nba basketball

Miami. Resisting the losses of their best players, the Miami Heat and the New Orleans Pelicans took over the last two available spots in the NBA playoffs on Friday.

The Pelicans, with the absence of the injured Zion Williamson, defeated the Sacramento Kings 105-98 and met the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the Western Conference.

For their part, the Heat, current runner-up, with Mexican Jaime Jáquez, defeated the Chicago Bulls 112-91 and will once again clash with the fearsome Boston Celtics, the best team in the NBA in the regular season.

Shooting guard Tyler Herro, with 24 points, and rookie Jáquez, with 21 points, took over from Jimmy Butler at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

The Heat, who finished the regular season in eighth place in the East, now face a new battle with the Celtics, big favorites in the sector and owners of the best overall balance with 64 wins and 18 losses.

The duel will be a repeat of the last Eastern Finals, in which Miami won 4-3 on aggregate, and the fourth meeting in total between the two teams in the last five seasons.

However, the Heat’s aspirations for a repeat victory in 2023 are in doubt after the ligament injury suffered by Jimmy Butler in Tuesday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first playoff game.

The Florida franchise has not yet given an estimate of Butler’s time out, but it could last for weeks according to local media.

This Friday forward Jáquez Jr., of Mexican parents, took Butler’s place in the starting five and had one of the best nights of his first season in the league with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

“Jaime has been one of the best rookies all season and he showed it tonight on both sides of the court,” his teammate Tyler Herro acknowledged.

For their part, the Bulls closed another disappointing season with a disastrous performance in Miami.

Thirteen hours before the playoffs begin on Saturday, the matchup table was completed with the Pelicans’ victory over the Sacramento Kings without star Zion Williamson.

The Kings were at a much lower level than they showed on Tuesday when they eliminated the Golden State Warriors.

For the Pelicans it will be their second presence in the postseason since 2018, in a journey that will begin without Zion Williamson, their top scorer (22.9 points) of the campaign.

The power forward suffered a hamstring injury at the end of the first playoff game that they lost to the Lakers.

Williamson will be re-evaluated in two weeks so he will probably not be able to participate in the first-round series against the Oklahoma Thunder, the surprising leaders of the West.

The Angels. Mexican Jaime Jáquez Jr. contributed 15 points for the Miami Heat, but could not prevent his team from falling 105-104 this Wednesday against the Philadelphia Sixers, who won their ticket to the first round of the NBA playoffs against the New York Knicks.

The current NBA MVP, Joel Embiid, who is trying to return to his level after missing two months of action due to knee surgery, scored 23 points for the Sixers, who trailed by 13 points in the third quarter of the Play-in duel.

Embiid had 13 points in the second half, including a three-pointer that gave the Sixers the lead with 2:33 left.

The advantage would change hands, but the closing went to the Sixers with a basket and free throw by Kelly Oubre Jr.

The win gave the Sixers seventh place in the Eastern Conference and they will open their playoff series against the second-seeded Knicks next Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Miami can still make the playoffs. On Friday they will face the winner of this Wednesday’s clash between the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks and the winner of the key will face the Boston Celtics, first seed in the Conference.

Heat star Jimmy Butler suffered a hard blow at the end of the first quarter, but continued playing to complete the duel with 19 points and five steals. But the alarms are still going on due to the visible difficulty in walking normally that he showed at the end of the game. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 25 points.