In push for playoff positioning, Heat host injury-riddled 76ers
The Heat (35-43) dropped a 121-115 overtime decision at home on Saturday to Milwaukee in a game with postseason implications. Miami is locked into the play-in round, with only positioning between the East's seven through 10 seeds left to determine.
The 10th-place Heat are three games behind the No. 7 Orlando Magic, who have the most favorable play-in spot ahead of the regular season's closing stretch. Atlanta is 1 1/2 games up on Miami for eighth place, with the Hawks in action on Sunday vs. Utah. In ninth, Chicago holds a one-game lead over the Heat following Sunday's win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Miami's consecutive losses to Memphis and Milwaukee -- two opponents who have clinched playoff spots -- come on the heels of a six-game winning streak.
"Bro, we've been on a 10-game losing streak," Bam Adebayo said of Miami's back-to-back defeats. "Two is not that bad. We all hate losing. Monday, everybody will come in with the same mentality, try to get a win."
Philadelphia (23-55), long ago eliminated from postseason contention, takes a season-worst 11-game losing streak into Monday's contest. The 76ers dropped a 114-109 nailbiter to Minnesota at home on Saturday to continue their slide.
Quentin Grimes hit four 3-pointers in the final 3:26, helping the Sixers pull within one possession of the Timberwolves twice down the stretch, but Philadelphia had no answer for Anthony Edwards.
With his 28 points in the loss, Grimes has scored at least 22 points in 12 of 13 appearances dating back to March 9.
The one exception came in Philadelphia's last meeting with Miami, a 118-95 Heat win in Philadelphia. Miami held Grimes to 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor.
Tyler Herro paced the Heat in that matchup with 30 points and 5-of-9 3-point shooting. Miami's leading scorer this season (23.9 points per game), Herro missed Saturday's contest with a thigh injury amid a streak of 20-plus points in his previous seven outings.
"We have a very deep team and everybody can step up when they need to," said Miami's Alec Burks, who scored 24 points on Saturday. "Just stay ready. Be a professional, stay ready. I learned it over my career.
"You never know what's going to happen game to game."
Roster flux has been the story for Philadelphia throughout the 2024-25 season, with stars Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George all currently sidelined for the remainder of an injury-plagued campaign.
The holes in the Sixers' lineup have created opportunities for other players to step up. Grimes has been one such Sixer, and Guerschon Yabusele has been another in recent weeks.
"What he's doing now" would be a strong end to the season, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said of Yabusele. "He's playing hard. He's got the right kind of attitude."
The journeyman forward has scored 19, 22 and 21 points in three of Philadelphia's last four contests. After spending the previous four seasons with Spanish club Real Madrid, Yabusele returned to the NBA this year with the Sixers and has averaged 11 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 70 games played.
