Heat use late rally to beat the Sixers in Miami, 119-109
Joel Embiid scored 26 points for Philadelphia, which got a 23-point, nine-assist, seven-rebound night from Tyrese Maxey.
MIAMI — Tyler Herro scored 30 points, Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds, and the Miami Heat used a 14-0 run in the final moments to rally past the 76ers 119-109 on Monday night.
Pelle Larsson added 20 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for Miami (40-36), which kept some realistic hope of getting out of the play-in tournament range — or at least getting into one of the top two spots and therefore assuring itself two chances of making the playoffs — alive with the win. The Heat are ninth in the Eastern Conference, in a virtual tie with No. 8 Orlando.
Joel Embiid scored 26 points for Philadelphia, which got a 23-point, nine-assist, seven-rebound night from Tyrese Maxey. Paul George added 19 points for the Sixers, who remained seventh in the East.
VJ Edgecombe had 13 points and five assists for the Sixers, on a night where many from the Bahamas — his homeland — made the short trip to Miami and waved flags in the arena whenever he did something right.
The Sixers (41-34) rallied from a pair of double-digit deficits. They trailed by 12 in the first quarter before taking a 61-58 lead into the half, then found themselves down by 15 with 3 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter. Miami opened the second half on a 29-11 run, looking very much like it had taken control.
But Philadelphia answered with a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to two late in the third quarter, then climbed back into a tie at 101-101 following a three-point play by Embiid with 6:04 remaining. The Sixers took a 107-103 lead on a three-pointer by Embiid with 3:22 left.
The Heat scored the next 14 points over the next 2:36.
The Sixers travel to Washington to face the Wizards on Wednesday (7 p.m., NBCSP).