On May 1, Beijing time, the 76ers and the Heat conducted team training to prepare for the G1 of the two-side series. Embiid suffered a fractured right orbit and a minor concussion and has no comeback schedule. There was widespread question about Rivers' move to keep Embiid on the field when he was leading by a big score, and Rivers defended himself in a post-training interview. Heat star Butler expressed sympathy for former teammate Embiid and stressed they want to beat the 76ers with a full lineup.
With 3:58 left in the 76ers' G6 against the Raptors, Embiid was hit in the eye by Siakam during a defensive break and left the court injured. At the time, the 76ers led by 29 points. Why not replace Embiid sooner? This question appears in the minds of many people.
In response to this question, Rivers defended himself in an interview. He said the Raptors were still using their starters and had planned to replace Embiid after that defensive round.
"Everybody was still there. The main force of the other team (the Raptors) is there. "After Embiid threw that ball and made the airplane celebration move, if you watched the game, I turned around and said I was going to call a timeout in the next round. Look at every game, every team and player, usually in the last 3-4 minutes to replace the main player. Unexpectedly, misfortune happened at this moment, and before Rivers could call a timeout, Embiid had already been hit in the eye socket by Siakam's elbow.
Without Embiid, what about Philadelphia's center position? Rivers said he plans to give all four interior players a try, and the small-ball lineup is under consideration. The four he mentioned were Reed, Jordan Jr., Millsap and rookie Bussi. He also highlighted Harden. "I think Harden is going to be more aggressive in terms of scoring, it's okay, he can score, but he's also an organizer and we want to make sure he has a good projection lineup around him."
The Heat also arranged training, Butler with a sore knee appeared in training, Lowry and Hiro, who had previous injury problems, also participated in training, and the Heat's core lineup is expected to participate in G1. Speaking about the injury of former teammate Embiid, Butler said: "I feel sorry for my brother (Embiid), obviously, he is my former teammate and can be said to be the MVP of this league. I think I can take a stand for everybody on the Heat team, we want Joel [Embiid] to play, we want to beat them in the full lineup and prove that we can beat any team. It's an unfortunate one and I hope he recovers well and gets back on the pitch soon. ”
Butler added: "I'm not a data expert, but I've been told that as long as he's on the court, the 76ers are a better defensive team. I guess the same goes for the offensive end. He can attract multiple people and I'll vote for the MVP. Even without Embiid, this is a tune-up because they beat us in Embiid's absence. ”
The Heat and the 76ers G1 will start at 7:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 3, and Embiid is expected to miss this game.