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No word on Joel Embiid's status for Game 3

Brett Brown said Monday that the Sixers have no announcement regarding Embiid's status for Game 3.

Center Joel Embiid and forward Ersan Ilyasova take shots during warm-ups ahead of Game 2 of the Sixers’ first round series against the Miami Heat Monday.
Center Joel Embiid and forward Ersan Ilyasova take shots during warm-ups ahead of Game 2 of the Sixers’ first round series against the Miami Heat Monday.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Another day, another Joel Embiid update.

The 76ers lost to the Miami Heat, 113-103, Monday at the Wells Fargo Center in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series. It marked the 10th consecutive game that Embiid has been sidelined since fracturing the orbital bone near his left eye on March 28 against the New York Knicks.

"He really hasn't done anything like feeling a body," Brett Brown said of the all-star center before Monday's game. "We're slowly trying to move into the script, 5-on-0 stage.

"But to have any announcement on Game 3, that's not going to happen because we don't know. It's just moving along."

Game 3 will be Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. The series is tied, 1-1.

Embiid is still not a full participant at practice. He watches the scripted scrimmages, which are the equivalent of shootarounds. He does, however, participate in team shooting drills and individualized workouts.

"But as far as practices and really feeling somebody, that hasn't happened," Brown said. "And I don't know if that will happen tomorrow."

Solid additions

Marco Belinelli said he and Ersan Ilyasova didn't discuss teaming up as Sixers after Belinelli received his buyout from the Atlanta Hawks.

Belinelli signed with the Sixers on Feb. 12. Fourteen days later, Ilyasova received his buyout from Atlanta with the intent to sign with the Sixers. He reunited with Belinelli on Feb. 28.

"I'm really happy to play with him right now, because he knows how to play basketball," Belinelli said. "He knows how to play defense. So I'm just happy to play with him."

The sharpshooting duo has had a big hand in the Sixers' success. Before Monday's game the team was 21-3 since Ilyasova's addition. They had won 17 straight games.

Being able to help a team was part of what lured Belinelli to the Sixers.

"When I chose to come to Philly I was looking at all of the players on the team, the players that were coming [off] the bench or whatever," he said. "So from my standpoint I was really happy to go here and help the team be a better team. That's it."