76ers expect series to get more intense
Embiid, Simmons will not shy away from playing physical against Heat.
MIAMI — The Philadelphia 76ers say they’re ready for whatever the Miami Heat want to throw at them in Game 4 today, whether that’s elbows, forearms or anything else. As for throwing center Hassan Whiteside at the 76ers? That’s not even on their radar enough to say they’re ready for him.
“I don’t care about him,” Philadelphia center Joel Embiid said Friday.
Embiid has played only one game in this series while coming back from an orbital bone fracture but
already has made more of an impact than Whiteside managed in three games. Embiid has turned Miami’s $98 million man into an afterthought by scoring 23 points in the 128-108 victory Thursday night, while Whiteside has averaged 3.7 points and
4.0 rebounds in the series.
“That was huge for us,” 76ers guard Ben Sim-
mons said of Embiid’s return. “To have him back on the floor, it changes the game completely. He changed a lot of shots and offensively he did what he always does. He scores the ball.”
After tearing apart the Heat for 130 points in Game 1 and nearly matching that on the Heat’s court in Game 3, the 76ers are both bracing for and embracing the knowledge that Game 4 could be even uglier than Thursday night, when three sets of double technical fouls and 56 personal fouls were called.
As his players warmed up for practice at the American-Airlines Arena, coach Brett Brown leaned against a courtside table and said, “There’s a bigger issue” he was going to address with his team than “how we’re going to defend (Goran) Dragic on this play.”
The bigger issue, naturally, was how his maturing team was going to keep its composure. Could we see four sets of technicals? Fifty-seven fouls?
“My experience in the play- offs says that it’s only going to get more (physical),” Brown said. “We all know what we think (coach Erik Spoelstra) would be telling his team, what I would be telling my team, if we lost at home: ‘We sort of reclaim serve. They took something from us, we took something from them.’ ”
Embiid says mask and all, he’s ready to (legally) rumble.
“I feel like I’m one of the most physical players in the league,” he said. “I love contact. I love attacking. I love going to the free-throw line. We just have to come in, try to punch them in the mouth early.”
Embiid went so far as to mock the alternative style of play, virtually spitting out the phrases “everybody’s soft” and “just trying to look pretty.” Pretty, to him, is a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series. Regardless of the price.
“I feel sore, whole body,” Embiid said of his first action in the 76ers’ past 11 games. “I need about five massages today. But it’s the NBA.”
Simmons, on the other hand, appeared relaxed as he looked forward to another tussle.
“Throw it back at them,” he said. “I’m not worried about that. I can hold my own. I know everybody on my team can hold their own.”
The key, he said, is know- ing where to draw the line.
“You’ve just got to play smart,” Simmons said. “You could still be physical and play smart, but you just can’t be that guy going out and making dumb plays.”