With Embiid in lineup, 76ers regain series edge

A masked Joel Embiid scored 23 points in his postseason debut, Marco Belinelli and Dario Saric each added 21, and the 76ers beat the Heat 128-108 on Thursday night in Miami to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference firstround series.

Game 4 is Saturday afternoon.

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 the Sixers extend their lead to 14 and send many in the crowd to the exits.

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 the new accessory needed to be swapped out at least twice.

Goran Dragic scored 23 points for the Heat and Justise Winslow added 19. After scoring 28 points Monday in Philadelphia to help the Heat even the series, Dwyane Wade shot just 2 of 10 for eight points.

Two other missing persons on offense were Hassan Whiteside and Wayne Ellington. The foul-plagued Whiteside hit his only fieldgoal attempt and finished with five points, while Ellington, the Heat’s singleseason leader in made 3s with 227, shot 1-for-5 with three points.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who missed Game 3 of his team’s Western Conference firstround series versus the Warriors following the death of his wife Wednesday, received an outpouring of support from people in and outside of the NBA.

Former President Bill Clinton, former NBA greats Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, and Kacy Sager, daughter of the late TNT broadcaster Craig Sager, all reached out to Popovich on Twitter. In a postgame interview Wednesday night, Cavaliers star LeBron James fought back tears as he called Erin Popovich’s death “devastating news."