Embiid doubtful for Game 3 in Miami

PHILADELPHIA » Better cuts. More ball movement. More attention to the game plan. Improved spacing. More accurate screens.

Those were some of the things the 76ers were planning to use as they hit Miami for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday at 7.

Joel Embiid? That is one thing that they will not necessarily have.

After a workout Wednesday in which he was filmed shooting, Embiid was declared “doubtful” for Game 3. The center has not played since a March 28 on-court collision with Markelle Fultz that left him with a cracked orbital bone. Surgery was successful, but the recovery continues.

The Sixers haven’t cleared Embiid medically. Yet since the Sixers had declared him “out” before Games 1 and 2, the “doubtful” designation is a slight upgrade. Brett Brown will take the sheer possibility of a return of the AllStar center as a positive.

“If you gave me the choice of this uncertainty vs. the possibility that he will play,” the Sixers’ coach said, “I’d take ‘possibility’ all day, every day.”

Given the style of their 113-103 loss in Game 2 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers could use the physical presence of Embiid as soon as possible. Playing with a tone that some might call ice hockey, the Heat literally shoved and grabbed the Sixers out of their preferred pace. Since there is no reason for the Heat to become less likely to batter them around, the only thing the Sixers can do in Game 3 is execute with more precision.