f7cbc7db-f3f5-4f24-8216-6370a8bbd3a0\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1mfia18\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:3,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/2022\/may\/12\/joel-embiid-nikola-jokic-nba-mvp&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;\u2018What else can I do?\u2019: Joel Embiid swerves MVP snub but remains a Philly hero&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;f7cbc7db-f3f5-4f24-8216-6370a8bbd3a0&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:2,&quot;design&quot;:0}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Butler scored 32 points and waved \u201cbye bye\u201d to the Philly crowd as he sent Miami into the Eastern Conference finals with a 99-90 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday night in Game 6.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The Heat will play the winner of the Milwaukee-Boston series.  The defending champion Bucks lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 on Friday night in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The Heat reached the conference finals for the second time in three seasons, again with Butler leading the charge.  Philly fans &#8211; and many inside the 76ers organization &#8211; still can&#8217;t believe the franchise let Butler get away after the 2019 season.  He did not mess around and scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the third quarter when the Heat used a 16-2 run to take control.  Butler scored 33 points in Game 3 and 40 in Game 4.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">\u201cI think he&#8217;s one of the ultimate competitors in this profession,\u201d coach Erik Spoelstra said.  \u201cHe was brilliant all series long.  The challenges only get tougher here.  He saw there was an opportunity to end this tonight and he wasn&#8217;t going to let this get to seven. &#8220;<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Embiid, the NBA scoring champion, scored 20 points on 7-of-24 shooting.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"d28a20d6-d0bc-4265-8aa5-576c6231af41\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.VideoYoutubeBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-10khgmf\">\n<div data-component=\"youtube-embed\" class=\"dcr-2rfr5q\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/IAXoxHF9ql0?wmode=opaque&amp;feature=oembed\" height=\"480\" width=\"854\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p><figcaption class=\"dcr-16l0srv\"><span class=\"dcr-199sz11\"><svg width=\"36\" height=\"23\" viewbox=\"0 0 36 23\"><path d=\"M3.2 0l-3.2 3.3v16.4l3.3 3.3h18.7v-23h-18.8m30.4 1l-8.6 8v5l8.6 8h2.4v-21h-2.4\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-nnoipb\">Jimmy Butler&#8217;s 32 points led the Heat in Game 6.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Coming off a 35-point victory in Game 5, the Heat wore down a battered Sixers team.  Embiid looked gassed as he gamely tried to carry the Sixers.  He had little lift and had a pull-up jumper blocked by Bam Adebayo in the third.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The Sixers parted with Butler in large part because they chose Ben Simmons over him.  Simmons was unhappy and forced a trade this season to Brooklyn for James Harden.  Harden, a three-time scoring champion, was supposed to shoulder the load with Embiid for a potent postseason push.  Harden instead all but disappeared in the playoffs.  He had a fantastic Game 4 at home against Miami but otherwise was a turnover machine.  When he lost another ball that led to a Heat bucket and an 80-63 lead in the fourth, the Sixers were booed off the court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">\u201cWe tried to go for it right away,\u201d Harden said.  &#8220;We just came up a little short.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Harden scored all of his 11 points in the first half.  He had four turnovers and four baskets.  Harden, who has a $ 47.4 million player option for 2022-23, missed both shots in the second half and scored his last basket at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Few in Philly would give The Beard a passing grade.  Harden said he would return next season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Coach Doc Rivers implored his team to &#8220;fight for this!&#8221;  in the huddle during the fourth.  The 76ers just fell flat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">\u201cI came to the conclusion at the end of this game that we were not good enough to beat Miami,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Rivers is signed through the 2024-25 season and another early exit &#8211; the 76ers were the No 1 seed last year and lost in the second round &#8211; and his job status is a hot topic of conversation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t worry about my job.  I think I do a terrific job.  If you don&#8217;t, then you should write it, \u201dRivers said.  \u201cBecause I worked my butt off to get this team here.  When I first got here, no one picked us to be anywhere.  Again this year, the same thing.  If that&#8217;s how anyone feels, write it.  I&#8217;m going to feel secure about it. &#8220;<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Max Strus had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat.  Even another abysmal night from three-point range &#8211; Miami missed 21 of 28 attempts &#8211; failed to matter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Embiid again gutted out a postseason game in his mask (right orbital fracture) and with torn ligaments in his right thumb after he was only cleared to return last week from a concussion.  