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Tim BontempsESPN
PHILADELPHIA -- Joel Embiid has been upgraded to doubtful for Game 3 of the 76ers' Eastern Conference semifinal against the Miami Heat on Friday night as he continues to progress toward a possible return to the court.
Embiid cleared the NBA's concussion protocol and participated in the team's morning shootaround at its Camden, New Jersey, practice facility -- the first steps toward his return from the facial fracture and concussion he suffered when he was hit in the head by an elbow from Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam late in Game 6 of Philadelphia's first-round series last week.
The team said Friday morning Embiid was still out, but that his status could change as the day progressed. He was then upgraded to doubtful on the team's official 12:30 p.m. ET injury report to the league.
"We're just preparing to win the game," 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey said after the shootaround. "Hopefully he plays. If he plays, great. If he doesn't play, he doesn't play, and we're just preparing as [if it's] another game -- a game that we have to win."
With the concussion protocol behind him, Embiid still needs to be cleared to play through the facial fracture, which would require him to wear a mask for the game Friday night. Embiid has been through this before, missing three weeks in 2018 -- including the first two games of Philadelphia's first-round playoff series against the Heat -- after colliding with teammate Markelle Fultz and suffering a left facial fracture and concussion.
Philadelphia struggled without Embiid, who last month was named a finalist for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award for a second consecutive season, in the two games in Miami. The 76ers went a combined 14-for-64 from 3-point range and had no answer for Miami All-Star center Bam Adebayo, who averaged 23.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 71.4% shooting. Both games were comfortable Heat victories.
The Heat, meanwhile, continue to wait and see whether Kyle Lowry, who has missed the past four games with a hamstring injury, will be able to play in Game 3. The Philadelphia-born Lowry, a former Villanova star, had been listed as out for Games 1 and 2 after suffering the injury in Game 3 of Miami's first-round series victory over Atlanta, but was upgraded to questionable Thursday.
Miami didn't hold a shootaround Friday morning, and Lowry's status still hasn't changed.
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May 07, 2022 at 01:17AM
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Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid clears concussion protocol, listed as doubtful for Game 3 - ESPN
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