DAVIE, Fla. -- Josh Rosen didn't really know his time with Arizona Cardinals was over until he got a call a few minutes before the draft, and he's embracing the adversity after being shipped to the Miami Dolphins for pennies on a dollar. Rosen is treating 2019 as a one-year tryout to prove to the Dolphins that he can be their answer at quarterback.

"Very rarely do you get a second chance to make a first impression," Rosen said. "It felt like I got drafted twice."

Rosen made a strong first impression in his first appearance in Miami. He didn't shy away from questions. He spoke about the emotions of Arizona drafting Kyler Murray and dumping him in Miami. He defended himself against criticism that he was a bad teammate and leader.

"I think I'm a really good teammate. What I've tried to do is not say or do anything extra, just kind of be me and keep my head down, and eventually the story will straighten out," Rosen said. "I think it has for the most part. Time and consistency are the best medicine to cure the narrative.''

Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Rosen will have to "earn" the Dolphins' starting quarterback role over journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick, a competition Rosen is embracing. The 22-year-old said he believes he's coming in as the backup "on paper."

So expect an open competition this summer between Chosen Rosen and FitzMagic, with Flores picking the best man for the job.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier is expecting a newly motivated Rosen after all that has transpired and been said about the quarterback over the past week.

"I don't think my chip has got to grow anymore. I might tip over," Rosen said, laughing.

Dolphins offensive coordinator Chad O'Shea and quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell will try to maximize Rosen's skill set. Rosen, a top-10 pick last year, will need to make a big leap after finishing last season with the NFL's worst passer rating (66.7).

Rosen's talent is still there, the potential excites Miami and opportunity is certainly plentiful

The Dolphins haven't had a Pro Bowl quarterback since Dan Marino 23 years ago, the longest drought in the NFL. Rosen would be the 20th quarterback to start for the Dolphins since Marino retired in 1999.

"I'm aware of the situation," Rosen said. "Hopefully I can follow in some semblance of his massive footsteps."

But Rosen's first step won't be replacing Marino. It'll simply be beating out Fitzpatrick, who certainly won't go down without a fight.

This is a chance for Rosen to prove the Cardinals and everyone who counted him out wrong, and in turn he could prove the Dolphins' great value bet on him to be the acquisition of the year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW YORK -- Jurors in a federal criminal trial involving college basketball corruption on Monday heard a wiretap recording of a telephone call between defendant Christian Dawkins and business partner Munish Sood, in which Dawkins alleged that Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller "fronted" a deal to ensure the Wildcats signed former star center Deandre Ayton.

During the telephone call, which FBI wiretaps intercepted on June 2, 2017, Dawkins and Sood discussed how much it was going to cost for them to sign Ayton as a client in their new sports management company once he turned pro.

Sood testified on Monday that he and Dawkins were already paying then-Arizona associate head coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson to influence Wildcats players and recruits to sign with their firm.

"[Richardson] already made it clear you're gonna get, or we're gonna get, the No. 1 pick next year, assuming he's No. 1," Sood said during the call.

"It's going to be more money than what they, what Book said, I mean because I talked to Sean," Dawkins told Sood. "Sean's the one that fronted that deal. So it's going to be some money, but I mean we'll figure that out."

ESPN reported in February 2018 that FBI wiretaps intercepted a call between Dawkins and Miller, in which the Arizona coach discussed a $100,000 payment that secured Ayton's commitment to the Wildcats. At the time, Miller disputed the report and denied ever paying a recruit to sign with Arizona.

Last week, federal prosecutors played a surveillance recording of a meeting on June 6, 2017, in which Dawkins -- who is on trial for having allegedly bribed college coaches -- talks about Ayton and says Miller told him, "I'm taking care of everything myself. I wanna bring you in. I'll turn everything over to you."

Former financial adviser Marty Blazer, a cooperating witness for the government, was present at the June 2017 meeting and testified last week that the reference was about Miller "taking care" of payments for Ayton.

Ayton, a 7-foot-1 center from the Bahamas, spent one season at Arizona before the Phoenix Suns selected him No. 1 overall in the 2018 NBA draft.

Sood, who pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to the case, testified that Richardson accepted a $5,000 bribe during an initial meeting in New York on June 20, 2017. In return, Richardson promised to steer current and future Arizona players, including Ayton, Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier, to Dawkins' company.

"You're going to get Rawle Alkins, he's going to be a first-rounder," Richardson told Sood and others during the meeting at a New York hotel. "Allonzo Trier, you should get him. Deandre Ayton, we're working on him."

At one point during the recording, Richardson told Sood and the undercover FBI agents that Dawkins told him, "I wish I was a pimp and you were a prostitute. You'd make millions for me." Richardson said Dawkins also ridiculed him for using his own money to pay recruits.

