Nico Batum’s unlikely night pushes Sixers into playoffs’ first round: ‘I didn’t want to play Friday’

The home crowd had already flipped from boos to cheers, when two missed free throws by the Miami Heat’s Caleb Martin sent everybody home with free Chik-fil-A nuggets.

But then Nico Batum capitalized on the energy, burying a three-pointer from the right wing on the 76ers’ ensuing possession.

Then, the reserve forward hit another deep shot. And another. Six, in all.

» READ MORE: Sixers punch playoff ticket with 105-104 win over Heat, will face Knicks in first round

Batum scored a season-high 20 points Wednesday night, igniting his team’s 105-104 comeback win at the Wells Fargo Center to advance out of the play-in tournament and into a first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks. The veteran also provided a defensive boost, helping limit Heat star Jimmy Butler to 5-of-18 from the floor and sharpshooting guard Tyler Herro to a 9-of-27 mark. And Batum capped that effort by blocking a Herro three-point attempt in the final minute, all but preserving the Sixers’ victory.

“He found some areas to get to, and he just kept pulling the trigger,” coach Nick Nurse said of Batum after the game. “And, obviously, he made them. We talk about sparks. Him going bang, bang, bang — about three out of four there — that turned the game around.”

Batum’s quick-trigger shooting helped crack the Heat’s zone defense that had flummoxed the Sixers in the first half, when they shot 33.3% from the field and committed 12 turnovers. In the second quarter, Batum noticed Miami was leaving him open, and told himself, “Next time you touch it, just shoot it.”

“And it opened everything for the rest of the team,” said Batum of a night the Sixers scored 66 second-half points.

His first triple sliced what had been a 14-point Heat lead to 59-51 about midway through the third quarter. He hit two more in that period, which both got the Sixers within two points. He then broke a 76-76 tie with a bomb from the left wing in the fourth quarter, before pushing his team’s lead to 82-78 on a launch from the corner. Later, Batum’s off-balance putback cut Miami’s lead to 89-88 with about four minutes to play, before he picked up a loose ball that eventually led to a Joel Embiid go-ahead three-pointer less than two minutes later.

“He brought his full clip, so I’m so glad that he shot it,” teammate Kelly Oubre Jr. said of Batum. “He just saved the game. ... We utilized his momentum that he was giving us.”

Though Batum was shooting 39.5% from deep range this season entering Wednesday, the scoring outburst was abnormal for the Frenchman who had hit double figures only seven times during the regular season.

Instead, Batum has been a quintessential veteran role player since arriving in the James Harden blockbuster trade. He is such a trusted inbound passer that, even on planned rest days, he is in uniform just in case one is needed in crunch time (like in a February victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers). He is a lauded post-entry passer, a valuable skill while playing alongside Embiid. Batum played some small-ball center while Embiid recovered from knee surgery. And his combination of experience and calm demeanor has earned teammates’ respect.

“He’s just that steadfast [supportive] human being on our team,” Oubre said. “He’s been doing this a very long time. He knows the ins and outs of the game, and he’s very smart. He doesn’t say much, but whenever he does speak, he tells you what to do and you do it — and it works every single time.”

» READ MORE: Sixers-Heat takeaways: Nico Batum saved the day, Joel Embiid hampered by knee injury, and more

Added backup center Paul Reed: “He’s been in the league for almost 25 years, it seems like. When he tells me something, I always try to listen and take what he says and actually implement it in the game. He really knows what he’s talking about. He’s never really steered me the wrong way, so I always listen.”

Yet Batum is perhaps most valuable as a multi-positional defender, an ability he has taken pride in since he shifted from guarding the the Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Kidd to Dirk Nowitzki in the same game of 2011 playoff series while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Following Wednesday’s win, All-Star teammate Tyrese Maxey marveled at how Batum’s defensive assignments this season have ranged from sharpshooting guard Trae Young, to 7-foot-4 unicorn Victor Wembanyama.

Against the Heat, Batum said he wanted to play aggressively against Butler, whom he noticed was hobbled after injuring his knee early in the game. And Batum’s game-sealing block — when he went under a screen and then got a hand on the ball as Herro elevated near the top of the key — came on a play the coaching staff had shown him on video “literally a minute before.”

“We were expecting that,” Batum said.

Following the win, a self-deprecating Batum said it is unreasonable to expect him to score 20 points again. He might only take two or three shots in Game 1 against the Knicks, he conceded. But he is content with an under-the-radar role, because, he said, “I don’t really care about this,” tapping the box score on the table before holding it up for extra emphasis.

“All I care [about] is the numbers at the end, for my team,” Batum added. “Can I impact my teammates and, at the end, the Sixers winning this game? That’s the way I play. I mean, I’m 35 years old. I don’t care what I do. …

“My son is like, ‘Oh, you only got two points.’ Sorry, kid. I’m trying, but that’s just the way I play.”

» READ MORE: Sixers confident Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey can recapture lethal pairing: ‘We work on it every single day’

Still, while speaking from practice Tuesday afternoon, Batum acknowledged his postseason responsibilities might “increase a little bit,” because opponents’ postseason game plans will be so sharply focused on stopping Embiid and Maxey. Batum immediately delivered in a comeback win to guarantee a first-round playoff series.

Perhaps just as vital for Batum? He shot and defended his team into a two-day break before Saturday’s Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, instead of into preparing for an elimination game the night prior against the Chicago Bulls.

“I didn’t want to play Friday,” Batum said. “I need those two days in between.”