Complete Sixers-Heat series schedule, plus more to know about the Round 2 matchup originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The top-seeded Miami Heat stands between the Sixers and the team’s first conference finals appearance in 21 seasons.
In their third attempt, the Sixers sealed a berth in the second round on Thursday night with a 35-point Game 6 win over the Raptors.
Their series against the Heat will begin Monday night in Miami. Below is the schedule for the best-of-seven series. Kick-off times will be determined beyond Game 3, as will television coverage for Game 4 and for Game 7 (if necessary).
- Game 1: Monday 5/2 at 7:30 pm in Miami (TNT)
- Game 2: Wednesday 4/5 at 7:30 pm in Miami (TNT)
- Game 3: Friday, 5/6 at 7 pm in Philly (ESPN)
- Game 4: Sunday, 8/5 in Philadelphia
- Game 5: Tuesday, 10/5 in Miami (TNT)
- Game 6: Thursday, 12/5 in Philadelphia (ESPN)
- Game 7: Sunday, 5/15 in Miami
The last Sixers-Heat playoff matchup came in 2018. Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons posted impressive averages in his first career postseason series (18.2 points on a 50 percent mark from the field, 71.4 percent from the free throw line, 10.6 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 2.4 steals), and the Sixers managed Miami in five games.
Simmons was a prominent part of this season for the Sixers despite not playing games. After a long and winding saga, the Sixers traded the 25-year-old to the Nets along with Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and draft picks in exchange for James Harden and Paul Millsap.
The former teammate’s angle is most clearly compelling in this series with Jimmy Butler, a Sixer for 55 regular-season games in the 2018-19 season before departing via a sign-and-trade that brought Josh Richardson to Philadelphia. Butler, who is still close with Joel Embiid, missed Miami’s series-sealing Game 5 victory over the Hawks with inflammation in his right knee. Philadelphia native and Villanova product Kyle Lowry sat out Games 4 and 5 with a left hamstring strain.
Harden’s second straight playoff meeting with PJ Tucker, 36, is also intriguing. Tucker was Kevin Durant’s main defender last postseason as the Bucks blew out Brooklyn on their way to the championship. He is notoriously tough and has a deep understanding of Harden’s game.
The Sixers and Heat split their four regular-season games, though none of those games resembled what this series will be. Harden played in 21 of the Sixers’ 24 games after his Feb. 25 debut, but was ruled out of two March matchups against Miami with a “left hamstring injury management” designation. Both games were on the second night in a row. Embiid (back pain) was also out as the Sixers pulled off a unlikely victory due to lack of personnel on March 21.
Bam Adebayo, a sure thing to make his third straight All-Defensive team at age 24, sat out for the two games leading up to Harden Sixers-Heat after undergoing surgery in December to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. Embiid is now center with a torn thumb ligament, but he plans to play through the injury for the remainder of the playoffs. Although Embiid can expect to see plenty of double teams and the Heat’s zone defense has worried the Sixers at times, the Embiid vs. Adebayo seems to be key.
The Heat won an East-best 29 home games this season and went 3-0 at FTX Arena in the first round against Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Sixers had a conference-leading 27-14 record on the road and just pulled off a convincing final victory in Toronto.
Reference-www.nbcphiladelphia.com