"You make a quarter of a million dollars a year and you're broke," Dawkins told Richardson.

In July 2017, Richardson asked for an additional $15,000 from Dawkins and Sood to give to the mother of 2018 recruit Jahvon Quinerly of Hackensack, New Jersey. Richardson said he planned to make three payments of $5,000 each and would also pay her $10,000 of his own money.

"So Mom is like, 'How's this gonna work? I wanna move to Tucson,'" Richardson told Sood and an undercover FBI agent during a July 20, 2017, meeting at Sood's office in Princeton, New Jersey. "So I said, 'Look, you don't want to move to Tucson. It's a nice vacation spot. It's hot.

"'This is what I'll do. This is what I can do for you to put you in a situation to move to Tucson. ... I don't want the NCAA [expletive] with us. You should take two or three more visits and then shut it down. And then as soon as you do that, you commit."

Quinerly, the No. 7 point guard prospect in the Class of 2018 according to ESPN Recruiting, committed to Arizona over Villanova in August 2017.

After Richardson was among 10 men arrested by the FBI in September 2017, Quinerly decommitted and played at Villanova this past season. He announced in April that he is transferring to another school.

Richardson also said during the recording that he was making $2,000 monthly payments to Rodney Labossiere, Alkins' cousin, who was living with him in Tucson.

"His cousin moved to Tucson, which I'm highly against," Richardson said. "I never want the parents or anyone to move there. I'll give you two grand a month to make sure it works. But he brought him, his wife and his child. Wrong move."

During one of the recordings, Richardson also told the undercover FBI agents that LSU coach Will Wade attempted to hire him. At the time, Arizona and LSU were involved in a recruiting war for forward Nazreon Reid of Asbury Park, New Jersey.

According to Richardson, Wade told him, "Look, there's a deal in place. I got $300,000 for him."

Richardson said he responded, "S---, give me half and I'll make sure the kid goes there."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder general manager Sam Presti said Monday "we anticipate Billy [Donovan] being back," in reference to whether the team's head coach will return next season.

Presti said he has not officially met yet with Donovan but plans to do that in the coming days, leaving the door cracked for something to change. Asked to clarify if "anticipate" means Donovan will be the coach next season, Presti said that's his expectation.

"I wouldn't expect anything to change," he said. "I haven't had the chance to sit down with him. I do think getting his perspective on things is important because there's nobody that works harder than him. If anything, I think he needs to take some time to think through the season himself and have a really good conversation."

Donovan is entering the last year of a five-year contract he signed when he was hired by the Thunder in 2015 after the franchise fired Scott Brooks. The Thunder exercised a team option for the 2019-20 season on Donovan's contract last December.

The Thunder had a "disappointing" and "frustrating" season, Presti said, bowing out in the first round in five games to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Thunder were 37-19 at one point in the season, but stumbled down the stretch, finishing 49-33. Presti said he viewed the season as 70 percent good and 30 percent bad, but it's also the third consecutive first-round exit for the Thunder.

"I don't think you can discount the fact that we got our ass kicked in the playoffs," Presti said. "There's no getting around that. But I think anyone objective and anybody that is more than a momentary problem solver would probably take a step back and look at the whole thing. To try to answer your question, it's to say, I don't have that answer, and I would think that if I did, you shouldn't listen to me because I would just be coming in here with an emotional perspective, which as a leader I can't do that."

Donovan has guided the Thunder to the playoffs in all four seasons at the helm, including the Western Conference finals and a 3-1 lead over the 73-win Warriors in 2016 (the Thunder lost the series in seven games, and then Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in free agency). The Thunder then won 47 games, 48 games and 49 games.

"When we were going through the Western Conference playoffs in 2016, within two minutes of going to the Finals, I thought he did an excellent job," Presti said." I don't think he's any different than he was there."

Presti noted the Thunder's defensive improvements this season (fourth in defensive rating), a stated offseason goal for the team, and Donovan's proficiency in after-timeout plays.

"I think he does a really good job," Presti said of Donovan. "But these jobs are really hard. You can draw up the best plays or you can put together what you feel is a really good team, and sometimes it doesn't come to fruition because there's so many other competing factors and forces that are at play. And so ultimately it's whether or not all of us -- when I say that, I mean every single person in the organization -- can we try to get the most out of what we have. You know, that's a unified thing."

Donovan is said to have a solid relationship with his players, particularly with Russell Westbrook and Paul George, who both gave positive comments about their coach last week.

"I've never had a problem with Coach Donovan," Westbrook said. "We've always been straightforward with each other and always had a good communication of respect for each other's jobs and respect for how hard we both work at what we want best for this team."

Said George: "I think that's the best thing about Billy is he takes our input, and it's always an open dialogue, and he's open with coaching and adjustments. It's great communication with Billy."

