76ers at Heat
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid returned with a vengeance from an orbital fracture and is intent on making things painful for the Miami Heat. Embiid and the third-seeded 76ers look to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series on Saturday in Miami.
Embiid had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists in Thursday's 128-108 trouncing of the Heat after missing the previous 10 games, including the first two of the playoff series. "I am proud of what he did on the court and the professionalism he showed," 76ers coach Brett Brown said of Embiid, who also knocked down three 3-point baskets. The sixth-seeded Heat had few answers on how to defend Embiid and coach Erik Spoelstra is aghast over the high number of points allowed (an average of 129) in his team's two losses in the series. "It's clear the first game and the third game were played on their terms," Spolestra told reporters. "We do not want this to be a crawl. Not that's how we play either, but we certainly don't want these crawling into 130s. That's definitely in their wheelhouse and we paid the price for that."
TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Sun (Miami)
ABOUT THE 76ERS: Embiid is adjusting to wearing a mask to protect the healing eye bone and understands he will be sporting it for at least the rest of this series. "It was annoying," Embiid told reporters. "But that was the only way I could play in this game, if I wore the mask and protected my face with goggles. I had to work through it and I did." Philadelphia is also receiving superb contributions from backup shooting guard Marco Belinelli, who had 21 points in Game 3 and is averaging 20.7 in the series.
ABOUT THE HEAT: Center Hassan Whiteside has been a complete nonfactor in the series with averages of 13.3 minutes, 3.7 points and four rebounds. Whiteside accumulated four fouls in just 13 minutes of action in Game 3 and again drew criticism for his latest subpar effort, and Spoelstra said getting him back on track for Game 4 is a huge priority. "He might not necessarily put up the numbers, but it's part of my job to figure it out and figure out how he can get to his strengths and be an impact player for us," Spoelstra told reporters. "It starts with the defense, the rebounding. It's a lot of responsibilities for us offensively. I'll spend some time working that out."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Sixers PF Dario Saric has scored at least 20 in all three games and made 11-of-23 3-point attempts while averaging 21.3 points.
2. Miami PG Goran Dragic tallied 23 points in Game 3 for his second straight 20-point effort.
3. Philadelphia rookie PG Ben Simmons is averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, 9.7 assists and two steals during the series.