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Joel Embiid grabbed his stomach as play stopped late in the second quarter for teammate Kelly Oubre Jr., to shoot free throws. The 76ers’ star big man had just set a screen in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Knicks, when Mikal Bridges hit and extended his arm into that area of Embiid’s body. It served as a reminder of the latest postseason ailment that Embiid is playing through, less than a month after an appendectomy. And following the Sixers’ dreadful 137-98 loss Monday night at Madison Square Garden, Embiid said he did not believe Bridges’ contact was “necessary” because Tyrese Maxey had already gotten past both players with the ball.
“I don’t know if it was dirty or not,” Embiid said from the locker room, after totaling 14 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. “I guess I’ve got to do a better job of protecting, especially that part [of my body]. … Tyrese was already gone, and it was kind of after the play. “I just felt like it wasn’t necessary, but we move on. It is whatever. It’s playoff basketball. If that’s the reality of it, I guess we got to go out and be physical, too, and do it, too.”
But, Warriors forward Draymond Green doesn’t think the performance was a “legacy game” for Embiid, who has now reached the Eastern Conference semifinals for the sixth time in his career. “I know a lot of people are saying, ‘Yo, is this a legacy game for Joel Embiid?’ and I say no, 'hell no,' ” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show.” “Joel Embiid is a great player, Joel Embiid is an NBA MVP, Joel Embiid is all of those things. Gold medalist, perennial All-Star, one of the best bigs in this league. “Joel Embiid, also for those same reasons, is the reason that a game in the first round, I don’t care if it’s Game 7 or Game 2. … It’s still a first-round game and we’ve seen Joel Embiid in the first round. In order for Joel Embiid to have legacy games, Joel Embiid has to get to the conference finals and then Joel Embiid needs to help push that team to the NBA Finals.”
Green said he believes the people stating that it was a legacy performance are the same ones who will be ready to blame Embiid if the 76ers fail to reach the conference championship – somewhere Embiid has never been since entering the league in 2014. “I hate when people try to set guys up like, ‘Aw man, this is a legacy game for Joel Embiid,’ only to set him up to try to tear him down in the weeks to come,” Green said. “I don’t like stuff like that. There’s no way a guy of Joel Embiid’s stature can have a legacy game in Round 1 and he still hasn’t accomplished, ultimately, what he wants to accomplish.”
Jaylen Brown: “He’s one of the best bigs in the world, if not the best when healthy, and he’s a former MVP. And he came back and changed the series because we was up 3–1 without him. He comes back, and we lose the next three. We lose the next three games once he kind of starts figuring it out. If we would have had a little bit more, if we could bang with him a little bit more personnel-wise and not give him so many easy baskets, it would have been a little different for us.
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Jaylen Brown: “But he came and did what he was supposed to do. He dominated, and we lost. So, credit to the 76ers, credit to Joel Embiid. I still think he flopped entirely way too much. Some of y’all don’t even know what flopping is in the chat. Like, some of y’all clearly don’t know basketball. Y’all don’t know what flopping is. Flopping is exaggerating contact that’s already there. It’s not about drawing contact or drawing fouls. Nobody has a problem with drawing fouls. That’s a part of the game. Use your brains. That’s the thing about this basketball era where y’all have turned your brains off and just look at analytics. I have no idea what y’all talking about. Drawing fouls is fine.”
Jaylen Brown: “You know what I mean? This is my personal opinion on basketball. Some of y’all might disagree, but argue with your grandma. Flopping has ruined our game. Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in basketball history. Flops. He knows it. This ain’t breaking news. That’s just my opinion. I’m not the only one that had that opinion. Some of y’all are going to be mad about that opinion. Some of y’all can kiss my ass.”
Jaylen Brown: “That’s how you know people be watching my stream. That’s how you know Joel Embiid was sitting there at home, eating chocolate chip cookies, watching my stream, and he was like, ‘You know what? When I come back, I’m going to show these guys.’ Because I ain’t never seen him that dominant. He was dominant from a physical standpoint, passing the ball. Obviously, he’s been more athletic in the past, but I give him credit. He came out, and he made a difference in this series. No question.”
Joel Embiid is too big, too decorated, to be called the little guy. But his sudden re-emergence with the 76ers after two virtually lost seasons not only was a rock to the Boston Celtics’ collective temple, it has the rest of the NBA scratching its head in mild trepidation of what’s to come. “The Embiid story is the craziest NBA s— ever,” said one high-ranking official from a team still alive, who was granted anonymity to discuss the playoffs with the candor they deserve. “This guy has been off the grid for months — how do you all of a sudden turn into Olajuwon after being out most of the season? The Sixers are insane … you gotta love it.”
Austin Krell: Joel Embiid is PROBABLE for Game 1 against the Knicks with a right hip contusion. Paul George is not on the injury report. Setting up a likely full-strength Game 1 on both sides of NYK/PHI.
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Jorge Sierra: Jaylen Brown passed Robert Parish and Patrick Ewing in playoff scoring last night. Joel Embiid moved ahead of Vince Carter.
Oh No He Didn't: Jaylen Brown on Joel Embiid:"He's a big body. He also was flopping around. He got some extra calls and stuff like that and they rewarded him for that. But that's the league that we're in" 👀👀👀
Knicks Videos: "I just have a message for our fans. Last time we played the Knicks it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. Knicks fans, they travel, they're going to buy the tickets." Joel Embiid encourages 76ers fans to combat the high Knick fan presence in Philadelphia:
