Joel Embiid back for 76ers, Kyle Lowry back for Heat in Game 3 of playoff series
Both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat will be at full strength for Game 3.
The 76ers will get All-Star center Joel Embiid back and the Heat will get starting point guard Kyle Lowry back for Friday’s game at Well Fargo Center. Both Embiid and Lowry will start for their respective teams after missing the first two games of the second-round series.
Embiid was listed as doubtful for Game 3. But Embiid took the court for warmups about an hour before tip-off before the 76ers formally cleared him to make his return.
76ers coach Doc Rivers said there won’t be a hard minutes restriction but “we just have to watch conditioning and how he looks on the floor.” Embiid, who was already playing through a torn ligament in his right thumb, has not played in a game since suffering a right orbital fracture and mild concussion in last week’s April 28 series-clinching win over the Toronto Raptors in the first round.
Embiid cleared the NBA’s concussion protocol and participated in the 76ers’ shootaround session on Friday morning. He’ll wear a protective mask in Game 3 and likely the rest of the series for his orbital fracture.
“Well, you do have to go through that process,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday of preparing for Embiid’s return ahead of Game 3. “We started before Game 1 with that process before we knew that he would for sure be out. At least just checking that box. Then we just put it to the side for a couple of games. But I mentioned even before the series started that this series could very well take on three or four different changes during the course of it. He’s a big change, figuratively and literally.”
Without Embiid, the 76ers were forced to start 33-year-old veteran DeAndre Jordan at center in his place in the first two games of the second round. Miami outscored Philadelphia by 56.7 points per 100 possessions with Jordan on the court.
Embiid’s return should help solve some of Philadelphia’s problems against Miami. The 76ers have been 21.5 points better per 100 possessions with Embiid on the court this postseason, as Philadelphia has outscored opponents by 12.2 points per 100 possessions with him playing and has been outscored by 9.3 points per 100 possessions with him not playing in the playoffs.
But the Heat is receiving its own boost in the form of Lowry’s return. Lowry, who sat out the last four games, had two weeks to recover since suffering the hamstring injury in Game 3 of the Heat’s first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks on April 22.
The Heat posted a 4-0 record in the four playoff games that Lowry missed.
With Embiid and Lowry back, both the Heat and 76ers will have their full rosters available.
The Heat, which leads the second-round series 2-0 over the 76ers, owns a perfect 18-0 all-time record in playoff series that it has taken a 2-0 lead in.
“The bottom line is it’s not easy to win in the playoffs. We don’t want to duck any kind of competition,” Spoelstra said. “We expected Philly to be at full health at some point and we want to take on that kind of challenge.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 12:09 PM.
