The Philadelphia 76ers have reached the second playoff round. By a dominant third quarter the Sixers win sovereign game 5 of the series with the Miami Heat with 104:91 (BOXSCORE). Now the winner between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks awaits Philly in the Conference Semifinals.
The Sixers were the first team in the Eastern Conference to reach the second playoff round. The foundation stone was laid with an outstanding third quarter after it was completely balanced at the break (46:46). Coach Brett Brown relied on the defence in particular, Philly only allowed 20 points (7/22 FG) in the third quarter and 34 points on the other side.
There was a festive mood at Wells Fargo Center early anyway, among other things because rapper Meek Mill was in the hall just hours after he was released from prison and received a loud reception. Miami, however, were unimpressed and, as in the first four games of the series, kept up well. Especially the bench around Dwyane Wade and Kelly Olynyk made a good impression and in the meantime the guests even led 40:36.
After the change, however, the dynamics changed rapidly. Goran Dragic hit Ben Simmons on the back of the head on his drive and got a techinal for it. It was probably a wake-up call for the Sixers, who then made a 15:6 run, with Robert Covington and J.J. Redick scoring important threesomes. The lead grew to 18 points, Miami seemed beaten.
But only apparently. Wade opened the fourth quarter with a dunk, Tyler Johnson (2 threesomes) and Dragic hit their jumpers and suddenly Miami were only 8 points behind. After the 10-0 run, there was some anxiety in the hall before James Johnson made a stupid technical foul and gave Philly a little air. The Heat now torpedoed their comeback attempts even by unnecessary fouls, which helped the Sixers and their weak offense at that time (7 minutes without field goal) enormously.
Olynyk (18) added a few points to the scoreboard, but a Redick three just two minutes before the end was the dagger (100:89). The Shooting Guard was also the sixers’ best scorer with 25 points (5/10 trio). Joel Embiid hardly played much in the fourth quarter with five fouls, but had previously scored 19 points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes. Ben Simmons contributed 14 counters, 10 boards and 6 assists. At Miami the backcourt from Tyler Johnson (16) and Dragic (15) scored the most points after Olynyk, Wade scored 11 points (4/15 FG) as well as 5 rebounds and 5 assists each.
For the first time since 2012, the Sixers are back in the second round of the playoffs. There, the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks awaits. Since the 2001 finals with Allen Iverson, this was only the franchise’s third serial win (2003 against New Orleans, 2012 against Chicago).