Matchup Preview🏀
Wednesday, April 17th the Miami Heat will travel too Wells Fargo center too take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:10 est. The winner of this game will be the 7th seed in the east going into the playoffs, which will be a matchup in the first round against the New York Knicks. The loser will have one more opportunity too reach the playoffs as they will play the winner of the 9th/10th seed on Friday, April 19th.
This is a NBA fan favorite time of the year, and too start it off in this newly showcased tournament we have playoff Jimmy going up against the favorite too win MIP Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.
Tyrese is averaging 26ppg and 6 assist per game too go along with it.
Joel missed a big 43 games this season dealing with a injury but still averaged 34ppg and 11 rebounds.
Jimmy butler in the regular season averaged just over 20ppg and 5 assist too go along.
The season series ended in tie between these two teams at 2-2.
Betting Odds🎲
76ers(-210) VS HEAT(+176)
Total is sitting at 208 o/u
With the spread at 5 the books are giving the 76ers too win this game by at least two possessions. (odds via Fanduel)
Injury report🤕
Miami-Terry Rozier (neck) is out
Duncan Robinson (back) is probable
76ers-KJ Martin (toe) is questionable
De'Anthony Melton (back) is out
Joel Embiid (knee) is day to day
(Pic - NBA.com
-The 76ers Team Preview -
Projected Lineup: Tyrese Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre, Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid
The 76ers have had a very tough regular season as the injury bug is the problem with this ball club. They are ending the season on a much need 8 game win streak with their last 3 wins including matchups vs the Nets, Magic, and Pistons. A big positive from this season was the improved performance of Point guard Tyrese Maxey, he may have put his name on a Most improved award with his gigantic leap of a season. Even with this much improved point guard, the Philadelphia 76ers are not a team that can make a run deep into the playoffs without a healthy Joel Embiid. They will need him and his 34.7 ppg too lead them into this post season. With this lineup I really see them needing help defensively lacking Melton on the court. Keep an eye out for Nicolas Batum too come off the bench and get in this rotation being such a great defender.
(Pic Nba.com)
-Miami Heat Team Preview-
Projected Lineup: Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic, Bam Adebayo
Again back too back years the Heat have found their way into this Play-in tournament. The finished the season at the 8th seed and winning seven of their last 10 games. Will we get another masterclass from Playoff jimmy this year or is that a thing of the past. The heat will need a defensive game plan which is in fact one of their strengths as they finished the season 5th in defensive rating. Coach spoelstra will have his hands full with Embiid but we all know him as one of the Hall of Fame coaches who can win games when the odds were stacked against him.
I side with the city of Brotherly love in this matchup, I see their stars just being better than some of the dogs on the Heat. There is no value taking the 76ers on the ML but I also believe they can win by more than 5 points. The winner of this game gets a matchup vs the Knicks. In my honest opinion the Knicks are worse than the Celtics so why wouldn't Embiid get up give it his all tonight so he can get some rest before the first round this weekend against a Knicks team missing Julius Randle. The heat are more comfortable against the Celtics as we know they have playoff history so maybe they don't play their starters if they are down in the fourth quarter. Just my thoughts and reasoning's on why I believe Philly will win this game.
I hope something from this article gave you some insight or facts about this exciting matchup on Wednesday night. Be sure too check back for more content!
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