Butler hoping Embiid is able to play in series
While basketball pundits and fans speculate how long Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid’s absence will be in the upcoming secondround series between them and the Heat, his former Sixers teammate Jimmy Butler isn’t dwelling on what potential advantage it could bring his side.
“I feel bad for my guy. Obviously, my former teammate, arguably the MVP of this league,” Butler said after Miami’s practice on Saturday afternoon. “I think I speak for everybody that’s a part of this team, we want Joel to play. We want to go up against them at full strength and prove that we can beat anybody. I hope he recovers well and gets back very, very soon.”
There’s no specific timetable as to when Embiid, who suffered a fracture to his right orbital bone and entered concussion protocol in Philadelphia’s Game 6 series-clinching win against Toronto on Thursday, could return to action. The injury occurred when Embiid took an elbow to the right side of his face from Raptors’ Pascal Siakam on his drive to the basket.
Embiid, who suffered a similar injury on the opposite side of his face in 2018, is expected to miss at least Monday’s Game 1 and possibly more depending on what specialists determine regarding the severity of the injury and whether surgery is required.
According to multiple reports, the belief is Embiid will not require surgery but will miss at least five days due to concussion protocol. He is expected to be re-evaluated next week.
Embiid, an MVP candidate, is averaging an NBA-best 30.6 points per game as well as 11.7 rebounds per game.
The Sixers are 6-8 this season without Embiid, but one of those victories came against the Heat on March 21st in Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers in that game with 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
The Heat is 2-1 this season against Philadelphia when Embiid is in the 76ers’ lineup. In 15 career games against the Heat, Embiid has averaged 23.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game while shooting 49.4 percent from the field.
On the offensive end, Embiid’s absence puts more of the focus on
James Harden as well as his and others’ ability to create scoring opportunities for Tobias Harris and Maxey.
The Heat just did a masterful job for five games shutting down
Trae Young in its series victory over the Hawks, and Embiid’s absence would give Miami’s switching defense one less threat to worry about.
But where Embiid’s potential extended absence figures to be felt most is on the defensive end.
The Sixers have struggled defensively without Embiid, allowing 119.6 points per 100 possessions with DeAndre Jordan playing center.
“I’m not an analytics guy, but I was told that they’re a much better team whenever he’s on the floor. And that should be,” Butler said. “The way that he draws double, triple, quadruple, I think it’s called ‘quint’ teams, as in all five guys are guarding him. And he makes the right plays as well. But he’s been doing this for a long time. He’d get my vote for MVP. It’s going to be a challenge, but they beat us once without him.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday that his team is narrowing its focus to what challenges Philadelphia will present without Embiid on Monday night.
“Right now we’re going to compartmentalize and just focus on Game 1, which is the way it should be anyway,” Spoelstra said. “You have to be prepared for changes that inevitably happen, whether it’s this change or another change. I believe that our team has a lot of experience dealing with a lot of variables and changing the goalposts and dealing with it with steadiness of our approach. And it starts with deep respect for what we’re trying to accomplish and for the competition which our guys have, and it’s hard not to have that respect when you bring up the names they will have available.”
CLOSER TO FULL STRENGTH
On the flipside of the injury front, Butler said the two days off following Miami’s Game 5 win over Atlanta were beneficial for the entire team and hinted he should be ready to return to action on Monday. Butler sat out Game 5 with a sore knee.
“We have one more day in between to get more treatment and get out there and rip and run, but I know [my knee] will be ready to hold up on Monday,” said Butler, who was seen shooting jumpers mostly from three-point range toward the end of practice.
It remains unclear whether Kyle Lowry, who has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, will be ready to play Monday.
Heat guard Tyler Herro, who sat out Friday’s practice with what he described as a cold, did not practice on Saturday either, but said he expects to be cleared to play Monday night.
“My little one got the whole house sick,” Herro said. “We’re all under the weather right now.”
BUTLER NOT SURPRISED BY FINE
Butler said he wasn’t surprised when he was fined $15,000 for making an “obscene gesture” while celebrating from the Heat’s bench during Game 5 against Atlanta. The Heat was later fined the same amount for posting footage of Butler’s “gesture” online, which it later deleted.
“I’m not surprised. They’d be trying to fine me anyways,” said Butler, who said with a smile that he’d get P.J. Tucker to pay for the fine. “I blame Spo for this. He always says to celebrate everybody else’s success. Max [Strus] went on a 10-0 run, so I celebrated.”
When asked if Butler would change the way he celebrates on the sidelines, Butler answered: “[Heck] no.”
Andre C. Fernandez: @FernandezAndreC