Joel Embiid is back ... wearing an indestructable mask with goggles ... and winning playoff games for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Slowly, gently, The Process unfurls its splendor
We have that and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Embiid played for the first time in a month after breaking his face on Markelle Fultz’s mysterious shoulder in the regular season. Embiid had exited the NBA’s concussion protocol earlier this week and expressed frustration he didn’t play in Game 2, won by the Heat. The Sixers unleashed him and his cutting-edge mask on Thursday.
Unsurprisingly, the Sixers were even better with Embiid than they have been without him (which is still darn good). Philadelphia won, 128-108, with most of the margin coming in the fourth. Embiid finished with 23-7-4-3-1 in 30 minutes.
Sure, the teams play again Saturday, and Erik Spoelstra is brilliant, so Miami could totally even up the series. But I want to fast forward to Game 5 so Embiid can get back in front of his home crowd. What a scene that’ll be.
Thursday’s Scores
Sixers 128, Heat 108
Philadelphia leads 2-1
Recaps: Liberty Ballers | Hot Hot Hoops
Pelicans 119, Blazers 102
New Orleans leads 3-0
Recaps: The Bird Writes | Blazers Edge
Warriors 110, Spurs 97
Golden State leads 3-0
Recaps: Golden State Of Mind | Pounding The Rock
Friday’s Schedule
Cavaliers at Pacers, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Series tied 1-1
Raptors at Wizards, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Toronto leads 2-0
Celtics at Bucks, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Boston leads 2-0
Links on Links on Links
Look folks, the New Orleans Pelicans are not messing around. They took the Portland Trail Blazers to the woodshed again. Alvin Gentry had to pull his starters early in the fourth up like 30 to avoid injury. Nikola Mirotic rocked Portland hard. Anthony Davis rocked Portland hard. Rajon Rondo rocked Portland hard. I mean, Darius Miller probably would have been the third most productive Blazer! We got to see a little Jordan Crawford and Emeka Okafor in garbage time! The Blazers have not a single answer for what is happening to them. It’s kind of incredible, really. Also, shout out to whoever booked Juvenile!
Dave Deckard, as even-keeled and sober a Blazers fan as there is, thinks this Portland disaster spells the end of this era of Blazers basketball. There’s some great context in there for how recent playoff efforts have fallen short.
(Good news for sad Portlanders: Ripped City Vol. 2 — an NBA Jam tournament and comedy night — is happening Friday. Blow those worries away ...)
The Warriors won. There’s really not much to say about this series.
Paul Flannery on The Process being ahead of schedule. And Kevin Arnovitz on how Philly cracked the culture code.
Tom Habestroh on NBA players’ fancy water obsession. I drink tap water almost exclusively, in part because I am privileged enough to live in a community with healthy, good tap water. Also, because I don’t make an NBA salary.
I broke down why the Thunder went ice cold at the end of Game 2. The reason is 85 inches tall and speaks with a French accent.
Cool Mike Prada breakdown of Anthony Davis’ massive defensive impact all over the dang floor. I watched Game 3 with this at front of mind and ... yep, it checks out. Dude is incredible.
One more unprecedented thing Donovan Mitchell has done: made the Jazz popular!
Great piece from Mike Finger on what Gregg Popovich carried and never revealed.
After two playoff games, we can tell this is a different DeMar DeRozan.
Mike Budenholzer has removed himself from consideration for the Suns’ job. That’s either going to be an awkward return to Atlanta, or he has his eyes on another gig ... like perhaps Milwaukee.
And finally: Michael Jordan getting beat in a game of 1-on-1 by a 45-year-old banker at Flight School in 2003.
Be excellent to each other.
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