Bitcoin Forum

Let's discuss this great series.

Miami Heat is the favorite to win the series, and there are the betting odds.

Miami Heat -  1.52
Philadelphia 76ers - 2.55

---

No injury for the major stars of both teams was reported, so it's a battle of healthy teams.

Who's gonna win the series, and why?

It's a good series, looks like an ECF for me but I would go with the Sixers here.

Not because they have good odds but because I believe Embiid is still unstoppable and Harden has the experience to win in the playoffs.
Durant and Irving already rested early, it's Harden's time to prove that he is better than the two.

So far, there's no underdog that have won in the 1st round, so let's see if there's an underdog that will win in the secord round.

They have even the 4 games this season so far, so this team really are competitive with each other.
However, let us consider the factor that Harden just recently traded to the Sixers, and I think Harden has not played a single game against the Heat in the regular season as a Sixer.

Same here, the Sixers big man have an undeniable talent that could really compete against any man on the Heat especially their center, Bam Adebayo and not to mention that there's a Harden on his side who's also a veteran in the playoffs. Miami Heat may own 1 game or two but that's it, sorry but I'm thinking that they will get eliminated this round.

I will go with the Heat on this series. One question though, are the Heat healthy? I thought that Lowry is injured?

Anyhow, even if Lowry is injured or not, I will still bet on the Heat, in terms of experience, they already have it, the core of 2020 against the Lakers is still intact, plus they have a deeper bench than the Heat. As for the Sixers, they were extended by the Raptors and almost on the brink of elimination if they have lost the last game. So they are not built mentally, they have Joel Embid, but if you look at the series against the Raptors, if Joel is sitting and taking a rest, the team doesn't have a offense, and James Harden is inconsistent. As compare to the Heat wherein they have options like Bulter, Bam or even Herro and Robinson to shoot from outside.

You have a point there mate, the Heat has a deeper bench than the Sixers and the inconsistency of James Harden almost cost them the series against the Raptors, they are having a hard time producing points when Joel is on the bench, so I think the Heat have an edge on this series unless a major injury would happen to Heat stars.

The Heat has the better roster from starters to bench. They have already proven in the regular season they can win against any team while their key players are out.

They main key for them is stopping or limiting Embiid from scoring and I think Adebayo is up for the task.

So what about Harden? I don't know about you but I believe Buttler is as good as him in offense but Jimmy is better at hustling and playing defense.

Heat in 6 or 7.

Joel Embiid has a thumb injury but he can manage to play well. Even if it is, it doesn't mean he is fully healthy. He is just doing his best even if he has that injury as no choice but to give it all in every game.

Now on who's the team I will choose, I will go to Philadelphia Sixers even the players of the Miami Heat is most deep.

The reason? Joel Embiid already has a heart-to-heart talk with James Harden discussing that he needs to wake up and goes back to his playoffs form. I hope that would awake the real James Harden who is a good performer in playoffs.

This is indeed a tough series to follow. Heat and 76ers have good composition even their previous matches this year were tied 1-1. But I think this is a Heat win. I don't really see huge impact of Harden being on the team as the Heat have Adebayo and Butler on their roster (which are great players that can be compared to harden). I just hope that the Heats gameplay in their future matches would be great as well and not choke midgame. 76ers, on the other hand, still has the capability to win this if they manage to just outplay the heat.

I think the Miami Heat matchup pretty well against the 76ers.  You could make the argument that the 76ers have more talent and star power, but the Heat are dogs.  Bam is one of the strongest guys in the league and he is going to make Joel Embiid miserable the entire series.  You can bet there will be plenty of bruising going on down low.  Jimmy Butler has also been playing great and is always a matchup nightmare.  Harden has been playing better suddenly, so it won't be easy for any team.  I'd like to say the Sixers have this, as I do believe they are the more talented team, but I don't like the matchup with Miami, so I think they're going to have problems.  We'll see what happens soon enough.

I personally think that the odds on Philadelphia are incredible.

They are a great team despite what people say about them, Harden and Embiid are both incredible performers (especially the former who is shining as a star right now).

The Heat have had their own problems this season and a lot of it comes down to a lack of team chemistry, especially since Oladipo is so new to the squad. Not saying that they won't win, but i think their odds of winning the series are seriously overestimated.

In terms of impact, we can't compare Sixers' James Harden to Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler because they each have different roles on the team. James Harden is the playmaker of the Sixers while on the other hand, Bam Adebayo is a paint specialist in the shaded area while Jimmy Butler's task is to find a good spot around the perimeter and 3-point area so his teammates, especially their point guard, can setup up a play for him. This is the first time I saw someone comparing the greatness of James Harden to Adebayo or Butler which should not be a question as they all are greats in their respective roles.