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks spent the 82 games of the regular season, followed by the four more it took them to dispatch the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, playing one way. Doing so allowed the Bucks to post the NBA's best record, and Giannis Antetokounmpo to produce a season that has him likely to win this year's Most Valuable Player award.

But then came Sunday's blowout loss at the hands of the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals -- a loss that gave away home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series, and reignited doubts from around the league about whether Milwaukee's playing style and personnel are good enough to back up its regular-season performance.

If there were any questions about whether the Bucks had their confidence shaken by the loss -- and, as a result, felt a need to change what they are doing -- Antetokounmpo emphatically answered them following Monday's practice.

"Definitely not," he said when asked whether the Bucks need to make big changes to their game plan to respond to how the Celtics played. "We're just going to keep doing what we've been doing all year. I don't think we should change at all. Why should there be a change after a game that we lost? We should not be the team that made the adjustment.

"We are going to come out and play our hardest and see how Game 2 goes. If it doesn't go well for us, then you can think about adjusting. But right now, we are not adjusting nothing. We are just going to play. Be us. Go out there and compete."

If there was a consistent theme from all who spoke at the Bucks' practice here at their gleaming facility Monday afternoon, it was that the level of energy and effort -- and not the game plan -- was the biggest thing that needed to shift from Game 1 to Game 2.

Antetokounmpo included himself in that group, saying he needs to play harder -- and that his family, and specifically his older brother, called him out for not playing hard enough in Sunday's loss, in which he shot 7-for-21 from the floor.

"My older brother usually doesn't call me after games," Antetokounmpo said. "But he was like, 'You got to play harder. You have to help your team and play hard.' [He] definitely told me that.

"Coach [Mike Budenholzer] told me that I've got to put more effort, I've got to be more aggressive, I've got to find my teammates, I've got to do a million things we talk about. That's what I do. I'm going to try to keep getting better and come out tomorrow and do what I've got to do."

Throughout this season, the Bucks have been a team that has made no secrets about how it was going to approach each game. Offensively, the goal was to get the ball in Antetokounmpo's hands, surround him with floor-spacing shooters and let him go to work. Defensively, shots at the rim and behind the 3-point arc were to be prevented; anything in between needed to be contested, but was preferred.

In Game 1, though, neither worked. The offense was stifled by Boston's defense, led by an exemplary performance by Al Horford against Antetokounmpo. The defense, meanwhile, allowed the Celtics to shoot 54 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from 3-point range, while Boston also went 15-for-27 on midrange shots -- season highs in both makes and attempts this season.

The Bucks have relied on the math at both ends of the court working in their favor all season. They are anticipating that will return to form in Game 2 -- thus eschewing the need to dramatically alter their approach.

"I think just some of our basic stuff defensively, offensively," Budenholzer said. "I think just our activity, I think the competitiveness that we need just wasn't where it needs to be.

"We just got to play better. Give credit to Boston, obviously they impacted how we played. They played well. We got to impact them more. They played well; we didn't. We need the opposite in Game 2."

The lack of effort was noticeable enough that Budenholzer lit into the team during its pre-practice film session analyzing what took place during Sunday's game.

"He chewed us out," said Eric Bledsoe, who went 1-for-5, including missing all four 3s he took, in 25 minutes in Sunday's loss. "He chewed us out during film today. ... Film don't lie, so people can say what they want, but once they get on film they can see what really happened. Bud and his staff do a great job of watching a lot of that and see where we can pick it up."

As the Bucks made clear Monday, they think the biggest thing they need to pick up is their energy and effort after they said they flatlined in both areas in Game 1. But it would certainly help if they also made some shots. Bledsoe was just one of several culprits on that front. Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Nikola Mirotic combined to go 9-for-13 from 3-point range. The rest of the Bucks, however, went just 4-for-26 behind the arc.

"You've got to keep shooting the shots you've shot all year," Antetokounmpo said. "We've been playing basketball, a lot of guys have been playing basketball since they're 8 years old, 9 years old. So if you miss a shot, it's nothing. You can fix that.

"Like for me, I don't care if I miss shots. If I don't play hard enough, that's what I care about. I know my team is going to be ready to knock down shots tomorrow, and I'm going to be ready to knock down shots tomorrow. Not to put pressure on anybody but what I really care about is what we do as a team.

"We're going to go out there and play really hard. Whether we make shots or miss shots, we're going to play hard."

One thing that won't happen -- at least in Game 2 -- is Malcolm Brogdon returning from the torn plantar fascia in his left food that has sidelined him since mid-March. While Budenholzer said Brogdon continues to progress, he won't be available Tuesday night, though the door seems to be left open for him to return when the series shifts back to Boston for Game 3 on Friday night.

