Sparked by Embiid’s return, Sixers answer Doc’s challenge
PHILADELPHIA » Out of much else to say, out of any more defenses to attempt, almost out of both patience and time, Doc Rivers went to the lastchance coaching approach Friday as the Sixers hit a critical point in their history.
Aware that his players had the talent to compete with the Miami Heat — and any other team, too — Rivers challenged the Sixers’ spirit. He questioned their want-to. He ordered them to fight in Game 3 of a second-round NBA playoff series.
“Miami, so far, has been the more physical team,” Rivers said before a 9979 victory Friday. “And by ‘hitting’ we don’t mean ’80s-style hitting. We mean being the first to the ball and being the first to the floor.”
If they could get to the floor for loose balls, the Sixers could open the floor and enjoy better shots. If they could enjoy better shots, they would win the early advantage. If they could win the early advantage, the Wells Fargo Center crowd could help. And mostly, if they could achieve all of that, they could prove they have a trait that they have been lacking for years.
So, they did, playing with a passion they lacked in the first two games in Miami and too often, too, in the series against the inferior Toronto Raptors, drawing within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
In the first quarter, the Sixers took 13 of the 20 rebounds, played enough smothering defense to limit Miami to 7-for-20 shooting and earning seven fastbreak points. Of particular note, they permitted zero second-chance points. They opened the game as if they knew their season was in peril, rarely missing a defensive assignment, giving up on a rebound or surrendering a 50-50 ball.
With their shooting crooked in Miami, better defensive play was their only chance.
“When we’re in these games where we’re not making those shots,” Tobias Harris said after Game 2, “we’ve got to figure out a way where we can garner that energy.”
Friday, there was one other power source. That would have been the reemergence of Joel Embiid from a two-game absence to recover from a concussion and a broken right orbital bone, the result of a collision with Pascal Siakam late in Game 6 at Toronto. For that, Embiid had to wear a protective mask.
“Guys play with goggles and masks and I don’t know how they do it, with those things moving
around,” Rivers said. “But he is. And I am happy he is out there.”
Still showing discomfort with the ball due to a torn ligament in his shooting-hand thumb, Embiid was something less than himself, shooting just 5-for12 for 18 points. But the very presence of the strong MVP candidate was a lift, if even just with the way he was able to protect the rim.
“With him, they are not going to just dominate us on the glass,” Rivers said. “And when you drive, you see Joel Embiid. That’s a force. We can switch things. And that’s just on the defensive end. I’m not even talking about the offensive end.”
Embiid was a difference-maker on defense,
helping to limit Bam Adebayo, who scored 47 over the two games in Miami, to nine.
“I was so happy to see that No. 21 hanging up in that locker room, with his mask and whatever,” Tyrese Maxey said. “He’s a soldier, man. He’s a soldier. Mask. Concussion. Face broken, which will make him even uglier now. He’s just resilient. He’s the MVP for a reason. It was a testament to his will to win.”
The Sixers would not be pushed around, literally or otherwise. With 10:16 left, noted Miami pest P.J. Tucker elected to whack Matisse Thybulle in the back with an elbow, causing not only Thybulle to push back but inspiring
Georges Niang to become the third man in. Offsetting technicals ensued, and so did the Heat’s effective surrender, the Sixers scoring 27 of the game’s final 41 points.
After being abused around the basket in Florida, the Sixers outrebounded the Heat, 4435, Friday. Their defense — Thybulle’s effort on Tyler Herro being the signature contribution — forced Miami to miss 50 of its 77 shots. And this time, it was Miami that couldn’t hit from distance, clanking 23 of its 30 three-point attempts.
“We had to be aggressive,” Embiid said. “And I still don’t believe we’ve played our best basketball yet.”
As the playoffs continue, that will be difficult. Coaching adjustments, more desperation and more inspired defenses will make every game tighter. If so, though, the Sixers know what to do.
“That game is over,” Maxey said. “In the next one, we just have to bring the fight to them again. I said it after Game 2: Go straight at them. Don’t play with them. Attack them. Attack them and put them on their heels instead of being a counterpunching team.”
On a night when they had little choice, the Sixers did exactly that.