Joel Embiid returned to the court for the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat and he did not disappoint, both on the court and with his appearance, as many fans enjoyed making jokes about his protective mask.The Sixers defeated the Heat 128-108 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, and Embiid ruled the court with his very unique mask on, as he scored 23 points with seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, three blocks, and was 5-of-11 in shooting from the field.While the Philadelphia center had a great game on the court, most fans watching the game took notice of the unique protective mask he was wearing to protect his face after he suffered a facial fracture on March 28.Embiid’s mask was black and appeared to have goggles built into the carbon-fiber frame, which many NBA hadn't seen before and took note of on social media.Many fans drew comparisons between Embiid's mask and the mask of Batman, the Black Panther, Bane, Star Wars' Kylo Ren, and WWE superstar Kane.

Embiid did say after the game that the mask bothered him several times during the contest, as he revealed to ESPN: "At the end of the day, no matter how much it bothers me I still got to be a basketball player. If the shots aren't falling or it gets foggy and I can't see, you know, there's a lot of different stuff I can do."

The mask itself got some attention during the game when Heat's Justise Winslow intentionally stepped on the goggles that were connected to it in what looked like an attempt to break it. Embiid wasn't bothered by this though, as he knew something which Winslow didn't, he had plenty more masks ready to go if one broke.

"Justise stepped on it and tried to break it with his hands, but little do they know I have about 50 of them. So it's going to take much more than that to get me out of the series."

Game 4 between the Sixers and the Heat takes place this Saturday afternoon.

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