--Field Level Media
Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
6 minutes ago
- New York Times
Submit your question for Pete Sampson's Notre Dame football mailbag
With less than two weeks until the Fighting Irish kick off against Miami, Notre Dame is working to settle its final few depth chart and gameplan questions before another College Football Playoff push. What questions do you still have as Week 1 approaches? Submit them below, and Notre Dame writer Pete Sampson will answer the best ones in the next Fighting Irish mailbag.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
More than 20,000 visited city pools this summer
Aug. 17—WATERTOWN — Cheri Martin says this was not the summer to be without a pool in her backyard. So she's been taking her 10-year-old granddaughter, Makenna, to the city's two pools "as much as possible" this summer to beat the oppressive heat that has reached 90 degrees over the past month or so. "Go figure, it's the hottest summer," she said. "I usually have a pool in my yard." They've been going to the city's pools at Thompson Park and at the North Elementary School about four times a week. "She loves it," the 55-year-old grandmother said. "She gets to play with other kids at the pools." With so many hot days, the city's two pools have been making a big splash this summer. As of this past Tuesday, 20,139 people have taken dips since the city summer pool season began, with 14,998 going to Thompson Park and 5,141 at the William J. Flynn pool on the city's north side. That compares to over 1,000 fewer people — 18,373 for the same time period last year, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Mark D. Weller said on Thursday. Attendance has already exceeded last year's total of 19,024 people in what was an unusually rainy summer. A rainy May caused this season to start off slow, but the sunny, hot summer weather has brought in the crowds ever since, Weller said. "It's really been busy," Weller said, "so that's good." Now in mid-August, some of the pool lifeguards will start heading back to college this week and fall high school sports teams are starting practices, so the plan is to keep both pools open for as long as possible. In past years, parks and rec has been able to keep the Thompson Park pool open until the Labor Day weekend. That's the plan again, Weller said. So why is the Thompson Park so much more popular than the new $4.1 million Flynn pool that opened last year? The pool attracts people who are in the park, at Zoo New York, enjoying the playground and even golfing at the Thompson Park Golf Course, Weller said. On Friday afternoon, small groups of children and their parents swam in both the shallow and deep ends of the pool, while others sunbathed on towels on the nearby grass. Marie Bates sat on a park bench while her son and two grandchild enjoyed the pool. She and her husband recently moved to the north country from Waterloo, Seneca County, for a job at Forth Drum. Her son went online to find something they could do on an afternoon that the temperature hit 86 degrees. It was the first time they swam at the park pool. "It's a nice pool," she said. Lilia Arellano and her kids, Halen, 8, and Levi, 11, had just arrived at the park and were putting on their life jackets before getting into the water. The weather was hotter when they were there last week, the young mother said. "We're making the best of it before school starts in a month," she said. Over at the Flynn pool, Patricia Maracle drove down from Cape Vincent to be with her grandchildren — Kiley, 9, and Carter, 11, who love in Watertown — for the sixth visit to the pools this year. They were among about 10 people in the pool on Friday. "It's kind of quiet, but they come in waves," Maracle said, adding it can get busy quickly. This spring, the City Council decided to charge non-city residents $3 to use the pools. For the most part, it hasn't caused any issues for people to get into the Flynn pool, lifeguard Bennett Pistner said. Sometimes, lifeguards have had to go on Google to prove someone lives in the city, he said. Council members budgeted $441,360 to operate the two pools this summer. About 45 lifeguards have summertime jobs through the program this year. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler undergoes procedure to remove blood clot
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler underwent a successful thrombolysis procedure to remove a blood clot in his right upper extremity, the club announced Monday. Wheeler's course of treatment and a potential timeline to return are to be determined. Could he pitch again this season? Advertisement 'We don't know until we get further information,' Phillies manager Rob Thomson said on Monday. The Phillies ace first felt heaviness near his shoulder after his start against the Washington Nationals on Friday. He was evaluated Saturday morning, when the blood clot near his right shoulder was found. The Phillies placed Wheeler on the 15-day injured list following Saturday's game in Washington D.C., and he returned to Philadelphia the next day with plans to undergo further evaluation at the start of the week. The procedure took place Monday morning at Thomson Jefferson University Hospital. Wheeler, 35, had dealt with shoulder stiffness two weeks ago that postponed his start against the Texas Rangers, but Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit said Saturday that he believes the shoulder stiffness was unrelated to the blood clot. Cristopher Sánchez and Wheeler have been the Phillies' two most reliable starters this season. Wheeler is 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 24 starts this season. Should Wheeler be sidelined for the remainder of the 2025 season, there are questions about who would potentially fill two of the three starting pitcher slots for the Phillies in a playoff series. The rest of the rotation will have to step up in his absence. Those concerns are not foremost on the minds of Thomson and the rest of the Phillies at the moment. 'I mean, a lot of people are asking about the pitching staff and the team,' Thomson said. 'Right now, my thoughts are just about him. This isn't like a hamstring or a calf. This is real. This is life. My thoughts are constantly on him and his family.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