I'm not sure why you consider James Harden doesn't have any impact on the Philadelphia Sixers where in fact, he's only the one that fits to become a lethal point guard on that team. In Game 6, he established 15 assists knowing he's a ball hog and likes to play isolation.

Breaking news:


I just found this on my social media feed but I do think that there is some truth to it and this could have a big impact on this series because, without Embiid, point production of the Sixers is scarce, I mean they will miss the almost 30 points a game that Joel could give them.

I just saw that report as well. What a horrible break for the Sixers. Embiid has had his injury problems in the past but this one was a freak accident that happened to him. A shame if the Sixers miss out on their best chance to win a championship since Iverson because of this. I hope by some miracle he’s able to come back, but I read that he’s out for the foreseeable future, which doesn’t sound too promising. What a horrible thing to have happen to him while he’s an MVP candidate and playing the best basketball of his career with the best team he’s had.

It's going to be a tough series, but I think I'd go with the Heat, looking at how they played in the series vs Atlanta Hawks, they were very effective in defense
and were able to keep Young at a low.. and I think the Miami Heat have a deeper complete roster, and with Joel Embiid not at 100% I strongly doubt the 76ers
will win this series.

Heat in 5, I'd say.

This series is not interesting anymore, of course with the news Heat has a very huge chance of winning. I didn't expect this as I was thinking that the Sixers would be able to give the Heat a good series, but this happened... :(

That was breaking news, I don't like it as well, I thought he is okay because he was leading when the 76ers dominate the Raptors in a close-out game. He scored 33 points and grab 10 rebounds, played big minutes, doesn't seemed he had some problem at all.

The current odds for the Heat now to win the series is 1.20.. IMO, still worth to take it, that is 20% of your money for an easy win by Heat.

The current odds for Miami are 1.25 on Sportsbet, Stake and Rollbit. You could get 1.27 if you use the odds boost feature on Sportsbet.

And I agree this is pretty much a likely win for Miami as I don't know how the Sixers would be able to deal with Butler and the gang. Even if Harden pops off it's probably not enough since they'll need another key player to step up and compensate for Embiid. While on the side of Miami they're pretty much good to go we saw that last game against the Hawks where Butler and Lowry weren't playing and they still took them down.

Harden will struggle against a team that plays hard defense and the Heat are good at that. Game 1 is probably easy to pick, go with the Heat and take the ML, or maybe buy some points not to get the total point spread if you don't feel too confident with -8. It's suppose to be a good series, but no Embiid is a huge blow for the team, I'm not even sure if they could win 1 game.

Yes, maybe Harden can do his one on one, but the Heat will not allow him to just take over the game just like a prime Harden did when he was with the Rockets.

And now that Joel is sideline in this playoffs. Heat will take advantage driving and penetrating inside with no one to take care of the middle.

for me probably the winner would be the heat on the second round because their players is very aggressive compared to 76rs line up,  imagine heat 4-1  and 76rs 3-2 on the previous fight, for me its very obvious which team has good performance and big improvement on this season.  And surely there's a win streak again for the Heat before 76rs can get win.

I can say that it can be a balance series if only Embiid didn't get that injury from their last road game against Toronto, the match
up will be more exciting knowing that both squad have stars who can perform and dominate, but Embiid-less Sixers might have
difficulties competing with complete Miami. Though there's should be no excuse since they still have players who can step up and
try to cover what Embiid left, a team effort is more likely needed by the Sixers to avoid getting sweep by Miami.

Joel Embiid is expected to be out until May 4 at least. So this means that he is going to be missing the first game of the series. This might cause bigger difficulties for the team but they will still have Harden. And their performance as a team has been very impressive so far. Even though I think that Heat are going to be winning the first game, 76ers would still manage to hold onto the game until the last moments. We wouldn't see a win by a huge gap I think. Embiid - Harden duo has been really amazing by the way and they would continue from where they left after Embiid recovers.

Game 1 odds.

Heat is -7.5.

Do you think the Heat will dominate the 76ers now that Embiid is not available to play?
I think the public is putting their money on the -7.5 because it's possible that heat will dominate the game, or is it a trap?

I do. I had figured this to be a really good series but as soon as I got the breaking news alert popping up on my phone that Joel Embiid was out indefinitely, I knew there was little chance that James Harden could do much in this series by himself. I think the Sixers would be lucky to have one game won this series now. My personal thoughts anyhow.

I think we will know how the series will end up by watching the game tomorrow because we will gonna see if the Miami Heat will come up with some strategy on how to stop the 76ers from further attacking the basket. As we all know, Embiid is hungry for a championship which will gonna be the main problem for the Miami Heat and Butler is healthy this year which is also the best for both teams because whoever gonna wins might gonna face the Milwaukee Bucks once again.

