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Joel Embiid returns as Sixers race past Heat in 4th quarter to take Game 3

Adrian Fedkiw|

He’s back!

And thankfully Joel Embiid brought more than one mask with him to South Beach.

Embiid had 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in his return from a 10-game absence following his left orbital bone fracture and the No. 3 seed Philadelphia 76ers raced past the sixth-seeded Miami Heat in the fourth quarter to take Game 3, 128-108, and a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series at American Airlines Arena on Thursday night.

The Sixers outscored Miami 32-14 in the fourth quarter to turn a tightly-contested affair into a rout. There were 17 lead changes through the first three frames, with each team shooting over 50 percent from the field and beyond the arc prior to the start of the fourth. That’s when Philadelphia clamped down defensively, limiting Miami to 5-of-19 from the floor in the pivotal period.

Embiid, who finished 5-of-11 from the field and 10-of-15 from the foul line, was definitely rusty to start, at least on the offensive end. He didn’t record his first basket until the 1:30 mark of the second quarter when he knocked down his first of three triples and missed his first five shots. Embiid, however, made a big impact in the fourth quarter where he poured in seven of his 23 points and continuously altered Miami’s shots on the defensive side of the floor.

The mask that Embiid wore was a first of it’s kind. It was made out of carbon and polycarbonate, with goggles built into them, but Embiid had his first mask break.

Miami’s Justise Winslow stepped on the second mask when goggles broke apart.

Embiid admitted after the game that the Sixers have about 50 masks, so Winslow can attempt to break as many as he pleases.

Justise stepped on it and tried to break with his hands. But little did he know we have about 50 of them. It’s going to take much more than that to get me out of these series. I’m going to be a nightmare for them.

Ben Simmons flirted with another triple-double, tallying 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Dario Saric and J.J. Redick each posted 21 points and sunk a quartet of 3-pointers for the Sixers, who tied their franchise playoff record with 18 threes after setting it in Game 1. They were 18-of-34 from beyond the arc after going just 7-of-36 from long distance in Game 2.

Philly led 98-96 heading into the fourth and used a 12-2 run to separate from the Heat for good. Embiid netted the final seven points of the swing to give the Sixers a 119-105 advantage with 3:32 to go. Simmons helped put the exclamation point on the proceedings with this dunk following a sweet look from Marco Belinelli.

The game got chippy at times, with six technical fouls called, included a double-technical involving Dwyane Wade and Justin Anderson where Wade grabbed Anderson’s arm and took him to the ground.

Wade, who had 28 points to pace the Heat in Game 2 on 11-of-16 shooting, was limited just eight points on 2-of-10 efficiency in this one.

Game 4 set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

 

You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.

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