Joel Embiid was heated during his first career playoff game. He often took out his frustrations on his new mask, tossing it to the ground when he was fouled or when he didn’t like the feel of his facial protection. He took it out on Justise Winslow and the Miami Heat as well, shoving him to the floor and blocking him en route to a Game 3 win that put the Philadelphia 76ers up 2-1 in their series.
Embiid had 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in 30 minutes of action on Thursday night in what was a 128-108 win in Miami and a statement from Philadelphia.
He also saw Winslow try to break his mask by stepping on it after he chucked it on the floor. After the game, though, Embiid had a message for the Heat: there are more masks, and he plans to use them to be a menace all series long.
https://twitter.com/KyleNeubeck/status/987157485160157185
It’s a great line from Embiid about the Heat in general, but he did save particular ire for Winslow, who Embiid warned should not be talking trash his way.
Embiid on blocking Winslow after the latter did the same to him at the other end: "I’m glad I got him back and kind of shut him up a little bit." Says Winslow was jawing a lot all game, but, "you don’t really want to talk trash to me."
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) April 20, 2018
The only beef that was missing on Thursday night was with Hassan Whiteside, who had his own bone to pick with his coaching staff’s decisions on offense. Those should get settled soon enough, though. The real enemies in this one are well established. These two teams don’t like each other at all, to the point where Embiid is unironically quoting reality show contestants about his desire to win.
"We're not here to make friends. We're here to win the series." – Joel Embiid
— Jessica Camerato (@JessicaCamerato) April 20, 2018
Thankfully, we have a long way to go in this series before it’s over. If any of the games match what Game 3 brought us, we’re in for some serious fun.
