A masked Joel Embiid scored 23 points in his post-season debut, Marco Belinelli and Dario Saric each added 21 and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Miami Heat 128-108 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Ben Simmons finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers, who won for the 18th time in their last 19 games and reclaimed home-court advantage. Embiid went on a personal 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to help Philadelphia extend its lead to 14, and send many in the crowd to the exits.
Goran Dragic scored 23 points for Miami, which got 19 from Justise Winslow and 14 from Josh Richardson.
Game 4 is Saturday afternoon.
Embiid in form
Embiid was announced as doubtful to start the day, then was upgraded to probable in the afternoon and eventually cleared to start. He wore a mask and goggles to protect the surgically repaired orbital bone around his left eye, though his new accessory didn't exactly seem up to the rigours of playoff basketball — needing to be swapped out at least twice.
The mask needs some work.
Embiid was right back in form.
He banked in a turnaround straightaway jumper — a fortuitous bounce — to put Philadelphia up nine late, then connected on a 3-pointer and added a pair of throws to start the spurt that put the game away for Philadelphia.
Go ahead then, <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelEmbiid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoelEmbiid</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PhilaUnite?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PhilaUnite</a> <a href="https://t.co/8tmCJvPpoS">pic.twitter.com/8tmCJvPpoS</a>
—@NBAonTNTMiami can't find its stride
Meanwhile, Miami couldn't find any sort of stride.
Hassan Whiteside was mired in foul trouble and ineffective, finishing the night all of 1 for 1 from the field for five points. Dwyane Wade, who Miami needed to be superb in the win at Philadelphia in Game 2, shot 2 for 10. Wayne Ellington, Miami's single-season leader in 3-pointers after making a record 227 this season, was 1 for 5 from the floor.
The Heat won Game 2 by controlling the physical battle.
Game 3 was another street fight, and Philadelphia didn't back down.
There were 31 fouls and four technicals called in the first half, an opening 24 minutes where Wade and Justin Anderson got feisty, Winslow stepped on Embiid's broken-off goggles and the teams took 45 free throws.
Justin Anderson doesn't want none of this Dwyane Wade smoke. <a href="https://t.co/oiZRFqfZLu">pic.twitter.com/oiZRFqfZLu</a>
—@gifdsportsSome basketball was played on occasion as well. There were 14 lead changes and nine ties in the half, the Heat taking a 64-63 lead into the break.
Philadelphia landed the first blow, going on a 15-3 run in the first quarter to take a 32-21 lead. Miami got within four to end the opening quarter, and by then the physicality was already amped-up on both ends.
The final count on the whistles: 30 fouls for the Heat, 26 for the 76ers, and three technicals each as well.
But just like in Game 1, Philadelphia pulled away after halftime — and now it's the Heat back on the ropes.
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