"He continues to get better," Budenholzer said. "No setback as we go day-to-day. He went longer and harder today, so I think we're all hopeful he comes in tomorrow feeling good. He looks a lot like Malcolm that we've known.

"I think he and I are very much on the same page. He's very much on the same page with the medical. We'll see how these four, five days -- now we're three or four into them -- and evaluate him at that point and assess what the next step is."

For Boston, Aron Baynes said the rolled ankle he suffered in Game 1 was "bloody annoying" but that he would be ready for Game 2. The Celtics officially listed him as questionable. Marcus Smart, meanwhile, remains out, with Celtics coach Brad Stevens saying there will be no update on a timeline for his return from a torn oblique until Smart actually returns to practice.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The referees got two no-calls correct in the final seconds of the Golden State Warriors' 104-100 Game 1 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday, according to a review by the league.

But three calls that were deemed incorrect that went against the Rockets will only increase the furor from Houston, especially because the league ruled that Steph Curry should've fouled out with 1:10 left. Curry instead stayed in the game and hit a crucial 3-pointer with 24 seconds left.

The NBA's official last-two-minute report said that Curry got away with a personal foul on James Harden on a play that ended in a turnover with the Rockets down 100-95 when Harden stepped out of bounds after making contact with Curry.

"I don't have a reaction," Harden said Monday at the Rockets' practice. "It doesn't do anything for us now."

The Rockets have been frustrated with the officiating against the Warriors over the past two seasons and late Sunday leaked a detailed report on a litany of missed calls that the team had filed to the league office.

The officials did get it right on a potential tying 3-pointer by Harden with 10 seconds left that missed after Draymond Green challenged the shot. It was deemed to be a correct no-call. Harden landed on Green and fell to the floor.

Chris Paul secured the rebound but lost possession in a collision with Klay Thompson, which the league also determined to be a correct no-call. Paul was incensed by not getting the whistle and was ejected for "aggressively approaching and making contact with a referee," according to the league.

Paul had an interview with president of league operations Byron Spruell on Sunday night and claimed he didn't know he'd made contact with referee Josh Tiven until Spruell told him.

"I didn't even know why I got the second tech until I had the interview," Paul said. "If I did [make contact], it was incidental."

The league didn't immediately announce any further discipline for Paul other than the standard $2,500 fine for a technical foul.

However, the league determined that Houston should've retained possession after Paul lost the ball and gotten free throws. Curry was deemed to have gotten away with another foul, this one on Eric Gordon, as he tried to get possession after Paul fumbled the ball with four seconds left. That also would've been Curry's sixth foul.

Like the earlier Curry call, that would've been a game-changing whistle.

The league also said officials missed a Thompson travel with 51 seconds left. He missed a jumper a moment later and the Rockets secured the rebound, effectively deeming that call unimportant.

"Yesterday ... I had a great pity party for me," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I was by myself; nobody showed up but me. It's over. I felt sorry for myself and nobody helped me out. But I'll be fine, we'll be fine and it'll be a great game on Tuesday."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr also weighed in on the controversy.

"It's very, very difficult to officiate an NBA game," he said. "There's all kind of gray area. And, in the modern game, a lot of players have gotten really good at deception, creating contact. I don't remember people falling down on 3-point shots all the time when I played. It was a different rule. Once you released the ball, you were allowed to make contact, there was no foul. But the game has gotten -- there's so much deception as part of it, as part of the game, that's it's very, very difficult to officiate.

"But every coach in the league will tell you, you watch the tape afterward and you think, 'Man, we got screwed.' The reality is you get some, you lose some. The refs do the best job they can, and then you move on to the next game. So I'm disappointed this has become the whole narrative when it really should be about two great teams competing against each other. "

ESPN's Nick Friedell contributed to this report.

The Houston Rockets believe officiating in last season's Western Conference finals cost them an NBA championship, and in a report since sent to the league, tabulated the net result of 81 potential missed calls and non-calls in Game 7 of that series between Houston and the Golden State Warriors, according to the report and an accompanying memo, both of which have been obtained by ESPN.

"Referees likely changed the eventual NBA champion," says the memo, addressed to Byron Spruell, the NBA's president of league operations. "There can be no worse result for the NBA."

The Rockets never actually sent the memo to Spruell, because they ended up communicating its messages -- including that they believe officiating cost them the 2018 title -- during in-person meetings with league officials, according to multiple league sources.

They did present the league with their analysis of Game 7. As first detailed by The Athletic after Golden State's controversial Game 1 win in the conference semifinals Sunday night, the Rockets' analysis uses the NBA's own official interpretation of the officiating in that Game 7.

The full report obtained by ESPN lists 81 total calls, non-calls and violations. It concludes that those 81 instances cost Houston a total of 18.6 points in that game.

