Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons shined again on Tuesday night in front of rapper Meek Mill, with the dominant duo ushering the nightmares-into-dreams Process of the Philadelphia 76ers into the second round with a 104-91 win over the Miami Heat.
The 76ers, winners of 10 games just two seasons ago, are in the second round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2012.
The Sixers won the series 4-1 and turned the Wells Fargo Center into the wildest house party in the city.
Photo: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY
Embiid had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Simmons had 14 points and 10 boards, and the entire team had rappers, politicians, actors and kids dancing along for the ride.
Mill made a dramatic return hours after Pennsylvania’s highest court ordered him freed while he appeals decade-old gun and drug convictions.
He was taken from prison by helicopter to Philadelphia, where he rang the ceremonial bell to mark the start of Game 5.
“Welcome home Meek Mill,” was about all that was heard from the public address announcer as wild cheers drowned out the rest.
Mill sat courtside next to actor and noted Sixers fan Kevin Hart and Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin.
Hart grabbed the microphone after the game and yelled: “Let’s give it up for Joel Embiid!”
Before the game, Mill privately visited with the Sixers in their locker room.
Hart talked trash, wandered onto the edge of the court to rile up fans and palled around with Mill as the young and getting it Sixers proved they just might be the team to beat in the East.
They will have plenty of time to rest and recover — Embiid again played in a black mask to guard a face injury — with the other Eastern Conference playoff series expected to stretch into the weekend.
The 76ers were buzzing once Mill’s release made headline news in the city. Rubin had organized prison trips with Embiid, Simmons and Markelle Fultz, and the rapper’s songs played in the locker room and during warm-ups.
Simmons called Mill’s presence “amazing.”
“Just having someone that looks out for us, all of us here, it would just mean a lot for him to be back in Philly, in the city of Philadelphia with the fans, especially with a game like that tonight,” Simmons said.
Mill breezed into the locker room about 45 minutes before tip-off and hugged some of the Sixers. He was met with a crush of media and celebrity fans as he tried to take his courtside seat.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and retired boxing great Bernard Hopkins sat near Hart and Mill, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf joined them in the second half.
National champions the Villanova Wildcats posed for pictures with Mill in the locker room.
What they saw was just the latest beatdown from a franchise whose maligned rebuild has morphed into the one of the trendiest terms in sports.
The Sixers outscored the Heat by 14 in the third quarter to snap a tie game and had fans belting: “Trust the Process!”
Goran Dragic was whistled for a technical after slapping Simmons on the backside of his head, and that got the crowd howling early in the third.
Simmons kept his cool — the rookie is rarely rattled — and made the Heat pay.
J.J. Redick sank the free throw off the technical and Simmons kicked the ball out to Robert Covington on the possession for a three-pointer and a 54-48 lead.
Redick followed with his third three-pointer and Philly was litty again.
Redick, who scored 27, sank the dagger late in the fourth that sent confetti flying, team flags waving and put a late-night celebration on deck.
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