He held the back of his head after he knocked it on the court after a fall late in the second quarter.  Embiid still played 22 minutes in the first half and scored 14 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Embiid missed the first two games of the series as he recovered from the concussion.  The Sixers lost both games in Miami.  Would a healthy Embiid have made a difference?  Maybe not but it&#8217;s still another sudden end to the All-Star cornerstone who has yet to taste a conference final.<\/p>\n<h2>Phoenix Suns 86-113 Dallas Mavericks<\/h2>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Luka Doncic scored 33 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 113-86 on Thursday night to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The home team has won all six games, none with a final margin closer than seven points.  The deciding game is Sunday in Phoenix.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The Mavericks won when facing elimination for the first time in three tries with Doncic, their three-time All-Star.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The two losses came against the Clippers the past two seasons, including Game 7 in Los Angeles last year after the visitors won the first six games, a first in the playoffs.  Dallas is playing beyond the first round for the first time since winning the title 11 years ago.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"25363f2e-0819-48df-a0b8-3e2e8636322b\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-10khgmf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1b267dg\"><picture itemprop=\"contentUrl\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=82d97bfff7b645176b8858bdcddc163e 1240w\" media=\"(min-width: 980px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 980px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=afa7c011fc7979d3f41b9f8e3fd6a134 620w\" media=\"(min-width: 980px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=82d97bfff7b645176b8858bdcddc163e 1240w\" media=\"(min-width: 740px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 740px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=afa7c011fc7979d3f41b9f8e3fd6a134 620w\" media=\"(min-width: 740px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=82d97bfff7b645176b8858bdcddc163e 1240w\" media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=afa7c011fc7979d3f41b9f8e3fd6a134 620w\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=00a18012abff53e253ba6370f6d1dfe1 1210w\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=a2a7e7baa46f7d714c981afb64501815 605w\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=5dbb0ecf3188b99efe5a313348044932 890w\" media=\"(min-width: 375px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 375px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=fa658e7861ba7f1c5d4e7adae340a636 445w\" media=\"(min-width: 375px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=5dbb0ecf3188b99efe5a313348044932 890w\" media=\"(min-width: 320px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 320px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=fa658e7861ba7f1c5d4e7adae340a636 445w\" media=\"(min-width: 320px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=5dbb0ecf3188b99efe5a313348044932 890w\" media=\"(min-width: 0px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 0px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1df52bd33f625272182217414ad0fce8a11b005f\/0_0_3000_2001\/master\/3000.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=fa658e7861ba7f1c5d4e7adae340a636 445w\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"dcr-5yynor\"><span class=\"dcr-1usbar2\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-nnoipb\">Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks reacts beside Torrey Craig of the Phoenix Suns during the fourth quarter of Thursday&#8217;s game.<\/span> Photograph: Ron Jenkins \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The Suns, seeking a second consecutive trip to the West finals, are going the distance in a series for the first time in two postseasons with Chris Paul and Devin Booker.  The previous three went six, including Phoenix&#8217;s loss to Milwaukee last year in the NBA finals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">Booker scored 19 points but was shut out from 3-point range (0 of 4) while going 6 of 17. Deandre Ayton had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Paul added 13 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1u6kyh0\">The top-seeded Suns were held to a season low in scoring, regular season or playoffs, for the second time in the series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy Butler knocked Joel Embiid out of the playoffs, then walked over to his former 76ers teammate for a hug and a message. \u201c&#8217;I&#8217;m proud of him. I love him, &#8216;\u201dButler said he told Embiid. \u201cYes, yes, yes, I still wish I was on his team of him. I do love the Miami Heat though. &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/not-good-enough-miami-heat-scorch-punchless-sixers-to-reach-nbas-last-four-nba\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8216;Not good enough&#8217;: Miami Heat scorch punchless Sixers to reach NBA&#8217;s last four |  NBA<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/cb3f9a355150f39cd1c99071c8e94d6b9d847132\/0_152_3094_1857\/master\/3094.jpg?ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/cb3f9a355150f39cd1c99071c8e94d6b9d847132\/0_152_3094_1857\/master\/3094.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom,left&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=e0fd3c29af2c4ee5187386e84433cee8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}