SIXERS COOL HEAT
Simmons’ triple-double, Embiid’s 14 help Philly go up 3-1
MIAMI — Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid certainly aren’t acting like playoff first-timers, and JJ Redick provided the veteran leadership that Philadelphia so desperately needed.
The 76ers might very well be the NBA’s team of the future.
And that future might be starting sooner than many envisioned.
Simmons was the first rookie to since Magic Johnson in 1980 to have a playoff triple-double — 17 points, 13 rebounds 10 assists — and Redick led Philadelphia with 24 points as the 76ers moved one win from the second round by topping the Miami Heat 106-102 on Saturday to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
“I’m shocked that we won this game,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said. “We really didn’t have a right to win the game.”
Here’s why he said that: His team turned the ball over 27 times, shot 7 for 31 from 3-point range and trailed by 12 late in the third quarter in an extremely hostile environment against a desperate opponent. Despite it all, the 76ers were unfazed. Philadelphia turned a 10-point deficit into a seven-point lead with a 19-2 run that ended midway through the fourth quarter, then absorbed the best shot Dwyane Wade could throw at the 76ers in the final minutes before heading home with a chance to close the Heat out in Game 5 on Tuesday.
Wade led all scorers with 25 points off the Heat bench, 12 of them coming in the fourth. But it wasn’t enough.
Joel Embiid finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia. “We took care of business,” Embiid said. Wade carried the comeback effort, with the Heat down six and less than 2 minutes left. His three-point play cut the margin in half and his next two field goals got Miami within one each time. The Heat got no closer. Goran Dragic scored 20, James Johnson had 15 and Hassan Whiteside finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which now needs to pull off some history. The Heat have erased a 3-1 deficit only once, in 1997 against New York.
TIMBERWOLVES 121, ROCKETS 105
Jimmy Butler hit four 3-pointers among his 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns snapped back from a bad start to the series with 18 points and 16 rebounds, leading the host Minnesota Timberwolves past the Houston Rockets in Game 3 for their first postseason victory in 14 years.
Jeff Teague scored 23 points and Andrew Wiggins pitched in 20 points with another four 3-pointers, helping the Timberwolves match the fire-away Rockets from behind the arc and cruise down the stretch behind a 50 percent shooting performance.
Derrick Rose added 17 points off the bench for the Wolves, who will try to even the series with a win in Game 4 on Monday night. James Harden led the way with 29 points, but Chris Paul fouled out with 17 points and the Rockets went just 15 for 41 from 3-point range.
PELICANS 131, TRAIL BLAZERS 123
Anthony Davis scored 33 of his franchise playoff-record 47 points in the second half, and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a firstround playoff sweep of the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
Jrue Holiday capped his 41-point performance with an 18-foot pull-up jumper that gave the Pelicans a six-point lead with 40 seconds left. Rajon Rondo added 16 assists, and Davis also had 11 rebounds and three blocks for New Orleans.
C.J. McCollum scored 38 for the Trail Blazers. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 27, Damian Lillard added 18 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.
JAZZ 115, THUNDER 102
Ricky Rubio had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Utah’s first playoff triple-double in 17 years, and Donovan Mitchell added 22 points to lead the host Jazz past the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.
POP WON’T COACH GAME 4
Gregg Popovich won’t coach the San Antonio Spurs in their possible series finale against the Golden State Warriors as he grieves the death of his wife.
Spurs assistant Ettore Messina coached San Antonio in Game 3 and will again Sunday afternoon.
Erin Popovich passed away Wednesday from a long-term illness. Gregg and Erin were married four decades and have two children and two grandchildren.
“We probably are in a better situation emotionally and hopefully it fuels us,” Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said after practice Saturday. “But it’s hard to tell how a team is going to react.”
Golden State won 110-97 on Thursday night for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
CURRY CLEARED TO PRACTICE
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been cleared to take part in modified practices but will be out at least one more week with a left knee injury.
Curry is recovering from the grade 2 left MCL sprain that has sidelined him since March 23. —AP