If you want to try the bookie, betja - they have odds of 1.32 for Miami. But don't know how much max bet they can allow because usually they are not accepting high bets. Anyway, I am betting on the total points betting line here. Let us see what this match will bring tomorrow...

Embiid is not yet fully ruled out in the series.

As the latest news says
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/players/2135528/joel-embiid/#:~:text=Embiid%20(orbital)%20won't,his%20orbital%20fracture%20re%2Devaluated.


Hopefully that would happen so the series will be interesting to watch.

Tonight hopefully we will have a solid game between these teams. Embiid is out for the first game of the series certainly. But I'm not sure about the second one. Because some websites have written it as he will be out until May 6. He might miss the second game also as a result. And this would be a really big hit to Sixers. Because they will have one of their most important players missing and this can cause them to start badly to the series. And it would be harder to make a comeback from that but we will wait and see.

Surely the Sixers will struggle without Embiid within the first 2 games of the series but the Heat cannot just dominate them that easily because Harden and Maxey is still there trying to hold the team and survive while Embiid was still recovering. Though I'm not that certain that Harden can carry the team because we already knew his capabilities but only 1 game, I'm not that sure as it's still early to figure that out.

It's funny that Harden didn't want to the "the guy" anymore after growing tired of carrying the load in Houston, so he went to the Nets where he could play third fiddle to Kyrie and KD.  Then Kyrie was held out because of the flu restrictions and KD was injured, so Harden got annoyed and forced his way out of New Jersey so he could play second fiddle to Embiid.  Now with Embiid out, Harden finds himself in the position of carrying a team again.  He can't be happy about that.  I think Embiid has a good excuse though.  That was a nasty elbow to the eye he caught.  I think after the first game it should be pretty clear whether or not the 76ers can hang with the Heat without their MVP candidate.

If that's the reason I will repeat the history of their match with other basketball teams, points, both strong teams Miami Heat have the best player history and also the Philadelphia 76ers have the best players, like J. Butler and J. Embiid both teams.

Philadelphia 76ers: 10 games in 2022 with other teams, 7 wins and 3 losses, Miami Heat: 10 games 8 wins and 2 loses scores, meaning both have a balanced score, although 1 point more Miami Heat, thin.

Conclusion: even though the odds for the Miami Heat are higher than the Philadelphia 76ers, I have a strong feeling the Philadelphia 76ers will be a few points ahead of this win.

I am not really sure about the domination though. Everyone is acting like Harden all by himself can't do much but this dude played basically "all by himself" during Rockets years and still played very well. I am guessing that he could be doing something in this series that could be helpful for Sixers to get a few wins for sure. I can't say how many games he would help them win but I believe that this series will not be as simple as people claim it to be.

I guess that with Harden on the floor, anything is possible. I am not saying Miami will lose this series or anything by the way, obviously they will be the favorites, but Sixers is not that bad without Embiid and just get swept.

He’s a big loss and hopefully he can play on the next game, Sixers should still play their best despite of their missing player, they should not be affected by this and have a better strategy because the Heat team right now is totally different. I can’t still see any dominance here and I believe on a close matches as well, Heat on the other hand still have a solid players that we will see later on, Game 1 is about to start let’s watch it and have some bet.

With the recent report that Joel Embiid might miss Game 1 and 2, the odds for them are now @3.70 to win the series against the Miami Heat.

That's a big leap from @2.5 prior to that report.

Injuries are spoiling the competitiveness of the game. There are supposed to be no questions asked later in the series if only teams are playing at 100% healthy status. Joel Embiid is the big piece for the Sixers. His offensive contribution to the team that they will miss is even hard to cover up even how hard their players do the adjustments. Good luck to them.

The first 2 games will be to Miami Heat's advantage. I'm not saying Philadelphia Sixers are nothing against the Miami Heat but without Joel Embiid for the Sixers, it's a big disadvantage and doesn't really need much technical discussion on why.

Even I there's a saying that the ball is round, it's hard to apply that saying to the current Sixers. A big step up from them is really needed to match the Heat's current lineup. James Harden can't carry this team and it needs everyone's effort.

After the Game 1 result, let's discuss again if there are some changes to our before Game 1 discussion.

The series is going to start off in an hour. Heat are hosting 76ers in the first leg and bookmakers think that we will have an absolute Heat victory here. But I don't think that it would be very easy even if they win this game. Embiid isn't going to be able to play for 76ers indeed. But they are still a solid team and they would do a good job here hopefully. I've decided to watch this game so I hope it doesn't become boring any time. But I also feel like Heat will start with a win. They wouldn't waste this good opportunity as 76ers are deprived of one of their crucial players.

