Jimmy Butler, Erik Spoelstra Praise Joel Embiid After Dominant Showing

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat met for a second time this season this weekend. This time around, the two teams faced each other down in South Beach for a Saturday night matchup. Earlier in the year, the Sixers failed to capitalize against an undermanned Miami team.

This time around, Sixers center Joel Embiid made sure his team didn't get put away as the Heat were much healthier than they were in that December matchup.

At first, Embiid started the night off slow. The All-Star big man shot just 1-6 from the field in nine minutes in the first quarter of action. It was clear that frustration was getting the best of the big man as he couldn't get comfortable on the floor.

When he checked in for nearly eight minutes in the second quarter, Embiid wasn't much better. Going 2-5 from the field, the Sixers center collected four points before halftime and entered the third quarter with just seven points.

Lately, Embiid's been on a tear, but it seemed his Saturday night performance was trending towards becoming a quiet one. But as we've learned throughout this season, clutch-time Joel Embiid is dangerous to his opponents.

Turning it Up

When Philly came out in the third quarter, Embiid played for all but 21 seconds. He was nearly perfect from the field as he hit on four of his five shots. From the charity stripe, Embiid went 4-4 and wrapped up the third quarter with 12 points.

His third-quarter performance was nearly flawless, and his fourth-quarter showing was no different. Going 5-6 from the field and 3-3 from the line, Embiid racked up another 13 points. He finished the night with a game-high of 32 points in 36 minutes and earned praise from his opponent on Saturday night.

The Heat Take Notice

"[He scored], rebounded, forced guys to help," said Jimmy Butler. "Be the dominant player that he has been for a very long time. . . He did that."

"Great players do great things, and he certainly did that tonight," said Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. "We had a lot of different coverages, different guys covering him. He showed pretty much his full skillset tonight. His ability to face up, which made it a little bit tougher sometimes to get to him, but he has that shooting ability and that touch where he can do that."

Embiid's dominance and versatility helped the Sixers pick up their 25th win of the season on Saturday night. While the team continues working on improving their overall chemistry, the Sixers can feel confident in their star center's continuous growth as Embiid has been steadily dominant throughout this stretch.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.