Embiid certainly didn’t put on a monster performance, but his participation alone ensured that the Floridians’ defensive space allocation was very different from that of the first two games.
For example, their own centre, Bam Adebayo, who was brilliant in the first two games, suddenly had to be much closer to the Cameroonian and was therefore no longer able to turn to “easier targets” in the cover game.
This finally allowed James Harden a little more freedom of movement, which he immediately used to retrieve his best performance of this series with 17 points! I expect the same from the ex-Nets player in Game 4!
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However, Harden wasn’t the only one who benefited from Joel Embiid as a “bait” for heat defense. The man of the game was Danny Green, who had been in hiding in this series until then, and who suddenly managed to convert seven of his nine three-pointer attempts.
Namely, Miami pulled more staff to the board due to the mere presence of Joel Embiid. This gave the Sixers backcourt the opportunity to run the ball nicely around the arch and take many open threes!
So it’s almost secondary whether the 76ers’ Cameroonian puts on a monster performance or not. ‘Cause as long as he’s standing where he’s standing the Heat can no longer close in on their teammates!
