The 76ers needed all the improbable tricks they could summon to even have a chance at winning their first NBA play-in game in team history.
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Nicolas Batum hit game-shifting three-pointers. Buddy Hield was in the mix.
But in crunch time the game came down to Joel Embiid.
With the NBA MVP on the court, the 76ers proved they have a shot at a long post-season run.
Embiid had 23 points, 15 rebounds and one huge assist to Kelly Oubre Jr on a go-ahead three-point play that led the 76ers to a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST).
"Lots of booing," Embiid said, smiling. "We stuck together. It just shows you that I don't play my best, I don't get to my spots the whole game until the fourth quarter, and we still find a way to win."
The 76ers earned the No. 7 seed and advanced to play the second-seeded New York Knicks in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Game 1 is on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Embiid exploded out of a quiet game late in the fourth and carried the Sixers back from 14 down in the second half. Embiid, who missed 43 games this season and finished out on a surgically repaired left knee, was a non-factor as Batum (20 points) and Hield sparked the 76ers in the second half.
"We won the game because of them," Embiid said. "Those guys stepped up and we won the game."
But when the Sixers needed big buckets, who else was there but their big man?
Embiid buried a go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the arc with 2:33 left in the game for a 93-91 lead that sent a crowd into a frenzy. After the Sixers blew that lead, Embiid again was clutch with a three-point play for a 96-94 lead.
With the game tied 96-96, Miami's Tyler Herro was whistled for a back-court violation. Embiid slipped the ball to Oubre under the basket for the bucket, the free throw and a 99-96 lead they would not give up.
Herro - who hit a three in the final second before the 76ers lost the ball out of bounds - finished with 25 points. Jimmy Butler, perhaps slowed by a first-half knee injury, had 19. Butler will need an MRI on his right knee.
In Chicago, Coby White scored a career-high 42 points as the Bulls advanced in the play-in tournament, knocking out the Atlanta Hawks with a 131-116 victory.
White, whose previous high was 37, went hard at the rim throughout the game and had the home fans chanting his name down the stretch as the Bulls rolled past the Hawks.
Chicago visit Miami on Friday for a shot at the No.8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and a first-round match-up with Boston.
Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago.
Dejounte Murray led Atlanta with 30 points, but the Hawks came up short again after dropping their final six regular-season games.
Australian Associated Press
