The set-up: The Houston Rockets had the best regular season of any NBA team but the Philadelphia 76ers have stolen most of the headlines "down the stretch" with the team's 16-0 run to close the regular season. The final eight games in the team's winning streak came with Philly's All Star center Joel Embiid (22.9 & 11.0 in the regular season) sidelined with an orbital fracture.The 76ers opened their first round series (with Embiid still sidelined) by routing the Heat by 27 points but their 17-game winning streak came to a crashing halt in Game 2, as the Heat won 1113-103. Embiid had posted an Instagram message before Game 2 that strongly indicated his desire to return, indicating that he was being "babied" by the team staff, and he participated in portions of practice the next two days. Still, Embiid's status for Game 3 remained 'cloudy.' "It's still moving forward," head coach Brett Brown told reporters Tuesday. "What I can say is there is a very unified effort with his representation and the people around him. With the people that did the operation, the doctors, with our medical staff, with the team, with me, the coaching staff. We're all doing this. There's a unified sort of spirit and line of communication." However, Ebiid would start Game 3 and had 23 points and seven rebounds as the 76ers routed Miami 128-108. As the teams get set to meet again at AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday, the Heat will need to corral Embiid but Miami also needs to get its center, Hassan Whiteside, more involved.

Philadelphia: Naturally, Embiid was Game 3's biggest storyline, as he adjusted to wearing a mask to protect the healing eye bone and had an excellent game under the circumstances (he had missed 10 consecutive contests). However, let's not ignore rookie PG Ben Simmons and second-year PF Dario Saric. Saric led Philly with 30 points in Game 3 and is averaging 21.3 & 7.0 in the series. As for Simmons, he's averaging 20.0-10.0-9.7 in his first three career playoff games (does he think he's Magic?). Philly's depth is impressive, led by SG Belinelli (20.7) and PF Ilysova (13.0 & 9.3).

Miami: Whiteside played just 13 minutes on Thursday, in part because of foul trouble. He contributed just five points, two rebounds and one block. "I want to get more minutes," said Whiteside, who led the NBA with 3.7 blocks in 2015-2016 and with 14.1 rebounds last season. "Even with the fouls, I could've been out there. I would not have fouled out." Whiteside is averaged 14.0 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks during the regular season but his minutes per game were down seven minutes from last season and even more in the playoffs. Whiteside said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra "wants me to just be in a corner and set picks." Meanwhile, Spoelstra said "it's part of my job to figure out how he can get to his strengths and make an impact on defense and rebounding." Will (can?) Miami fix this? Miami was led by point guard Goran Dragic's 23 points and eight assists (his second straight 20-point game) and from reserve forward Justise Winslow scored a season-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. However, Miami's top three shooting guards -- Tyler Johnson, Dwyane Wade and Wayne Ellington -- combined for just 21 points.

The pick: With Philly up 2-1 in the series, the outcome of this Game 4 will either put Philly in a commanding position (up 3-1) or a Miami win will portend a possible seven-game 'war.' The teams four regular season meetings averaged just 204 points and this pivotal Game 4 brings out the defensive side of both clubs. With the total currently right around 215, the play is an 8* on the Under.