Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Masked man on hand to try to arrest Heat rash
PHILADELPHIA » His head clear, his face protected by a shield, his spirit alive Friday as the Sixers tried to ignore desperation, Joel Embiid was in the starting lineup for Game 3 of a second-round playoff series against the Miami Heat.
Though he was listed as “out” as recently as Thursday and was rated “doubtful” as late as the mandatory 5 p.m. injury report Friday, Embiid was declared ready to play after a mild engagement in pregame warmups.
Embiid had been hit with a Pascal Siakam elbow late in the deciding Game 6 of a first-round series in Toronto last Thursday, suffering a concussion and damage to his right orbital bone. While the fracture could have been protected at any time, Embiid needed to clear NBA concussion protocols before being permitted to return. That, he did sometime Friday afternoon.
Thus, the Sixers would be fully staffed as they rolled to a 99-79 victory over the Heat to draw within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. No NBA team has ever recovered from an 0-3 series deficit.
Not that they would be alone in the NBA, but the Sixers’ day-long secrecy was on brand. And while coach Doc Rivers predictably characterized Embiid as a game-time decision Friday evening, there were an avalanche of signals and reports by then that the Sixers were not going to play a critical Game 3 without their best player.
Embiid would play 36 minutes, shoot 5-for-12, collect 11 rebounds and score 18 points.
“Obviously, I wasn’t good tonight,” Embiid said. “I can be much better. So hopefully every single day I can get better.”
When he took the floor for an early warmup about a half-hour before tipoff, Embiid received loud applause from the early-arriving fans.
“Any plan where you have Joel as a part of the plan is a much better plan,” Rivers allowed. “So we don’t mind that.”
Since Rivers were being coy about Embiid’s return, he was not able to turn it into a pre-game celebration. He was rightly concerned, however, with the center’s conditioning, as the concussion regulations prevented him from doing much, if any, high-tempo cardio work for more than a week.
“The only thing with Joel,” said Rivers, “is that we have to watch his conditioning and how he looks on the floor.”
The Sixers were overwhelmed without Embiid, the NBA’s leading scorer in the regular season, in the first two games, falling by a combined 30 points. Despite their stealth approach to injury news, Heat coach Eric Spoelstra promised he would be ready either way.
“You’re talking about an MVP talent,” he said. “He changes the equation quite a bit. You have to plan for it. It would be irresponsible not to.” • • • While they played the first two games of the series without their MVP candidate, the Sixers were not alone in being short a potential Hall of Fame player. The Heat was without sixtime All-Star and 2019 NBA championship point guard Kyle Lowry due to a hamstring injury.
Lowry, however, was cleared to play and was in the starting lineup Friday.
“It doesn’t mean much for us, but for them it just adds another guy,” Rivers said. “I don’t think that changes the way we guard anybody or guard anybody any different. It just gives them a veteran All-Star.”
Lowry, a 15-year veteran, averaged 13.4 points in the regular season and 8.3 points in the Heat’s opening-round series victory over Atlanta.
“He’s a battle-tested guy,” Spoelstra said. “He is somebody all season long that we have turned to, particularly in the moments of truth. As many guys as you can have available will help in the playoffs. That goes without saying.”
Spoelstra said Lowry, who was listed as “questionable” on the final report, was not on any predetermined minutes restrictions.