The Sixers, still leading by five points at 2:15 of the buzzer, finally beat the Nets on the wire, whose chances now of going to the next round are slim.
Embiid, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds in that game, hit a crucial block in the money time with eight seconds left and Philadelphia just two points ahead.
Jacque Vaughn, the coach of the Nets, got carried away, deeming it scandalous to see that Embiid was still on the floor when he thought he should have been ejected for kicking Nic Claxton when the latter had thrown him to the ground after a dunk in the first quarter.
"For a player to be allowed to continue playing after intentionally kicking, I've never seen it before in my career," he said.
The Sixers, however, were prematurely deprived of James Harden, ejected after shoving Royce O'Neale who was shooting to the basket at the end of the third quarter. The Nets, meanwhile, lost Claxton to a second technical foul after having trouble with Embiid.
Mikal Bridges of the Brooklyn Nets shoots the basket during Game 3 of the 1st round of the NBA playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 20, 2023 in Brooklyn © Sarah Stier / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
"We have become one. We always kept playing, despite everything that happened," Embiid said after the important win.
"There's a lot we didn't do well. But we hung in there and won," said Doc Rivers, his coach.
Warriors still alive
Tyrese Maxey also played a very important role in the Sixers' victory, scoring 10 of his 25 points in the final quarter, during which his game-winning basket with 45 seconds left hurt the Nets, giving his team a three-point lead 99-96.
Mikal Bridges, with 26 points, was the leading scorer for the Nets, who are likely to disappear in the 1st round of the playoffs, as last year.
In the Western Conference, the defending champion Golden State Warriors have closed the gap and are now only leading 2-1 after their 114-97 home win over the Sacramento Kings.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors attacks the basket against the Sacramento Kings during Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs on April 1, 20 in San Francisco © EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
"We had a tough start losing both games in Sacramento," said Curry, a four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, who had never been in the situation of being led 2-0 in a playoff series.
In the absence of Draymond Green, suspended for one game after trampling Lithuania's Domanta Sabonis on the ground in Game 2, Curry led the Warriors to a clear victory by scoring 36 points.
In Los Angeles, the Phoenix Suns took the lead for the first time in the series against the Clippers, where they lead 2-1 after beating the Californian team, deprived of Kawhi Leonard, victim of a sprained right knee, 129 to 124.
In a spectacular game, where the Suns managed to resist the Clippers' comeback late in the game, Devin Booker and Norman Powell shone: the former by scoring 45 points for the Suns with a 62.1% shooting percentage, the latter by scoring 42 for the Clippers at 65.2% shooting success.
© 2023 AFP