Sixers don't have a deep bench that can support the starters. They are not really solid when Joel Embiid is not there. It's going to be hard work to cover the absence of Embiid and we all know how always big this big guy is contributing in every game for the team. Embiid is also the only one dominating the position on Sixers. No backup, no replacement, no coverup.

This is a big challenge for the remaining squad of Sixers and let's see who from them will step up later in their Game 1 series.

in this sports, injury is just a normal thing, you can only hope that they will all be healthy but circumstances will say, they are not. the team can accept their winning possibility or do their job even if one of their star players is injured. but as we have seen, a really good player in the team can make a difference with the outcome of the game. well, that's sports...

This is why they should not rely on one player only and build a better team where every one can contribute even if they are not the starting five.
Game 1 really dominate by Miami with a homecourt advantage, they are unstoppable but still a good game for Philadelphia. Game 2 will surely be more exciting, the odds are already out and you can start thinking on where to place your bet.

Even though the 76ers lost, you have to give it to them. At one point they took a good lead from the Heat and started to get hot. However, the defense has tighten up and Harden can't carry the load of the team. So still the Heat will be the favorite to win in this series and could probably go up 2-0 in the next game as they have the momentum with no Joel Embiid for the 76ers.

I bet some money on Heat taking Embiid's absence into consideration and I'm happy that it won too.  :)  Sixers really struggled against Heat here as they needed a much bigger score contribution to beat their opponent here. This is a solid work and start by Heat. Let's see how things go in the other games. And if Embiid misses the second game also, then I might bet on Heat once again and try my luck.  ;D  But when Embiid comes back, I will be expecting a much stronger Sixers in this series.

It was a close game until the Heat dominated the 2nd half.
Now, were are seeing that 76ers would really not surive without Embiid, and Harden is not the same anymore who can score 30 points or more in a game.

Heat will definitely take this, whether or not Embiid will come back.

He himself already knew that fact that he couldn't carry that much load anymore, the man keeps on climbing teams so that he can be paired with a reasonable team that wanted to win a championship with him and that's why he sticked to the Sixers now, little did he know that he would again find himself in a very same position, carrying the team once again. But this time, yes it was reasonable but they needed to survive the 2nd game again without Embiid.

They needed to survive this coming game 2 if they don't want Heat to have a comfortable series lead.

Though it's not impossible for the Heat to take another win at home but Sixers needs to do everything to hype there
confidence moving back home.

Harden still have Harris and Maxey plus those role players who are also willing to play their part to win this series, they
just need to find each other at the same pace of the game.

A lot of time is already being wasted and he is getting old. It's like there's a curse that was given to him. He was almost there to be a champion at Houston then Chris Paul got injured. Then, the Nets. Oh, we all know the story.
Now here we go again with Embiid having a concussion. But it's not just that, they should also be worried about the thumb injury, one bad hit to that thumb, and I am sure that will be sore again.
Perhaps now should be the time to take the spotlight once again. Be the classic Harden and carry the team, who knows if they will be champions he might snatch that MVP award from Embiid.  :D
Game 2 will be for the Heat again but Doc said Embiid is getting better.
https://twitter.com/NoahLevick/status/1521520266257604610?s=20&t=wo3QKz0GfmrYQ_CawgStTg

I’m still with Heat on this game since there’s no player on 76ers that can replace Embiid role as a leader. Harden has potential to step up on game 2 but heat momentum is still there which is very hard to break when you have the home advantage. I believe heat is more motivated to win this upcomimatch because they need to get the lead as much as possible while the advantage is on there side. It will be difficult for them to get a win when the match goes to Phily and Embiid return.

What a dissapointment in game 2.

Harden is not anymore the same player when he was still with the Rockets.
he lose his aggressiveness and he is not attacking anymore and try to fish some foul, this guy is not a real great player.

can they bounce back in game 3?

Another lost for the 76ers today as only Harden, Harris and Maxey have worked efficiently to at least close the gap but their effort wasn't enough to have a rally or lead for at least 1 quarter. Though we expected this to happen but it is still disappointing to see that they are getting bullied easily by the Miami Heat.

Heat got another win, 119-103 and they are 2-0 ahead in the series currently. And I bet on Heat again and made a nice profit too.  ;D  But from now on, it looks like Embiid is coming back from his injury finally. And the next game is in Sixers' court as well. Taking all these into account, I will definitely bet on Sixers to win that game. I feel like there is no way they are losing it. Maybe it can still be a competitive game but Sixers would be the happy side at the end thanks to Embiid especially.

