Just can't keep him down
Injured Embiid's battling display helps 76ers snap Hawks' winning home run to take 2-1 series lead
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Despite playing with an injured knee, Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid (on the ground) scored 27 points, in his side's 127-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of their semi-final series. PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES • Joel Embiid received knocks and fell over several times on Friday night in Atlanta, but like all other National Basketball Association (NBA) star players, he kept rising to his feet.
The Cameroonian finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Philadelphia 76ers ended the Atlanta Hawks' run of good fortune at home with a 127-111 win in Game 3 of their NBA Eastern Conference semi-final series.
The teams split the first two games in Philadelphia, but the Sixers dominated on Friday to grab a 2-1 series lead and halt the Hawks' 13-game winning streak at home.
Tobias Harris added 22 points, Ben Simmons tallied 18 points and seven assists, and Furkan Korkmaz drained three of six from beyond the arc for the Sixers in front of a crowd of 16,400 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Embiid had a couple of hard falls but nothing serious.
"I'm okay," said the centre, who is playing with a cartilage tear in his right knee.
"I'm standing up. I'm walking. I finished the game. So I'm gonna keep getting back up. I'm going to keep fighting. That's been me since I've been playing basketball."
The Sixers had a scare in the third quarter when he limped and looked to be in pain after he snatched a rebound. It appeared that he had stepped on Clint Capela's foot and turned his ankle in the process.
"He's playing hard," Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said on ESPN. "He's giving us everything. He is going through a lot."
Game 4 is tomorrow in Atlanta.
Philadelphia shot 58 per cent overall and an impressive 47 per cent from beyond the arc, making 10 of 21 compared to Atlanta, who made just six of 23.
They also once again contained the Hawks' rising star Trae Young, who finished with 28 points in 37 minutes of playing time. John Collins scored 23 points and Capela had eight points and 16 rebounds in the loss.
Elsewhere, Devin Booker scored 28 points and Chris Paul added 27 and eight assists as the Phoenix Suns seized a commanding 3-0 lead over the Denver Nuggets with a 116-102 road win.
"We are peaking at the right time. The regular season prepared us for these games," Booker said.
Deandre Ayton had 10 points and 15 rebounds, Jae Crowder scored 14 and Mikal Bridges added 11 for Phoenix, who can sweep the best-of-seven series today in Denver and reach the Western finals for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
"It is not going to be easy, we expect their best, and we are going to give our best too," said Crowder of the possible close-out game.
Nikola Jokic, who received his NBA Most Valuable Player award before the game, had 32 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LA CLIPPERS V UTAH
Game 3: StarHub Ch202, 8.30am
