Heat’s Winslow fined for intentionally stepping on Embiid’s mask in Game 3

Justise Winslow has been fined $15,000 for intentionally stepping on and trying to break Joel Embiid’s facemask in the Miami Heat’s Game 3 playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

The league office handed down the fine Friday night after reviewing film of the incident, which took place with 7:51 left in the first half.

“He kept throwing it on the ground,” Winslow said. “So I don’t know if he didn’t like it or what. But I was talking to Jojo. We were smack talking, trash talking, going back and fourth. But no love lost.”

Embiid, who played for the first time since fracturing his orbital bone on March 28 when he collided with teammate Markelle Fultz, said Winslow’s efforts were futile anyway.

“Little do they know, I have about 50 of them,” Embiid said. “It’s going to take much more of that to get me out of the series. I’m going to be a nightmare for them, too.”

Sixers coach Brett Brown thought the whole incident was amusing.

“It’s part of the game. It’s good for the game. It’s playoffs," Brown said of Winslow. "Justise is good people. He's highly competitive. It’s part of the game. That’s the NBA playoffs. You can see the spirit in which both teams played. It wasn’t any other word but physical. It was physical for the whole game. That example with Justise probably is as good as an example of just the mindset everybody had.”

Game 4 is Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

everybody had tonight.”I

This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 11:18 PM with the headline "Heat’s Winslow fined for intentionally stepping on Embiid’s mask in Game 3."