Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside isn't taking the bait after Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid called him "dirty" and "soft" following a tussle Thursday night at American Airlines Arena.

According to the Palm Beach Post's Tom D'Angelo, Whiteside told reporters Friday that Embiid is "just another dude. He just talks more."

"I'm not talking no more, no more talking," Whiteside added. "No more talking. 2018, when he talks, no more."

Embiid and Whiteside, who have a rivalry that dates back to the preseason, were involved in an altercation in the third quarter of Miami's 108-99 win Thursday. After Whiteside blocked Embiid, the Heat center appeared to push the Process in the back before hitting himself in the face.

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Referees called a personal foul on Embiid while Whiteside received a technical.

"He tried to hit me in the back, which is kind of dirty because of the fact that I’ve had back problems," Embiid said after the loss, per D'Angelo.

"We're going to see about that. I won't forget about that."

Embiid didn't stop there.

"I didn't think I touched him," he said. "But then they called a technical foul on him because obviously he's the one that made a dirty play.

"He hits really soft, so I didn't feel anything. But just the action of him trying to do that I think is pretty messed up. I don't care what we have outside of basketball but at the same time, you've got to respect the rules of basketball and play basketball and have fun doing it."

The Sixers and Heat split their regular-season series with two wins apiece.

Barring a postseason showdown, the two towering bigs will need to wait until the fall to renew their heated head-to-head battle.