NEW YORK _ You had to know Joel Embiid would miss a playoff game sooner or later.
The 76ers center had missed 14 of the final 24 regular-season games with tendinitis in his left knee. So it wasn't surprising that he missed Game 3 of the Sixers' opening-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.
How the team would respond was the major question.
It turns out the Sixers were just fine in a 131-115 victory Thursday night at the Barclays Center. The Sixers have a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 will be 3 p.m. Saturday.
Greg Monroe got the start at center in what was just his fifth game a Sixer. Philly signed the 6-foot-11, 265-pounder on April 4. At the time, team officials said the move had nothing to do with Embiid's health problems. They said it was to add another veteran in the frontcourt.
However, Monroe was sure used Thursday as if he was an insurance policy.
The ninth-year veteran finished with nine points and 13 rebounds in 24 minutes, 33 seconds. He had a subpar shooting performance, making just 4 of 13 shots.
But the Sixers didn't need him or Embiid on this night.
JJ Redick and Tobias Harris put on a 3-point-shooting clinic, while Ben Simmons starred as the villain.
Simmons apparently wasn't bothered by being booed every time he touched the ball. The All-Star point guard responded with a playoff-career-high 31 points on 11-for-13 shooting to go with nine assists and four rebounds.
The Nets fans booed Simmons because of his response to Brooklyn reserve forward Jared Dudley's calling him an "average" player in the half court.
"That's coming from Jared Dudley. Come on," the 22-year-old said dismissively Wednesday when a reporter asked his thoughts Thursday.
Harris has a knack for excelling on nights when Embiid doesn't play. This was one of those nights. The power forward finished with playoff-career highs of 29 points and 16 rebounds. He made all six of his 3-pointers.
Redick made 5 of 9 3-pointers to finish with 26 points. Sixteen of his points came in the third quarter, when he made 4 of 6 3-pointers. Redick and Harris combined to make all 11 of the Sixers' 3-pointers in 27 attempts.
Jimmy Butler (16 points) and reserve center Boban Marjanovic (14 points, eight rebounds) were the Sixers' other double-digit scorers.
Caris LeVert and D'Angelo Russell paced the Nets with 26 points each.
Embiid was ruled out 15 minutes before the start of the game. He had been a game-time decision in the first two games of the series.
The Cameroonian said his knee was getting better, slowly but surely.
"But we have to be smart how we handle it every single day," he said. "I am sure these guys wouldn't let me get on the court if there was a chance of anything bad happening. So I have to trust the process."
