CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Philadelphia 76ers may have a bright future, but Joel Embiid is more excited about the team's present.
"I think our time is now," the All Star center said on Monday. ".... We have a special team, a lot of great guys. I don't think we need anybody else. We've just got to work with what we have. We have a special team, and I feel like we have a pretty good chance to go far."
The Sixers have a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Miami Heat. The club has a chance to close the series in Game 5 at home on Tuesday night. If they win, the Sixers will advance to the second round for the first time since 2012.
Embiid's quote about the Sixers not needing anyone else may have been a reference to future free agents. The Sixers, who are projected to have significant cap space this summer, have been named as one team that may interest LeBron James if he tests free agency. But Embiid certainly didn't mention James -- or anyone else -- on Monday.
The 7-foot center is focused on playing his first playoff game at home on Tuesday after missing the Sixers' first two playoff games, and 10 games overall, with an orbital fracture. He said on Monday that he's looking forward to the atmosphere at Wells Fargo Center, where the Sixers have won 25 of their past 27 games dating back to the regular season.
"It just shows you how much we need them," Embiid said of the home fans. "Especially myself, I play better in that type of environment. I need the fans to get into it and push me. That makes me elevate my game."
After scoring 23 points in his first game back from injury, Embiid had 14 on 2-for-11 shooting in the Sixers' Game 4 victory over Miami. The club had 26 turnovers in that game, with eight coming from Embiid.
"We've got a lot of stuff we need to work on," said Embiid, who averaged 22.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 63 games in the regular season.
The 24-year-old did say that he is still getting used to playing with the mask and goggles that are required to protect his orbital bone. Sixers coach Brett Brown chalked up some of Embiid's turnovers to playing with the mask and to his long layoff.
"Hopefully it gets better, but I don't think I've gotten used to it," Embiid said of the mask, calling it '"annoying" and "weird." "... But it can't be an excuse. I have to get used to it."
Brown knows that his team will have to deal with more physical play from the Heat in Game 5. Game 4 featured a skirmish involving several players, and each team was whistled for three technicals in Game 3.
"Their last memory here was winning and they did it with a certain [physical] style," Brown said of Miami's Game 2 victory. ".... We get it; you don't have to be a wise man to know what is about to happen."
In a more general sense, Brown believes his young Sixers aren't done developing.
"I'm sure I'm biased but I feel, as I look at the playoffs and I look at our team, that we have as much room for growth as anybody. I think we have more room for growth," said Brown, whose team is led by Embiid and 21-year-old Ben Simmons. "I look at that as a real exciting opportunity. You sort of go through college and now here we are in grad school, if you will, and we have a chance to learn a lot more. And we need to."
Brown noted that the Sixers need to take care of the ball in Game 5. Embiid hopes to continue to improve his rhythm on offense following a three-week absence from the court.
"If we end up finishing [the series on Tuesday], then we get another couple days of just practices, and that would be a good time to get used to it and get back in the flow with my teammates," he said. "But when the offense is not working well for me I can do a lot of things, be a beast defensively, offensively set screens, roll and get offensive rebounds, play with energy if the shots are not falling. So there is a lot of stuff that I can do offensively. But I think the main thing, especially when it doesn't go my way, is to be a beast defensively."
Embiid has been effective on defense since returning to the court. He had 12 rebounds and five blocks in Game 4, when he helped limit Miami to 19 fourth-quarter points.