The answer is yes if Embiid will be available but if he is still out, the chance of Sixers to win is slim, even they will be playing at home

they can't match the aggressions of all the players of Miami, they are playing solid with a good team efforts. They are attacking and

shooting outside with full confidence, taking advantage inside the paint, knowing that they've got the numbers to make the damage. let

see if Embiid will be cleared and allowed to play this coming game 3.

Yes, we have seen the Harden is not the same player anymore, his prime years is with the Rockets and obviously he might be showing some signs that he might not be in his prime. So I will say that they have a slim chance to bounce back in game 3. If they win, still a big mountain to climb because Joel Embiid is still injured. Unless he suddenly regain everything back, scoring 40 points or more against the tough defense being put up by the Heat against him.

If you are expecting a lot from Harden then that game 2 was a disappointment. Harden is a set-up type of guy and can complement well with Embiid and not with Maxey. Embiid will be back in game 3 but expect him not to be 100 percent healthy nevertheless, his presence is a big boost to the team, they may win but that is not going to be easy but I would put my money on them tomorrow.

Harden gets better with a good center, thus far, the Sixers struggles and without Embiid, they will continue to struggle.

Nope, as per the report, he is listed as out, probably the reason why the line moved.
https://www.libertyballers.com/2022/5/5/23059199/sixers-list-joel-embiid-out-game-3-friday-return-is-still-possible-nba-playoffs-miami-heat

Not worth a risk to play Joel Embiid in game 3. It is reported that he has broken some bone in his face and so it will bother him if they forced him to play.

I know that this is a pivotal game, but what if the injury worsen? I guess this will be the end of their season if they lost again in the next game.

The injury is on his face, he can wear a protective mask if he wants to. I saw a lot of players in the past that wears mask just to be able to play, he doesn't need to be so aggressive, he mere presence on the coart would already boost the morale of his teammates and they will play hard to win game 3.

They lose but double digit in the last 2 games, playing at home would probably give them a little edge as they have the fans to support them, but in my mind, it's hard to forget how they played in the last 2 games, and if home court is only the reason why they will win, I would not trust them on that.

Live betting would be good if we will wait for this.

IIRC, this is the second time Embiid got an injury on his face. I remember watching before during 2018 with a mask during the game after he recover on his face injury. I remember he was collided with his teammate before that result to some damage on his face.

I think playing with mask is not new for him since he already done this before.

Of course, but the question is, will the team give him the clearance to play? If he will be given the clearance, for sure Embiid will play as he is one of the favorites to win the season MVP, so he cannot just let his team lose without a fight.

Phily are simply spectators in this 2nd round with Miami and Miami are looking that they don't even bring their A+ game to win the games which is crazy. I do wonder what peak performance can look on this Miami squad as to be honest, now , I have no doubts that they could be this NBA year finalist and champs.

Better to be practical and wait during the live games, even Embiid will be there if his condition is not 100% they still going

to struggle, Miami is more likely abused Embiid's conditions. They all wanted to see him inside the court. It added the fun for the Heat's

squad. We don't know if how the game 3 will be like, if doc Rivers will change the fate of his team or they will be eliminated again the same

results last season.

That's correct, Philly melt down in the 2nd half on the last 2 games they played, therefore, if we are planning to bet on the Philly in game 3, we should bet them to win the 1st half, otherwise, just stay away from this team.

They play like they're up against pro basketball players and they are just high schoolers. Of course, they are still good in their own merit (76ers) but they don't seem to find the right opening against their opponent. They are quite explosive and extrenely tactical in the first half of the game but they just fall off, or Heat just abuses the fact that most of Philly's line up can't last long and drag the game on its entirety and still make buckets. I agree, Philly is a skip but over/under lines are still worth it.

Miami is doing great against Philly, they dominate the games and they are too focused while Philly is not because of their inconsistencies even on the first half in game 3 for sure there’s still no guarantee that Philly can be on a good position, not unless they do better on their next game. Miami is indeed a great team for the finals, it will be more exciting if they get the championship.

If bettors are not aware of, the 76ers defeated the Heat. The big factor? Joel Embiid played in front of his home crowd and everyone was excited to see him back in the lineup.

And all the players are motivated in 76ers, they step up resulting into a huge win for them, 99-79. So this series is not over yet, the 76ers will try to tie the series next game.

Nice adjustment by the Philadelphia Sixers. Actually, Joel Embiid is still not on his usual form and average but good thing some of his teammates adjust in that game especially Tyrese Maxey and Danny Green. James Harden is also not on his usual average but his contribution is a plus.

