76ers Playoff Watch: Miami Heat Headed to Eastern Conference Finals

The Miami Heat punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 2023 Eastern Conference Finals are halfway set. Heading into Friday night’s slate of NBA games, just four teams remained in the East, as the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks continued to battle it out, along with the matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics.

On Thursday night, the Sixers had an opportunity to become the first team to advance to the next round, putting an end to the Celtics’ season. With a 3-2 lead coming off of two-straight victories, a third would’ve booked the Sixers' ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in years.

Unfortunately for Philly, they dropped the ball at home. By coming up short with a 95-86 loss to the Celtics, Boston tied the series up 3-3 and forced a Game 7. The Sixers and the Celtics will battle it out on Sunday afternoon in a do-or-die matchup for both teams.

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat will get some time off. As they entered Game 6 on Friday night with a 3-2 lead over the New York Knicks, they just needed one more victory to put their opponent away.

The two teams engaged in a tight first half of action. Heat center Bam Adebayo led the way in scoring for Miami with 17 points while Jalen Brunson put up 22 points for the Knicks. The Heat possessed a one-point lead heading into halftime.

Miami and New York didn’t break the trend of a tight game in the second half. As they both shot 37 percent from the field overall in the third quarter, the Heat found just a slight edge by knocking down one more three-pointer going into the fourth quarter.

In a rather low-scoring quarter, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat managed to take care of business in crunch time. By holding the Knicks to under 30 percent from the field, New York scored just 21 points in the final 12 minutes. Meanwhile, the Heat managed to score 22, finishing the game up with a 96-92 win.

Miami spoiled Jalen Brunson’s big night as he collected 41 points in 45 minutes of action. On Miami’s side, Jimmy Butler led the way with 24 points while Bam Adebayo was right behind him with 23. 

With that victory, the Heat are Eastern Conference Finals bound for the second-straight season. They’ll now sit back and wait to watch the Sixers and the Celtics battle it out on Sunday.