The NBA Play-In Matchups are now set.
The No.7 seed Philadelphia 76ers are set to face the No.8 seed Miami Heat in the 2024 NBA Play-In.
Both the Heat and the 76ers stars, Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid, have had a great history with each other. They shared the court together on the infamous Kawhi Leonard buzzer beater that sent the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Finals and the Philadelphia 76ers home.
Now they will be on opposing sides, facing up against each other with the winner getting to face the No.2 seeded New York Knicks, while the loser will play the winner of the Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks NBA Play-In match.
Can the Heat make another Cinderella run to the NBA Finals, or will the 76ers put themselves back into the Championship conversation with a statement win?
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2024 NBA Play-In: Heat vs. 76ers
Date: Wednesday, April 17th
Time: 7:00 PM
Network: ESPN
Location: Wells Fargo Center
This is a matchup that could go either way as both teams are capable of making deep postseason runs despite where they fell in the standings.
The 76ers made a strong end of the season push, winning their final eight games to close out the season.
They were at one point sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference before Joel Embiid went down with a knee injury that forced the reigning MVP to miss 30 games of the regular season.
The Heat also managed to stay afloat this season, being without Tyler Herro for most of it and Jimmy Butler missing 20 games.
Their previous matchups saw both teams split the season series 2-2. Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler have only played against each other in one of their matchups.
If any of their previous encounters can serve as an indication to how this game will go, it would be their Valentine's Day matchup where the Heat pulled out the 109-104 win and their April 14th game that saw the Sixers pull out a 109-105 win; indicating that we could be in store for a close one in Philly on Wednesday.
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2024 NBA Play-In: Matchup in the Paint
The matchup to watch is the war in the paint between Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo.
In the five games since his return, Embiid has posted 30.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 30.5 minutes per game.
Adebayo is one of the best defensive bigs in the NBA but will have his hands full in trying to slow down the Process. He did a solid job neutralizing Joel Embiid when they last met in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, but Embiid has only gotten better since that series.
Bam Adebayo will need another big night defensively if the Miami Heat have any hope of beating the Philadelphia 76ers.
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2024 NBA Play-In: Final Verdict
Both teams met in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, with the Heat taking down the 76ers in five games; and now they meet again with generally the same rosters.
The Heat are in familiar territory, having made the NBA Finals coming from the NBA Play-In last season. Still, they will likely have their hands full with a 76ers team that is peaking at the right time.
The 76ers were given home court advantage and the Heat are missing some key players such as Duncan Robinson and Josh Richardson.
Our Winner: The Philadelphia 76ers off a strong Joel Embiid performance.
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