Big Meets Bigger: Embiid vs. Whiteside is heavyweight bout years in the making

Though Joel Embiid's status for Game 1 is still up in the air due to his late-March orbital fracture and concussion, the game-changing big man won't be prevented from making his playoff debut for long. Then the 24-year-old Philadelphia 76ers' star big man can resume his apparent quest to burrow under the skin of Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside.

To date, the slow-roasting animosity between Embiid and Whiteside has been largely undecided. They've faced each other four times, splitting the series 2-2. If Embiid is the people's champion, Whiteside has arguably topped him on the hard court, if only by a thin margin:

Thankfully, the battle between the towering titans - one gregarious and youthful, the other cantankerous - will finally be presented on a stage worthy of their ginormous stature.

With an average age of 25.8 years, Embiid and the Sixers are young - nearly two years younger than the Heat (27.7), per Real GM. Whether out of naivete or blissful ignorance, that youth comes equipped with outsized confidence.

The upcoming bout makes for appointment viewing. Just as styles make fights, the clash between the two warring behemoths will be at the heart of a compelling matchup featuring two starkly different organizations.

And whoever wins the battle of the bigs will likely take the series.

Embiid won't back down. The 24-year-old has shown time and time again he won't hesitate to poke the bear. This is a man who once convincingly sold the myth that he killed a lion with his bare hands in his native Cameroon. "We weren't going to question the man," former Kansas teammate Naadir Tharpe said in 2014. That's just who Embiid is: always projecting superiority to such a degree that those around him have little choice but to buy into his miraculous abilities. Scared of poking the bear? Perhaps it's the bear who should be losing sleep.

Likewise, teammate Ben Simmons has embraced that mindset, dispelling shots taken at his iron-clad Rookie of the Year candidacy by Utah Jazz guard and rookie truther Donovan Mitchell. Embiid's infectious sense of entitlement, while not yet earned in the crucible of the postseason, will serve the team well in a battle against more experienced foes.

Having avoided back-to-back losing seasons for 15 years, the Heat have been a picture of organizational stability. They never truly conceded the need for the multi-season, "Process"-style rebuild that netted the Sixers Embiid, Simmons, Markelle Fultz, and Dario Saric. Though less heralded, Miami's lowercase-"p" process has produced decidedly better results since Philadelphia's front office started their race to the bottom in 2012. Erik Spoelstra and Co. have been there and done that many times over - though not quite with this exact roster.

Still, due to the front office's inclination toward proven contributors, the Heat claim a massive edge in experience when it matters: their players have a combined 12,664 minutes of postseason experience - though nearly half of that total belongs to Wade alone, and another quarter to deep bench Heat lifer Udonis Haslem.

In comparison, the Sixers clock in at just 5,015 postseason minutes.

Having never missed the playoffs since coming into the league in 2006-07, J.J. Redick accounts for most of Philly's playoff experience, and Marco Bellineli, Jerryd Bayless, Ersan Ilyasova, and Amir Johnson have seen some action as well, but presumptive starters Embiid, Simmons, Saric, and Robert Covington have never been in a playoff game. Confidence is great, but at some point, the Sixers will have to actually take the floor and experience the intensity of the postseason together. At that moment, the Heat surely hope, all bets are off.

Even though the team belongs to the post-prime Dwyane Wade by virtue of tenure only, there's reason to think the Heat, chock-full of veterans like Goran Dragic, James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, and Wayne Ellington could take advantage of the relative inexperience of their foes. While they lack the Sixers' high-end potential, the steadiness of the defense and the tactical acuity of Spoelstra on offense can allow the Heat to grind out a win against pretty much anyone.

To advance to the next round, however, Whiteside (and to a lesser extent, Johnson and rookie Bam Adebayo) has to do a lot of the heavy lifting, particularly in the paint on defense.

For as much as has been made about the floor-spacing deficiencies of Embiid (a 30.8 percent 3-point shooter this year) and Simmons (he blanked on all 11 of his attempts from beyond the arc), it's their ability to score at will in the paint that will be the Sixers' bread and butter.

The Sixers collectively shot 64.7 percent within five feet of the basket this year, the NBA's third-highest mark and good for the ninth-most points in the paint per 100 possessions (46.2). Embiid and Simmons combined to shoot 67.7 percent on those close-range shots, with both attempting at least six per game. If Whiteside is unable to anchor the defense from the inside, Philadelphia won't need their dynamic duo to excel from deep to take the series.

Meanwhile, Whiteside as a primary defender held his marks to 53.7 percent shooting within six feet of the hoop, 9.2 percent below his opponents' regular shooting percentages under the same parameters. Something has to give.

Even if Whiteside is able to deflect, deter, or reroute Embiid's shot attempts around the hoop, he'll have to actually get his mitts on the ball to prevent a second-chance opportunity - no easy task, even for a seven-footer averaging 11.4 boards a game. The Sixers boast the top rebounding rate in the league, corralling 52.9 percent of misses, and a considerable portion of their dominance on the boards is their third-ranked offensive rebounding rate of 25.3 percent.

If Whiteside isn't rebounding at a superhuman level and preventing easy follow-up buckets, he's going to have to find another way to dissuade Embiid from venturing into his sweet spot in the paint. In other words, this could get very chippy - fast. Beyond a berth to the second round, there's a lot of pride at stake.

Heading into the postseason on a 16-game winning streak - six more wins than Philly won in the entire 2015-16 season - and with Whiteside making news for less positive reasons of late, momentum suggests the time is right for Embiid to score a decisive knockout.

Or Whiteside could finally reclaim some of his diminished clout - and justify his insistence for a larger role with the Heat.

Ready or not, after nearly two years of pointing Twitter fingers, it's now time for one of these giants to emerge victorious when it matters most.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)