It's not usual to see Miami Heat ending up in a low-scoring game which means Sixers did a great job slowing down their offense. If they maintained that performance, they might put again the Heat in that situation next game. However, it's very not common for the Heat to have a performance like that 2 times in a row so Sixers should just do their very best.

I agree, maybe the Heat was caught up with the whole Joel Embiid playing. They still maintain a close score with them at the end of 3rd quarter.

It was just on the 4th quarter that the Sixers finally seeing their shots falling down despite the good defense of the Heat. For sure, there will be some adjustments on the side of coach Spo game 4.

Bring that adjustment on.. I'm sure also that 76ers are aware of the possible adjustment Heat will do and it will be a great game, probably a close one, but of course, 76ers has the edge because they are playing at their home court. Embiid is there already, there's no excuse for the 76ers to lose the game, if they lose they should accept that heat is the better team, but even if they lose, it's still not over because it's still going to be 3-1, there's still a chance to bounce back.

I'm not quite shocked that the Sixers have defeated the Miami Heat because Embiid have returned on Game 3 but the what gets me interested is that they managed to dominate the Heat and closed the game with a 20 point lead. Green thew a nonstop threes while Maxey also gets hot in the 3rd and 4th quarter while Embiid does his thing, if this will continue the Heat might be defeated again in the following game if they cannot adjust.

Good thing 76ers bounced back in game 3 they should their resistance, they were able to protect their home court with a win and hopefully they continue to do that in game 4 so there's a chance that this series will reach game 7.

The core 5 of Sixers played well, the key on winning is the hard work of each players, both defense and offense they need to stop and overrun the Heat, game 3 is impressive because they really managed to do the right thing even Miami did rally and close the gap, Maxey and Green didn't stop and continue to do the damage.

Still anyone's ball game the series is more interesting after Embiid shows up and gives some light to the fans and his teammates

they just one game behind from the heat, playing at home again and will try to even the series.

We will see what kind of adjustment coach Spo will do, they see that Embiid is doing more pass when they double or triple team him.

So it will be more on rotation on who is on the floor that time, he can't allow Joel finding the open man and they hitting their shots without resistance. Heat needs to be fast on their feet, just like what the Warriors did against Jokic. Blue print is there for the Heat, they just had to execute it.

I like how Philly won't go down easy in this fight but I also do believe that this might be the only game they could win in this series with Heat.

Heat is on another level right now with everyone playing on high pace and high quality basketball so it's really difficult for me to see them losing another game or the series. I've also said a few days ago that Heat and Celtics are looking the strongest right now with one of them ending up as a winner.

Nope, I disagree with that, as long as they have Embiid, 76ers will have a good fight. Heat cannot attack the paint anymore like they usually did in the first two games because Embiid is a big guy who can play the defense as well, and not only that, he spaced the floor very well since he is a threat inside and out.

I'm thinking, if 76ers won even if Embiid was not playing very well in game 3, how much more if Embiid will improve in game 4.
I really believe that the series will be even going back to the Heat homecourt.

Sixers finally put an end to Heat's winning streak against them. They kept Heat at only 79 points and won by a twenty-point gap which was great to watch. Embiid's returning to the starting five was very crucial for them to win this game too. Maybe he got only 18 points but he made a double-double by having 11 rebounds also. He still made an extra contribution to the team which they needed the most. Now they are 2-1 behind against Heat but this could be 2-2 by the next game.

Because they know that this opportunity can't be missed, so they decided to play Embiid and it works for them.

I agree, for them this is just another game, maybe they are not ready for Embiid, nevertheless they are still in front of the series and it's time for them to device another game plan to counter Embiid presence in the middle. They still have Bam, so it won't be very easy for Joel to dominate the inside.

Bam is good but Embiid is better than Bam that's why he is one of the favorites on the MVP competition this season. 76ers just got what they missed in the 1st two games, so I'm a bit confident also that 76ers will be able to even the series after game 4.

I'm also with the speculation that the Philadelphia 76ers might even the series in tonight's game. Joel Embiid's presence really plays a big impact that's why some of his teammates awaken in their previous game. If his teammates will be like that tonight, they will manage again to freeze other Heat scorers like what they did last game. Only Jimmy Butler performed in the Heat's last game, maybe he already knows well how to deal with the Sixers as that was his former team.

About the comparison you have made between Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid, well we should not say who's the best among them as what matter is, how they are contributing to their respective team. It's no doubt that Joel Embiid is far the most dominant compared to Bam as the former is the main key scorer for the Sixers while the latter is a role player of the Miami Heat.

You guys are right, 76ers won and have even the series. It's now a best of 3.
Embiid had a double double, 24 points and 11 rebounds, but the biggest contributor of the team is James Harden who's 3 point shooting was big enough to silence the Heat everytime they try to come back, he finished with 31 points of 8-18 shooting and 6/10 from 3 point shoots.

