Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts during Game 3 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff ... [+]
Late in the first quarter on Thursday night, the large video board at Wells Fargo Center showed Allen Iverson sitting courtside. Iverson stood up, waved and acknowledged the raucous fans, many of whom remember him from his days playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Iverson remains a legendary figure in the city, particularly for leading the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, the franchise has not made it past the second round of the playoffs, a fact that has been repeated countless times over the past few years.
Still, after losing the first two games of their first round series against the New York Knicks, the 76ers rebounded on Thursday with a 125-114 victory in Game 3 that kept hope alive that Philadelphia can advance deep in the playoffs.
Joel Embiid scored a career playoff-high 50 points, including 33 in the second half as the 76ers erased a three-point halftime deficit. Embiid became the first 76ers player since Iverson in 2003 to score 50 points in a postseason game.
And Embiid did so despite playing with Bell’s palsy, which Johns Hopkins University defines as “an unexplained episode of facial muscle weakness or paralysis.” Embiid said he started feeling symptoms a day or two before Philadelphia’s 105-104 victory over the Miami Heat on April 17 in the Play-In game that secured the 76ers the No. 7 seed.
Since then, Embiid said he has felt symptoms in the left side of his face, including his mouth and eye, which he said “is consistently dry” and “blurry at times.” He wore dark sunglasses while addressing reporters after Thursday’s game.
“It hasn’t really necessarily gotten better,” Embiid said. “Just based on the conversations that I’ve had, it could be weeks, it could be months. I just hope that it could stay like this. I’ve got a beautiful face. I don’t like when my mouth is looking the other way. It’s an unfortunate situation, but everything happens for a reason. I’ve got to take care of myself mentally.”
Embiid said he also continues to deal with knee issues. He underwent surgery to repair an injury to the meniscus in his left knee in early February and didn’t return until April 2. He speculated that dealing with the knee injury could have contributed to the Bell’s palsy.
“Mentally, it’s just been so draining, depressing,” Embiid said. “That could be part of this. I need to take care of myself mentally and physically.”
After Thursday’s game, Embiid was asked if he could trust his knee to get better as each game goes by.
“No,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep pushing. I’m not going to quit. Even if it’s on one leg, I’m still going to go out there and try. That’s not an excuse. I’ve got to keep playing better and better and better. Tonight, I got lucky. I made a few shots.”
Embiid, who averaged 31.5 points and shot 39.2% from the field in the first two games, didn’t get off to the best start on Thursday. During the first quarter, he was called for a flagrant 1 foul when he was sprawled on the court and pulled on Knicks center Mitchell Robinson’s legs while Robinson went up for a dunk. Embiid said he didn’t want Robinson to fall on top of him like what happened in January when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on Embiid while the two dove after a loose ball, inuring Embiid’s knee.
“I kind of had some flashbacks,” Embiid said. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. In those situations, I’ve got to protect myself because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m always the recipient of the bad end of it.”
Embid committed his third foul midway through the second quarter, but 76ers coach Nick Nurse kept his star in the game. Embiid scored seven points in the final six minutes of the first half. And then in the third quarter, he had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers. The 76ers made 15-of-31 3’s, including 9-of-12 in the third quarter.
Embiid finished with 50 points on 13-of-19 shooting (5-of-7 on 3’s) and 19-of-21 free throws, while Tyrese Maxey had 25 points, Kelly Oubre had 15 and reserve guard Cameron Payne had 11.
Embiid’s previous playoff high occurred three years ago when he scored 40 points in a Game 2 Eastern Conference semifinals victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The 76ers ended up losing that series in seven games.
After Monday’s loss, Embiid told reporters the 76ers would win the series. The odds weren’t in his favor. After all, since the NBA expanded to a 16-team playoff format in 1984, teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in best-of-7 series have won just 8.8% of series.
Still, those chances are much better than teams that trail 3-0. No NBA team has ever won a playoff series after losing the first three games.
On Sunday afternoon, the 76ers have a chance to even the series when they host the Knicks in Game 4. Embiid will be there, albeit at less than 100% health, which is common for him. He has battled numerous injuries since entering the NBA, including missing two postseason games in 2022 and again last year. He admitted on Thursday that he wonders “every day” why he’s had bad luck with injuries.
“You start asking yourself questions like, Why every single year?,” Embiid said. “It’s very annoying. Maybe it’s just meant to be. You’ve just got to take it as it is, but the one thing I’m not going to do is give up. No matter what happens, I’ve got to keep pushing, got to keep fighting, got to keep putting my body on the line for my family, for this city, for this team.”
