TORONTO — Fifty minutes before tipoff, Joel Embiid ambled out of the locker room to warm up for the Philadelphia 76ers’ 94-89 Game 2 East semifinal win over the Toronto Raptors. Prior to that, he was hooked up to an IV, staring at a tablet that was playing video of Raptors forwards Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam. Rumblings around the arena suggested Embiid, a game-time decision, would indeed suit up. But as late as an hour-and-a-half before tip, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown wasn’t sure if his star big man, the 7-foot defensive anchor from Cameroon, would be able to play, or what condition he would be in if he did.

It’s all in a day’s work for Brown. Against the Nets, an injured knee kept Embiid from playing in Game 3. Monday, it was a stomach virus.

“I think about all of those things, and it especially makes me think about Joel,” Brown said before the game, when asked if the two-day break that separates Games 2 and 3 would affect how many minutes his stars play. “I’ve declared to the public through the media my vision of how I see this: Just land the plane and get to the playoffs, then lock this thing down with Jo buying time.”

The head coach of any contender is posed with a set of challenges that would give mere mortals stress attacks: managing diverging egos under the scrutiny of the spotlight and the demands of greatness. But even when you grade on that peculiar scale, Brown has dealt with unusual levels of uncertainty and fluctuation: two in-season trades for stars, the first in November for Jimmy Butler, who scratched and clawed his way out of Minnesota the way only Jimmy Butler could, and the second in February for Tobias Harris, to fit into a core of Embiid — the needling prankster — and the more laid-back Ben Simmons.

76ers head coach Brett Brown was ready for business in Game 2 in Toronto. (Getty Images) More

Simmons can’t shoot, so he thrives in transition while Embiid likes to plod down in the post. Butler is still finding his spot-up shooting game and neither he nor Harris can bully smaller wings in the post with Embiid taking up space and Simmons unable to create any.

Oh, and set the timer to the end of this playoff run. Butler and Harris are both free agents. Philly’s front office has staked six players and five draft picks — including an unprotected pick whose destiny will be determined by the Miami Heat’s success — on Brown’s ability to solve this star-studded, jammed-up Rubik’s Cube.

The postseason, lucky for Brown, clarifies uncertainties. The possibility of seven games allows the loser to change tack before the concrete thickens.

Prior to the series, the Sixers were hesitant to double the Raptors’ post threats, lest they unleash the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA since the All Star break. Kawhi Leonard’s career high 45 points in Game 1 clarified that bargain, and after poring over the tape, it became clear that Simmons was the best choice to guard Leonard. Simmons himself thought so. “Personally, I think I did a pretty good job overall,” he said after Game 1.

The league — and this Raptors team — wants to define Simmons by what he can’t do, letting Leonard sag off him and play free safety. Simmons scored just six points, but on defense he jostled for control.

Up 21-14 with under two minutes left in the first quarter, Leonard rolled off a dribble handoff and coiled down low, dribbling horizontally through Siakam’s pick, first to his right and then to his left, while Simmons squeezed and broke through. Leonard pump-faked like he was pleading, but Simmons kept his hands up straight, long and strong like he was posing for draft measurements, forcing Leonard to relinquish the ball.

In the end, it took Leonard 24 shots to score 34 points. The Sixers doubled and trapped in opportune locations, cutting off Toronto’s passing angles and closing out hard on shooters. The Raptors clanked 27 of their 37 3-point attempts. “It’s a fistfight,” said Brown. “It’s a grind the whole game.”

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