NBA playoffs: Sixers bounce back with Game 3 win in Joel Embiid's return

It appears having Joel Embiid back can really help a team.

Behind the return of their MVP-candidate center, the Philadelphia 76ers won Game 3 of their second-round series against the Miami Heat 99-79. The win cuts the Heat's series lead to 2-1, setting up a pivotal Game 4 on Sunday in Philadelphia.

Embiid had missed the first two games of the series after sustaining an orbital fracture and concussion in the final game of the Sixers' first-round series against the Toronto Raptors. He was cleared from the NBA's concussion protocol early Friday, then took the floor with a black mask to protect his fractured face.

It had been a tough week for Embiid, as he told ESPN after the game:

The big man finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes, second most on the team. Danny Green and Tyrese Maxey tied for the Sixers lead in scoring with 21 points each, Green on 7-of-9 shooting, all from deep, and Maxey on 7-of-11 shooting.

After two games of Heat domination, the Sixers defense clamped down a side that was returning an All-Star of its own in Kyle Lowry, who went scoreless in 25 minutes after dealing with a hamstring strain. The Sixers held the Heat to 27-of-77 shooting from the field (35.1%).

It was almost a wire-to-wire win for Philadelphia, which never trailed after the game's first four minutes. The Heat managed to tie the game in the third quarter after trailing by double digits, but the Sixers responded with a barrage of timely 3-pointers to put the game away.

The Sixers' most concerning moment came late in the fourth quarter, when Embiid took a clearly painful shot to his fractured face from Heat center Bam Adebayo.

Embiid stayed in the game for less than a minute after that, as Sixers fans started celebrating a win in a series that was looking dangerously close to a potential sweep.