Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers (Photo: Getty Images)
The Philadelphia 76ers have reached the second round of this year’s NBA playoffs after rolling past the Miami Heat 104-91 in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Joel Embiid finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in his first home playoff contest, and Ben Simmons added 14 points, six assists and 10 rebounds.
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The Sixers, who won their first-round postseason series 4-1, will face the winner of the Boston Celtics-Milwaukee Bucks series in Round 2. The Celtics lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Thursday in Milwaukee.
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Dwyane Wade, who recently returned to the Heat, praised Simmons and Embiid after Tuesday’s game, saying the duo were “the future” of the league.
“Those guys grew up in this series,” Wade stated of the pair, according to CBS Sports. “This is their first playoff. I think they grew up and they learned some things from us and they way we pushed them. And it’s just congratulating them. You want to see nothing but good things for those guys — these [guys] are the future of the NBA. And the NBA is great hands with Ben and Joel.”
Wade, whose NBA career is speculated to be ending soon, logged 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Per CBS Sports, Simmons has averaged 18.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 2.4 steals thus far in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Embiid has thrown down some major dunks during this postseason. He wore a face mask earlier in the playoffs to protect himself from an eye injury (in addition to a concussion) he suffered late in the regular season and vowed to return with a vengeance.
Another big contributor to the Sixers’ victory on Tuesday was J.J. Reddick. He had a game-high 27 points, including five of the team’s seven completed 3-pointers.
Philadelphia is hoping to advance to its first Eastern Conference Finals since 2001.
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Watch highlights from Tuesday’s game here:
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