Happy Friday everyone! Another week down, and another big weekend of sports ahead of us.
Let's get right to it.
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Good morning to everyone but especially to...
USATSITHE MIAMI HEAT...
The Miami Heat are through to the Eastern Conference Finals, and they're doing it their way. Miami outplayed, out-hustled and simply imposed their will on the 76ers en route to a 99-90 Game 6 win.
Jimmy Butler, far and away the best player all series, scored 32 points.Four other Miami players scored double digits, led by Max Strus' 20.Miami led by as much as 20 in the fourth quarter.The Heat, quite simply, are everything the 76ers are not. They're deep, they're composed, and they give terrific effort all the time. And Butler showed he's a star who can carry his team, notes NBA expert Colin Ward-Henninger.
Ward-Henninger: "There are few players who raise the level of their game from the regular season to the playoffs more than Jimmy Butler. ... Say what you will about Butler's status in the superstar hierarchy during the regular season, but he's proven time and time again that he belongs on a very short list of players who can legitimately be the best player on a championship team. The guy is just a winner."... AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING TO THE DALLAS MAVERICKS
Back to Phoenix we go. The Mavericks staved off elimination with an 113-86 blowout win to force a Game 7 Sunday.
Luka Doncic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.The Mavericks knocked down 16 threes compared to six for the Suns.The Mavericks forced 22 turnovers, including 13 combined from Devin Booker (eight) and Chris Paul (five).Neither team has won on the road this series, but with Doncic anything is possible for the Mavericks to break that trend, writes our NBA expert Sam Quinn.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for...
THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
We shouldn't be surprised. When the 76ers completely no-showed on Tuesday in a crucial Game 5, we should have known they simply didn't have it (define "it" however you want). Last night's loss only confirmed what we should have already known.
Joel Embiid battled through too many injuries to count and was never close to 100 percent. He scored 20 points on just 7-for-24 shooting.James Harden, meanwhile, was nearly invisible: 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He took two shots in the second half and missed them both.Playing with their season on the line, the 76ers were beaten on several hustle stats, like rebounds, offensive rebounds and fast break points. The quintessential play of the game came with just over five minutes left and Miami up 17 points. Butler missed a jumper, got his own offensive rebound while the 76ers just watched, stared down Harden, then made a 3-pointer over him. On the way back down the court, Butler, eyes wide, simply said "Wow!" Wow indeed, Jimmy.
We should have expected better from Philadelphia. But, really, we should have known not to expect better. Philadelphia has major questions to answer this offseason, starting with Harden, who had yet another poor postseason and is up for an extension. Sam's breakdown of the Harden conundrum is excellent.
Quinn: "Maybe Harden gets healthy this offseason. Maybe he changes his diet and his nightlife habits. If he does these things, we might be celebrating the 2022-23 Philadelphia 76ers as NBA champions and Harden as one of the league's highest-paid superstars for years to come. But as things stand right now? The Sixers are about as far away from that trophy as Harden is from that last payday."Ultimately, the 76ers made moves during the regular season that indicated they wanted to make some serious noise this postseason. They went out with hardly a whimper.
