The Philadelphia 76ers took a 2-1 lead on Thursday night after a big fourth quarter against the Miami Heat gave them a 128-108 victory.
The Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat played a tough Game 3 but in the end, the Sixers prevailed, 128-108. They got a victory in big man Joel Embiid‘s return to the court Thursday night.
It was a back-and-forth affair for the first three quarters of play. The Sixers led by four points after one, but the Heat led by a point at halftime. In the third quarter, it was more of the same as Philadelphia took the lead back. They led by two points entering the fourth quarter and then everything started to click.
Philadelphia ran away with things in the fourth quarter as rookie Ben Simmons led the charge. He finished the game with another double-double (19 points, 12 rebounds) along with seven assists and four steals. Simmons continues to assert himself on both ends and answered every challenge the Heat threw his way.
In the end, the Philadelphia 76ers showed how good of a team they can be with Joel Embiid on the floor. They also didn’t shoot as poorly from behind the 3-point arc as they did in Game 2, when they shot 7-for-36 (19.4 percent). This time around, they were 18-for-34 (52.9 percent) from downtown. Here’s a look at three takeaways from their Game 3 victory over the Miami Heat.