In its own reports, the league does not attach point values to missed calls and non-calls.

"As we told the Rockets, we do not agree with their methodology," Mike Bass, an NBA spokesman, told ESPN on Monday.

The league provided Houston with what is essentially a full-game version for Game 7 of the last-two-minute report it releases after close games. The report lists incorrect calls; fouls and violations that should have been called but weren't; fouls and violations that would only have been visible, according to the league, with enhanced video review; and uncalled "potential infractions" where the league cannot come to a definitive conclusion on whether a foul was merited.

The Rockets appear to have incorporated all such instances in the report, including those that benefited the Warriors. For instance: with about 6:10 remaining in the first quarter, Stephen Curry drove on the right side of the floor. Gerald Green, the Rocket defending Curry, placed his right arm on Curry's hip as Curry rose for a layup. There was no call. The NBA flagged it as a "potential infraction" -- inconclusive, according to Houston's analysis. The Rockets counted that as a mistake that cost the Warriors 1.8 points -- a figure that appears to have been derived from Curry's career free throw percentage.

Similarly, the Houston report flagged an uncalled foul on a James Harden missed layup, but the Rockets retained control of the ball and scored; Houston in its analysis counted that as a net benefit to themselves of 0.3 points -- the difference between the actual basket they scored and the expected value of two Harden free throws.

The Rockets attached such point values in every instance in their own analysis. With about 10:40 left in the third quarter, Eric Gordon lost the ball when he dribbled it off Curry's foot. In the game, it was a live-ball turnover. The league deemed it a "potential infraction" kicked ball on Curry, according to Houston's analysis -- meaning it might have been a kick, but there is no way to tell conclusively. The Rockets counted that as 1.1 points lost, using what appears to have been an estimate of their average half-court points per possession, according to league sources. (They used that 1.1 figure for all such plays that ended Houston possessions.)

Another: With about 5:05 remaining in the third quarter, Trevor Ariza attempted a runner from just outside the restricted area and made contact with Curry, who tried to draw a charge. No call was made. The league's report flagged that as another inconclusive "potential infraction," according to Houston's analysis. Houston counted it as 1.7 lost points -- again using Ariza's free throw percentage.

With about 8:55 left in the third quarter, Kevon Looney rebounded a Klay Thompson missed 3-pointer. As Looney went up for a putback, Gordon made some contact with him that went uncalled. Looney missed. Looney jumped to try to tip the ball in, and Harden leaped to block Looney's shot -- making some contact with Looney's arm and upper body. Again, no call was made. The loose ball ricocheted to Curry, who passed it to Kevin Durant for an open 3-pointer which went in.

The league cited Harden's attempted block as a potential infraction -- a possible foul, but one the league could not say conclusively was a foul even upon review, according to Houston's analysis. Houston concluded that the non-call cost them two points. Had the officials called the foul on Harden, Looney would have gone to the line for two shots. He is a 61 percent career free throw shooter; Houston attached an expected value of one point to a Looney two-shot trip to the line. But the foul was not called, and Durant hit a 3-pointer -- two more points than the Warriors would have been expected to score, under Houston's accounting, had the officials whistled Harden.

Houston found the biggest negative impact on "landing spot" fouls on Harden 3-pointers -- the same calls that caused an eruption of controversy after Sunday's Game 1, when Harden went to the floor on several attempted 3-pointers. Some of those appear to have been uncalled fouls, according to this description Sunday night from Joe Borgia, the NBA's senior vice president for replay and referee operations. But Borgia said Sunday referees were correct in not calling a "landing spot" foul on Draymond Green's challenge of Harden's potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds; Harden jackknifed his legs forward, Borgia said, invading space to which Green was entitled. (The last two-minute report, released Monday afternoon, confirmed Borgia's analysis.)

The report from last year's Game 7 cites uncalled "landing spot" fouls, including a missed Harden 3-pointer with about 3:40 left in the second quarter on which Jordan Bell leaped into Harden's landing space. The referees did not call a foul, but the league subsequently concluded they should have, the Houston report says. (The league indeed deemed that a foul on Bell, sources say.)

In their memo -- which, again, the Rockets did not end up sending because they communicated its message in person instead -- Houston recommended adding a fourth on-court referee, and that the league make full-game officiating reports available to every team for every game. They also claim a trip to the Finals would have netted at least $20 million in additional revenue.

The Rockets also argue in their memo that veteran officials "exhibit the most bias against our players."

"The reason we are in this situation," the memo says, "is the efforts made to improve the referees have been too slow, not extensive enough, and have been held back by entrenched referees who are resisting reform." The Rockets recommended that referee assignments in the postseason should be determined "exclusively" by call accuracy without regard to experience level.

JOEL EMBIID DOESN'T want to talk to anyone.