Joel Embiid real MVP he makes 6ers the favorite. As long as a couple other guys come up with 15-20 on top of Harden being a factor they should be pretty good, and Heat need to have three guys like Chuck said catch fire. If they can't do that on top of having chemistry Butler can't bail them out. That is the difference, 6ers have an easier playbook while Heat have to constantly be moving and find team play on the go. Philly knows their roles.

I like to correct you, 76ers is not the favorite in the series, they are even heavy underdog in the last 2 games when Embiid was still out, and in game 5 since the odds are already out, they are +3.5 underdog, so they are not the favorites. Maybe if they'll beat the Heat on the road, that will make them the favorite in the series.

Embiid is not getting his usual number yet, not a 30+ points performance but his presence inside is giving the 76ers outside shooters some confidence and they can also drive inside since they control the paint.

Embiid is indeed the most valuable piece of the team, judging the last 2 games, it is very evident how the Sixers were playing with him on the floor. I actually believe them to reach the finals and the Nets, but unfortunately the Nets was awful lol.
Now that the Sixers have the momentum another win in game 5 and most probably the Sixers will advance to the CF.

The odds have changed already, though heat are still favorite to win the series, but they are not heavily favored now.

Current betting odds.
heat 1.66
Sixers 2.23

Great odds for Sixers fans. TAKE IT NOW>

The Miami Heat did not give me any confidence even though they had some successful results in the regular season as well. I still haven't forgotten what happened between Butler and Erik Spoelstra during the season. Considering the increase in the 76ers' performance after Joel Embiid's return, I think the 76ers will go to the next round.

Without Joel Embiid, the 76ers will indeed struggle and starts to question their self confidence instead of improving and yes we have definitely saw what happened on them on the first two games without Embiid. They are literally getting bullied and even Harden himself cannot do something to atleast minimize the gap of the scores. Actually, I'm shocked that he made 30+ points last game.

Yup, I agree about that! Butler may have been helpful to the team but coach Spoelstra don't deserve the be disrespected nor treated like that. Butler should know his limits because he is really nothing with Erik's rich minds behind their games. The Miami Heat's star is throwing the teams record by his actions and I can see that the Sixers will always try and dominate them each game now that they are back healthy.

They still have no answer on Embiid, I have a reason to believe that Embiid will still dominate in game 5 and 76ers will have another win. As what I have read, NBA would like to see Embiid and Harden in the ECF than seeing the Heat or Butler which are not so popular, so I think 76ers will do the business right.

Also, when Embiid was out, everyone was betting on the Heat, so probably Vegas is just trying to collect money from the public.

They really made a big mistake on Game 5 because they are pouring too much attention to Tyler Herro and getting him guarded by two players instead of distributing the man power to guard each player especially Butler. Not sure either why Embiid didn't contribute well for the team because it's like he was really exhausted already and the rest of the team got poor FG. I hope they could survive the series because they are now in the verge of getting eliminated on their own homecourt in Philly.

They won the last 2 games in their home court, I'm expecting the same will happen tonight, 76ers should push this series to game 7 so the fans will be happy and I hope the game 7 is going to be a close game. Betting on the home team today, no matter what the outcome is, I would still stick with my prediction.

Now is the time to correct their mistake if they still want to stay in the series. I have a feeling that we will be seeing a game 7, 76ers just have to win game 6 and all their mistakes are already corrected. If we see a game 7, I don't think a blowout win by either team is going to happen, it should be a close game up to the last seconds.

I will go with the 76ers here even at ML, their back is against the wall, but they have been performing good at this homecourt so I think they can still win one and force a decider against the top seed.

Some players have been stepping up, likes of Green and Maxey and Harris , while the Heat is struggling and it was only Butler who are consistent in this series. Lowry look not 100% still, and Herro and Robinson is not shooting the ball very well in their last 2 game.

Yeah im going aswell with 76ers they have a really good chance at home to win against Miami Heat. But Heat are still looking really good,but i think we will see the first series with a 7 matches and a deciding one. Huge advantage still for 76ers is that they are playing at home

That has been the advantage of either team in the series, they dominate when playing on their home court and I expect the 76ers will bounce back after a bad loss in game 5. This series will have a game 7, Embiid being a MVP candidate and Harden who once won an MVP award is not gonna allow the heat to stop their dreams to be in the Finals.

I got 76ers -2. Looks so obvious to me.

Seems to be playing home court is a big advantage for teams.

