PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers are recognized as a championship-contending team with Joel Embiid.

Perhaps that’s what added to the excitement of Wednesday night’s achievement. With Embiid back on the floor, the Sixers took their first step toward what they hope is a long postseason run.

They punched their ticket to their seventh straight playoff appearance with a 105-104 win over the Miami Heat in their play-in tournament game on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid finished with 23 points and a game high 15 rebounds while making 9 of 10 foul shots. But on this night, Nico Batum was the hero.

The reserve power forward made 6 of 10 clutch 3-pointers while finishing with 20 points. He also perhaps made the game-saving defensive play, blocking Tyler Herro’s 3-pointer with 24.7 seconds left. Then he wisely let Herro take an uncontested 3-pointer right before the final buzzer that pulled the Heat within one point. If Batum would have fouled him, Herro could have tied the game with a basket and made free throw.

The Sixers will face the East’s second-seeded New York Knicks in the first round as the seventh seed. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will be 6 p.m. Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

The Sixers will worry about that in the coming days. On Wednesday, they were celebrating a thrilling victory.

Tyrese Maxey finished with 19 points and six assists.

Herro paced the Heat with a game-high 25 points, while Jimmy Butler added 19. Bam Adebayo had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

However, Embiid was lackluster on the offensive end. He made 6 of 17 shots.

Early on, the moment appeared too big for several of his teammates. In addition, the Sixers looked shocked against Miami’s trademark zone. And the worst thing was the Heat appeared to want it more.

But the Sixers fought back from a 51-39 halftime deficit to pull within 71-69 after Cam Payne’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the third quarter.

Then Embiid knotted the score at 74 on his first 3-pointer, 54 seconds into the fourth quarter. Batum gave the Sixers a 79-76 lead on his fifth 3-pointer with 8:58 to play. He hit his sixth 47 seconds later to make it an 82-78 game.

After the Heat regained the lead, Batum’s put-back closed the gap to 89-88 with 4:12 left. The lead seesawed before Embiid’s three-point play gave the Sixers a 96-94 advantage with 1:47 left.

The Heat tied the score before Kelly Oubre Jr.’s three-point play put the Sixers up 99-96 with 36 seconds remaining.

Then Batum’s blocked Herro’s 3-pointer with 24.7 seconds left. Maxey got the rebound, was fouled and converted a pair of free throws to give the Sixers a five-point cushion.

After the win, the Sixers have a tough matchup with the Knicks, having lost three of this season’s four meetings to their Atlantic Division rivals.

Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, a former Villanova standout, averaged 22.3 points, 7.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds during those four games. However, New York will be without All-Star Julius Randle, who opted earlier this month to have season-ending shoulder surgery.

Embiid only played in the first of the teams' four meetings. He had 30 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and six turnovers in a 36-point home loss on Jan. 5.

But the new-look Sixers believe they’re better prepared to compete for a title. They also believe that they would have had one of their conference’s top seeds — instead of being a play-in team — if Embiid wasn’t sidelined for two months after tearing his meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 30.

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