It is a dank, gray Friday morning, hours after the Philadelphia 76ers' Game 3 road win over the nettlesome Brooklyn Nets, secured without the services of their masterful big man. Basking in the glow of victory and buoyed by the result, the Sixers bound into Pier 36's Basketball City in New York City, exchanging guffaws and glances and cheerful taunts. Normally, Embiid would plunk himself into the eye of this good-natured storm, goading his teammates with his biting wit -- "he never stops," Jimmy Butler reports.

But there is no Joel Embiid revelry on this day. The dynamic, barb-slinging, wise-cracking poster boy of The Process is silent. In his place stands a perturbed 25-year-old 7-footer who has reported for work in noticeable pain.

The tendinitis in his left knee that forced him to miss 14 of the final 24 games of the regular season has flared; it's the same knee that cost him the final 37 games of his rookie season in 2016-17 and has left Philadelphia in precarious (and terrifying) limbo. Embiid has done everything the Sixers have asked, but it's a fickle ailment that indiscriminately waxes and wanes.

A member of the team's training staff attempts to engage the big fella, trailing as Embiid traverses the court.

"Stop f---ing following me!" Embiid barks.

He retreats from the cameras and the notebooks and the recorders, but it doesn't stop them from noting the obvious. The Sixers were 43-21 in the regular season with Embiid and 8-10 without him. Philly may be able to vault past a scrappy, inexperienced Nets team, but nobody gives the Sixers a chance beyond that unless their "crown jewel" can play -- and excel. Embiid knows this, and he departs Basketball City ornery and irritated.

"I was in a very bad mood that day," Embiid will admit a day and a half later. "I never know how I'm going to feel. It's so frustrating to come into warm-ups not knowing whether you are playing or not. I hate it. It's not good for any of us. But that's my job, that's what they pay me to do, so I have to figure out a way to be ready."

For now, on Friday in Basketball City, Brett Brown's head is lowered as he furiously types game plans into his laptop. So he misses Embiid's outburst. But no matter. Brown says he understands the frustration but will not be deterred by it.

"It's always about the end game," the coach says. "I'm constantly trying to determine what are the ripple effects of Jo being so competitive and so emotional that he's going to force-feed something that he just shouldn't do.

"I'm not participating in that. I'll have nothing to do with it. He's going to end up -- or has a chance to end up -- as one of the greatest players who ever lived. It's completely driven by his health. He's very bright, very prideful. But his emotions can't trump reckless, irresponsible action either by him or us to go do something he shouldn't."

As Brown punctuates that last sentence, Embiid picks up a basketball and begins lofting 3-pointers. All eyes are on him, so intent on deciphering a flinch or a grimace that some fail to observe that Joel Embiid is wearing ... slippers?

To the uninformed, it appears to be another act of irreverence, but then Brown sets a reporter straight. Shooting in flat shoes is something Embiid adopted during his time in Doha, Qatar, where he twice rehabbed from navicular foot surgery. There, in a hideaway desert called Aspetar, he learned of the famed Tarahumara Indians, a tribe of fleet-footed runners who ran long distances in huaraches, makeshift sandals often procured from junkyard remnants.

A 2014 study suggests that as a result of those flat huaraches, the Raramuri runners had higher and stiffer arches, possibly leading to fewer injuries. Thus, Embiid subscribes to the notion that flat shoes are good, slippers included.

"Crazy stuff, I know," Brown says. "The first time I heard of it three years ago, I was like, 'What? Are you serious?' But then I was enlightened by modern science."

Who knows whether it's the slippers, or the round-the-clock care of the Sixers' medical staff, but 24 hours later, Embiid is warming up at Barclays Center, hoisting those 3-pointers, his status murky for Game 4 right up until tipoff. This time, he's testing his pain tolerance wearing his signature sneakers, although it should be noted they are untied.

Embiid ultimately declares himself fit for duty. That night he plays 11 tentative, yet productive, minutes in the first half. Then, in the second half, he blocks a Jarrett Allen foray to the basket, but goes across the body to accomplish this and Allen crashes to the floor. Jared Dudley charges in from the top of the key and shoves Embiid, who immediately raises his hands in mock surrender. ("I'm not falling for that," he later gleefully says.)

After the melee, Embiid roars to life. He and Ben Simmons conduct a clinic in the final minutes of a 112-108 win, and Embiid waltzes off with 32 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 blocks and a renewed verve. "Dudley is a nobody," he says triumphantly in his postgame TNT interview.

The laughter and the swagger are back, but for how long? If only people knew the lengths that Embiid has gone to play in these games. The care of his knee has become a 24-hour proposition, occupying his mind and his spirit. On the Saturday after the Game 4 win, Embiid tells ESPN that he undergoes six treatments a day, setting his alarm for 5 a.m. so he won't miss a session. "Normally, sleep helps me a lot," Embiid says, "but right now sleep is secondary. I've got to take care of my body. I'll sleep later."

