Thursday’s matchup in Philadelphia carried significant playoff implications for both the Heat and the 76ers, as each team is trying to avoid the play-in tournament, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Miami, currently eighth in the East, fell 124-117 to sixth-place Philadelphia and now trails the Sixers by 2.5 games for the conference’s final guaranteed playoff spot.
“I don’t want to be in that shit no more,” big man Bam Adebayo said after the loss. “We’re better than being in the play-in for the last four years.”
As Winderman points out, Miami has participated in the play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons and is again projected to land there in 2025/26.
The team’s upcoming stretch at home could be critical, with seven of its next eight games taking place in Miami.
However, the Heat will be without leading scorer Norman Powell for at least four of those games due to a Grade 1 right groin strain.
“We’ve already been struggling on the road,” Adebayo said, “so we go home, win some games, you know, be in our atmosphere, be in our habitat where our fans are cheering for us, and see if we can string some W’s together.”
Heat Notes: Bam, Balance, Jaquez, Riley, LeBron https://t.co/TOZNguV6bH pic.twitter.com/bZkFoFN8R2
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) February 28, 2026
