The Philadelphia 76ers won 109-105 against the Miami Heat on Thursday, thanks in large part to 37 points from Tyrese Maxey and 29 from Joel Embiid, who sparked the team and improved their NBA playoff prospects.

With 41 minutes of play, Maxey nearly had a triple double with 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Sixers, who climbed to 42-35 and are now eighth in the Eastern Conference, one game behind sixth-place Indiana.

The top six teams in each conference earn berths to the NBA playoffs, while the teams ranked seven through ten compete in play-in games for the final two slots.

After missing Philadelphia’s previous two games due to a hip injury, Maxey returned for his first game with Joel Embiid in over two months, and the two were unstoppable.

“I’m tired,” Maxey said. Coach Nick Nurse wanted to know if I was okay to play for 32 minutes after my return, but I assured him I was OK. Feel free to ask me to play more often if you’d like.

Even though they’re 2-0 since Embiid returned from his knee injury, Philadelphia dropped out of the playoff hunt when the Cameroonian power forward was out with an injury. The 76ers will play their last five games to try to regain their position in the playoff hunt.

With 22 points from Terry Rozier, Miami dropped to 42-34 and placed eighth in the Eastern Conference.

The Golden State Warriors increased their lead over the only club in the Western Conference that can displace them from a play-in slot to one game with a 133-110 triumph over Houston, extending their winning streak to six games.

With 29 points apiece from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors cruised to a 65-50 halftime lead and never looked back.

For the thirteenth game in a row, the Rockets have fallen to the Warriors, a team they haven’t defeated since February 2020.

While the Warriors are atop the Western Conference with a 42-34 record and six games to play, Houston dropped to 38-38 and is four games behind the Warriors for the tenth and last play-in position.

Additionally, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the visiting Atlanta Hawks 109-95 thanks to 26 points from Kyrie Irving and 25 points, 12 boards, and 8 assists from Luka Doncic.

Standing 46-30 and one game ahead of Phoenix in the Western Conference, Dallas is still in the hunt for a playoff spot and a top-six finish.

The Knicks defeated the visiting Sacramento Kings 120-109 because to the scoring and passing of Jalen Brunson (35 points) and Josh Hart (31 points, 9 boards, and 8 assists).

Ending a three-game losing trend, the Knicks won 45–31 thanks to a 28–14 run in the fourth quarter. With the win, they drew even with fourth-place Orlando and were only half a game behind third-place Cleveland in the Eastern Conference.

Forward Julius Randle will have surgery on his right shoulder to finish his season, according to the New York Knicks. He hoped to return for the playoffs after delaying surgery after dislocating his shoulder in January.