Heat Impress Fans After 'Statement' Win vs. 76ers Keeps Hope of 6th Seed Alive

As the regular season nears its end, the Miami Heat are already in playoff mode as they still have a lot on the line.

The sense of urgency from the Heat was on full display in Thursday's road matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, as Miami started fast and never took its foot off the gas in a 129-101 win at Wells Fargo Center. With the win, the Heat remain alive for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Thursday's blowout victory was spearheaded by Jimmy Butler, who scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter and also dished out six assists. He shot an efficient 9-of-12 from the field, continuing his recent stretch of strong games. Tyler Herro also had 24 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Bam Adebayo and Max Strus added 14 points apiece.

NBA Twitter was impressed with the effort Miami showed in Thursday's matchup, doling out some well-deserved praise:

The Heat are still one game behind the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 6 seed, and the Nets own the tiebreaker. The interesting thing is that the 76ers will close out the regular season against Brooklyn on Sunday and are unlikely to play their starters, which should make for an easy win for the Nets to wrap up their playoff position.

After Thursday's game, it's clear that the Sixers want no part of the Heat in the first round, so losing in Brooklyn would actually benefit them. The Heat look like one of the most dangerous teams entering this year's postseason as they continue to play at a high level down the stretch.

Miami (43-37) will meet the Washington Wizards (34-46) on Friday before its final regular-season game on Sunday against the Orlando Magic (34-46).