The knee, he says, is feeling better every day. (He will, in fact, log 20 minutes in a series-clinching Game 5 win over the Nets during which he submits 23 points and eight rebounds.) But there's no time for that knee to be completely right, not with the Sixers already trailing 1-0 in their second-round series against the Toronto Raptors.

Philly's star vowed to log more minutes and fight through the pain, but it's entirely possible Embiid will be a game-time decision every night for the rest of the postseason.

"Welcome," Brown says, "to our basketball life."

PERHAPS YOU DIDN'T notice how unassuming Joel Embiid was in the final months of the regular season. It was by design, but that calculated strategy was disrupted in the playoffs when, sitting on the bench in the final moments of a Game 1 loss to Brooklyn, he was spotted glancing at his friend Amir Johnson's cellphone. Courtside cellphones are heresy, and the optics in the wake of a disconcerting defeat were horrible.

In Game 2, Embiid made an aggressive move to the basket and caught the Nets' Allen with a vicious elbow to the chops. His seemingly genuine apology from the podium went awry when Ben Simmons, surprised by Embiid's humble mea culpa, began snickering, leaving Embiid tumbling into his own fit of laughter, which immediately was misconstrued by the Nets as a sign of disrespect.

A cascade of criticism followed. This surprised no one, least of all Embiid.

The weight of the franchise has been placed squarely on his broad Cameroonian shoulders, a responsibility he craves and accepts. Managing partner Josh Harris expressed in March that he expects Philadelphia to advance beyond last year's second-round exit -- at a minimum. Hanging in the balance is the future of his coach, and possibly Butler and Tobias Harris, both free agents in July, who will likely seek lucrative paydays. A playoff exit at the hands of the Raptors would muddy the waters for everyone involved.

"The heat," Butler acknowledges, "is on."

With Embiid on the court, according to ESPN Stats & Information tracking, the Sixers posted an offensive efficiency rating of 111.3. Without him, that number dipped to 105.9. The team's defensive efficiency was a sparkling 103.3 with Embiid manning the middle, but dropped to 109.1 when he wasn't on the floor. Similarly, opponents' field goal percentage jumped from 43.9 percent to 47.5 percent while Embiid sat.

The big man embraces his role as the indispensable Sixers component. "I want people to think of me as the most unstoppable player in the game," he says.

With that comes scrutiny, much of it self-induced. Embiid thrives when he's uninhibited, poking fun and declaring his supremacy. If it plants a bull's-eye on his No. 21 jersey, then so be it.

"You're preaching to the choir," Butler says. "You get to a certain point in this league when they come after you if you do something wrong. And even if you do it right, it's still wrong. Anything I do or say is blown out of proportion. Same with Joel.

"I love it. And he does, too."

MAKE NO MISTAKE, Embiid's stream-of-consciousness musings have caused their share of consternation. There were his comments after the trade that landed Butler, when Embiid lamented that he was being used as "spacer." Then, after a Christmas Day loss to the Celtics, Embiid said he "felt I could have done more, but the ball didn't find me."

Veteran JJ Redick, who lauds Embiid as "absolutely one of my closest friends on the team," approached him after both sets of quotes.

"The perception of what you said makes it seem from the outside like there's dysfunction, like there's a disconnect between you and your teammates, and there's a disconnect between you and Brett," Redick said he informed Embiid. "Now, that isn't true, but it could be interpreted that way."

Embiid, Redick recalls, nodded in agreement.

"You're a top-five talent," Redick continued. "You can do and say whatever the f--- you want, but should you? You and Ben [Simmons] want to be the face of the franchise -- and there's obviously some leeway you get because of that. But you also have a responsibility to your teammates and your coaches to accept leadership in a mature way."

The message, Redick claims, was processed and heeded by both Embiid and Simmons. "There's been a lot of personal growth here," Redick says.

Before the Game 4 scuffle that got Dudley ejected for ramming Embiid, Brooklyn's omnipresent provocateur had marveled at Embiid's basketball IQ and his footwork. He also noted Embiid's social media presence and outsized personality and wondered aloud where all that will ultimately lead.

"Joel likes attention. He likes to troll guys," Dudley said. "We get it. It's OK early on, but there will come a point in the next year or two, where now he's a four- or five-time All-Star, where he's got to shape his persona. When you're big, you want to try and sell yourself, market yourself. He's funny on social media and he has the game to back it up. But he has to be careful of when to do it and how he does it. That's the whole thing.

