What a night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers are moving on to the second round, eliminating the Heat with a 104-91 Game 5 victory on their home court Tuesday.
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They will face the winner of the series between the No. 2 Celtics and No. 7 Bucks. The Celtics lead, 3-2. Sixers fans chanted “We Want Boston” in the fourth quarter.
• With Meek Mill and Kevin Hart sitting courtside (see story), the Sixers took over the game in the third quarter and fended off a late Heat run. The teams were tied, 46-46, at halftime before the Sixers outscored the Heat 34-20 over the next 12 minutes. The Heat wouldn’t go away, though. They went on a 10-0 run and cut the Sixers’ lead to eight with just under six minutes to play, plenty of time for more physical basketball. James Johnson was called for a technical with 5:24 to go on a rough play against Marco Belinelli.
• Joel Embiid’s first playoff home game went just about as you would have thought: a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double. Embiid had a strong 8-for-14 shooting performance after struggling to go a combined 7 for 22 in his first two games back. The Sixers will have time before the next round for Embiid to continue to get adjusted to wearing his mask.
• The Heat did not go easy on Ben Simmons. Early in the game, a running Josh Richardson took out Simmons by the legs as they intersected while Simmons drove the basket. Simmons tumbled and instantly bounced back up. In the third quarter, Goran Dragic swiped Simmons in the head and was called for a technical. Simmons shook all of it off, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
• Eagles owner Jeff Lurie, Eagles running back Corey Clement, boxer Bernard Hopkins and former Sixer Nik Stauskas were among those in attendance. The game had the crowd on its feet, just watch the video below to see.
• JJ Redick shot a perfect 10 for 10 from the line en route to a game-high 27 points. He was the only player to surpass 20 points. Kelly Olynyk led the Heat with 18 points off the bench.
• The Sixers turned around that turnover problem from Game 4. They committed 15, compared to 27 on Saturday. Their three-point struggles continued (7 for 28), but they made up for them by outscoring the Heat, 46-40, in the paint.
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• Sixers fans fittingly wrapped up the game by chanting "Trust the Process."