Joel Embiid Says He's Going to Be a Nightmare After Justise Winslow Breaks Mask

Miami Heat forward Justise Winslow may come to regret purposefully stepping on the protective mask belonging to Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.

"Little do they know I have about 50 of them," Embiid said after Thursday's 128-108 victory, per Jon Johnson of SportsRadio 94WIP in Philadelphia. "It's going to take much more than that to get me out of this series. I'm going to be a nightmare for them too."

Embiid missed the first two games of Philadelphia's first-round NBA playoff series while recovering from an orbital fracture of his left eye.

The 2018 All-Star returned Thursday after the team fitted him with a special mask that included a plastic visor over his eyes. He encountered some problems with the mask early on, when the plastic piece fell off in the middle of the game.

In a nice piece of gamesmanship, Winslow made sure to step on the piece:

The move didn't exactly work, as Embiid finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 30 minutes on the court.

Even worse, Winslow might have poked the proverbial bear by trying to sabotage Embiid's mask. A healthy Embiid will be hard enough for the Heat to stop. Now, Miami might be facing a healthy and angry Embiid when the series resumes Saturday.