LOS ANGELES, US — Philadelphia’s star center
Joel Embiid returned from injury to help the re-energized 76ers beat the Miami
Heat 99-79 on Friday, clawing back a game in their NBA playoff series.
اضافة اعلان
Luka Doncic and the
Dallas Mavericks also avoided
falling into a 3-0 hole with a 103-94 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Embiid missed the Sixers’ double-digit losses in the
first two games against Miami after he suffered a concussion and orbital
fracture in the first-round, series-clinching win over Toronto.
With his return confirmed just shortly before
tip-off in Philadelphia, Embiid scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as
the 76ers trimmed the deficit in the best-of-seven
Eastern Conference series to
2-1.
“I tried to push as much as I can, I’m glad that we
got the win,” said MVP candidate Embiid, who played in a protective mask but
was still clearly hurting when he took a hand to the face late in the game.
Danny Green drained seven of his nine three-point
attempts on the way to 21 points for
Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey scored all 21
of his points in a scintillating second-half performance.
Maxey picked up the slack after former MVP James Harden
keyed the Sixers before the break, when he scored 15 of his 17 points.
Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 33 points. Tyler
Herro added 14 off the bench but point guard Kyle Lowry, back after missing
four games with a hamstring strain, didn’t score.
While Embiid took time throughout the game to wipe
his face and the inside of the mask, he ran the court and did not shy away from
contact, his presence making a difference in a Sixers defense that held Miami
to their second-lowest points total of the season.
Embiid, who is also playing with torn ligaments in
his right thumb, certainly showed signs of rust and, late in the game, fatigue.
The Cameroonian, who was unable to do conditioning
work while suffering concussion symptoms during the week, said he expects to
improve.
“I didn’t think I had a lot of energy, honestly,”
said Embiid, who said he dealt with “a bunch” of concussion symptoms during the
week.
“I was really trying to really get through it and
kind of just use my presence out there as a decoy.
“I feel like what I pride myself on is really
defensively and I feel that’s where my presence is really felt on the defensive
end so that’s one of the main reasons why playing I thought I could have a huge
impact.”
Up by four after the first quarter, the Sixers led
41-32 at halftime and never trailed in the second half.
After the Heat tied it at 57-57 in the third
quarter, Maxey made his first basket of the night – a three-pointer – then came
up with a steal and a layup that pushed the lead to 62-57.
Embiid drove through traffic to score at the rim and
Philadelphia took a 68-65 lead into the final period that they pushed to 75-65
in the opening minutes of the fourth.
Both Philadelphia and Dallas avoided falling into a
3-0 hole. No
NBA team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven
series.
Both teams will try to level their series when they
host game fours on Sunday.
Mavs get job done
In Dallas,
Luka Doncic came
up just shy of a triple-double with 26 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.
And the Mavs’ Slovenian star finally got some support as Jalen Brunson scored
28 points to lead five Dallas players to score in double figures.
Most importantly, the Mavericks clamped down
defensively on the top-seeded Suns, who were harried into 17 turnovers.
Jae Crowder led the Suns with 19 points while star
point guard Chris Paul – celebrating his 37th birthday – was held to 12 and
Devin Booker scored 18.
The Mavericks out-scored the Suns 50-32 in the paint
and led them 16-10 in fastbreak points.
“We played with pace and we played defense,” Doncic
said.
“When we get stops, we’re a different team. If we
play like this every game, we have a chance.
“Phoenix is an amazing team, they’re the number one team.
It’s going to be tough to beat them any time, but we did our job today.”
Read more Sports
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