"Because now you have championship aspirations. Everyone is watching. Dwight Howard was similar. He was a big guy, a big personality, but his goofing around eventually turned people [against him]. There will come a point when [Embiid's] teammates will leave the Sixers. How they talk about him after they are gone, how they view him, that will tell us a lot. But, as long as [Embiid] works his butt off, treats his teammates right, shows them the respect, the sky's the limit."

Still, the challenge to keep their franchise cornerstone on the floor remains. Embiid not only missed games to calm the knee tendinitis, he also sat out of practice and conditioning sessions. Brown insists Embiid loses weight easily, but the flip side of that is the pounds also tend to pile up quickly without a balance of exercise and diet.

"It's a vicious cycle," Brown admits. "He's battling with, 'How do I get into shape when I'm hurt? How can I lose weight when I can't practice?' His level of maturity and professionalism in handling that has risen in a very visible, defined way."

When he's healthy and training regularly, Embiid says he devours steak, chicken and spicy foods. He also has been known to down three of his beloved Shirley Temples in one sitting. Since his knee began barking, he has cut out nearly all sugars from his diet. It has been weeks since he's had a full glass of his sugary signature alcohol-free cocktail. ("I just take a couple of sips to get me through," he says.)

"Right now, I'm eating mostly soft foods -- salmon, salads, all that stuff," Embiid says. "I have to. I feel like if I can be healthy, I can be up there with the best."

If I can be healthy. It is the perpetual caveat that has been trailing his career. Perhaps, offers Philadelphia's trusted assistant coach Monty Williams, Embiid needs to reframe his thinking. Two years ago, he couldn't play at all. This past season, he logged 64 games. Maybe, Williams surmises, Embiid should concentrate on what he can do as opposed to what he can't.

"But when you've had the most delicious birthday cake in the world, you don't want a vegan gluten-free substitute," Redick says. "Joel's had a taste [of elite success]. That's what he wants."

It's what he lives for. When Embiid first ventured into the NBA, he told a reporter that he fully expected the same people who had built him up to dizzying heights would play a part in tearing him down if he ever faltered.

"Unless," he says now, "you win."

"Then what can anyone say?"

Robinson Cano expects to return to the New York Mets' lineup later this week after an MRI taken Monday on his injured left hand came back negative.

Cano was not in the Mets' starting lineup against the Cincinnati Reds one day after being hit on the hand by a pitch.

Initial X-rays came back negative, but Cano underwent further testing, including the MRI, on his hand earlier Monday.

The veteran second baseman told reporters that his hand was still swollen but that he expects to miss only one or two games.

Cano was hit by a fastball while attempting to check his swing in the first inning Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers. The eight-time All-Star is batting .270 with three home runs in 26 games this season, his first with the Mets.

Jeff McNeil will start at second base and bat leadoff Monday against Reds starter Tanner Roark.

The Tampa Bay Rays have promoted power-hitting first-base prospect Nate Lowe from the minors.

The Rays announced Lowe's promotion Monday but have not yet announced a corresponding roster move.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that infielder Christian Arroyo will be optioned to Triple-A Durham to clear a spot for Lowe, 23.

A former 13th-round draft selection, Lowe emerged as one of Tampa Bay's best prospects last season, when he was named the Rays' minor league player of the year.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Lowe played 130 games across three levels in the minors last season, batting .330 with 27 home runs and 102 RBIs. He was batting .300 with three homers in 21 games this year at Durham.

The Rays designated right-hander Andrew Moore for assignment to create a roster spot for Lowe.

New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu underwent an MRI on Monday which revealed inflammation in his right knee, stemming from an original contusion suffered after fouling a pitch off his knee in Friday night's game against the San Francisco Giants. He is listed as day-to-day.

LeMahieu was removed in the bottom of the third inning Sunday at San Francisco because of the inflammation. Infielder Gio Urshela left after he was hit on his left hand by a pitch in the fifth inning. The Yankees said after the game that X-rays on both players were negative.

Also Monday, Yankees shortstop Troy Tulowitzki went 1 for 4 with a home run and a walk in his first injury rehabilitation appearance, against the Detroit Tigers in an extended spring training game.

Tulowitzki struck out twice and flied out, and he played four innings in the field without getting a chance

"Everything is good," he said.

Tulowitzki is among 13 Yankees currently on the injured list. He has not played since April 3 because of a strained left calf.

New York opens a two-game series Tuesday at Arizona, the end of a nine-game trip. While the Yankees are 17-11, they will be facing a team that currently has a winning record for only the second series this season. New York was swept by Houston in three games from April 8-10.

Miguel Andujar, sidelined since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder on March 31, was 3 for 5. He lined two singles to center and had an infield single, making him 8 for 14 in three extended spring training games. The third baseman fielded two grounders and made strong, accurate throws to first on both.

Andujar and Tulowitzki are expected to play for Class A Tampa on Tuesday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.