We have seen how Memphis even with Ja Morant, playing at their back yard, destroys the Golden State. So I wouldn't be surprised if the Sixers pull out a win and force a game 7 series between the two. Joel Embiid will still be the anchor of the offense, sucking double or triple team and giving it outside.

Heat still lead the series against 76ers by 3-2 now. And tonight, this series might end also. 76ers have the home court advantage in this game though and I don't think that they will let Heat win this game. I'm expecting 76ers to be the winner and make the series tied 3-3. And the seventh game would be amazing to watch then. But tonight, I expect to see a 76ers win by a close gap and I think Embiid is going to show a special performance too.

Miami Heat just won the match against Philadelphia 76ers 99-90 this means that Miami Heat won the series against 76ers 4-2 and advances into the next round. 76ers really played bad the second half and this costed them the series. They lost at home unexpectedly and now are knocked out

To be fair, it was an ugly game for both teams. They missed a lot of open shots but I think it's the offensive rebounds that really helped the Heat win this game. Maybe Embiid was afraid to play inside and control the board because of what happened in game 5 (hit in the face). Sixers had a slow start in the first and second half and that also proved to be costly.

It was an awful display from the 76ers, but I wasn't expecting different result from them, you've got to give a lot of kudos to Miami Heat defense, they were really active all game long, and made the 76ers take awful shots, and the triple teaming of Embiid and switching over and over again and then getting shit loads of offensive rebound converted to point, was the key factor for 76ers.

This only proves how useless Harden on this game. The defense is focusing on Embiid while he can't make a way to get a points to help Embiid to release some pressure from his defender. Danny Green and Harden is useless when Embiid come back again. This year effort of Embiid is put into waste just because he was injured on the 2 games and his team can't cover his absence. Maybe Harden & Embiid is not good at all and just a choke?

Harden is only good if he contributes to the offense because he is not an all-around player. I mean his defense is not good (my personal view), so if he also struggles offensively, that would not help the team to win. Look, Harden has only 11 points, and only had 9 attempts, that is not his number, he used to have the biggest total attempts and he gets his production by driving the ball to the paint.

After Embiid returned to the team, he led an explosion in his first game against the Heat, and from that moment on I thought the Heat was not able to handle it and the problems with the team in the regular season could be repeated. However, the Heat resisted and managed to win the series 4-2, which I didn't expect at all. I wonder if the 76ers would have wanted the Harden trade again if they went back in time.

The Heat had a hard time, losing back to back games when Joel went back. However, they adjusted already, made him work a bit in the next 2 games but still they lost to the Heat. You have to appreciate coach Spo strategy, not pushing Bam to his limit in the series and taking him out while Embiid is still on the floor and instead have Dedmon deal with Joel's physically. We don't know if they are going to trade Harden or not, he seems to contribute in this series is that they faces the top seed in the East.

Heat was surprised but eventually they were able to make the right adjustment. Good thing with heat is that they were able to lead the series with 2-0 and based on the stats, when a team leads 2-0 they won the series 80% most of the time IIRC.

To tell the truth, the last game of the series ended in an unexpected way to me. Because I was pretty sure about Sixers to destroy Heat and make the series tied 3-3. As they had Embiid in this game, I was feeling confident about seeing this kind of a result. But completely the opposite scenario happened and Heat won 99-90. Jimmy Butler's performance had a big role in this win by the way. He performed great by 32 points. I'm afraid that Embiid (20 points) and Harden's (11 points) performances were quite poor that they couldn't carry the series to the seventh game.

Totally wrong with my prediction, I thought that the 76ers will try to even the series at home. But they started very slow and not hitting their shots but they briefly got the lead in the second quarter but not enough. And they lost it already in the 3rd quarter. Coach Rivers though doesn't want to put a blame on James Harden so maybe we can see him play along Joel Embiid for one season next year and see how it goes before we can hear trade talks.

And coach Rivers said he did a terrific job. LOL
https://sports.yahoo.com/doc-rivers-think-terrific-job-095323426.html?src=rss

It was a disappointing season for the 76ers, but that was due to Embiids injury, so I expect to see the same line up next season, and probably they will be with the same coach if the management believe that Rivers did a terrific job.

I predicted from the very beginning that the Miami Heat would beat their opponent, as I predicted, the first finalist of the eastern conference was the Miami Heat. They played better than their opponents, in fact, it was clear that they were going to the final with the win in the previous match.
Let's see who will be their opponent in the final :)

Sixers did the best thing they could but I'm afraid it wasn't enough for a victory. They lost even a home game and were eliminated by 4-2 in total. Heat really deserved it because they took advantage of any opening during the series. Sixers need to improve themselves more in time to achieve bigger things. They have a potential to become the champions in a season too but they can't do this by this level of effort.