April 26, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Despite dealing with multiple serious physical ailments, reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid delivered for the Sixers with a signature 50-point performance in the team's Game 3 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
This has always been about Joel Embiid.
Sure, some of the other stuff matters as well. But for the Sixers, we are now several years into this reality: the entire fate of the team stems on the performance of Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP who is known as much for his playoff failures as he is for his otherworldly talent and brilliance.
Sometimes, teams need to take cues from their leaders. After Embiid was not close to his best self in the Sixers' losses in Games 1 and 2 at the hands of the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the team needed its best player to put his foot down and decide on their own that they were not losing.
That is exactly what Embiid did in Thursday night's Game 3 win over the Knicks as he put together a dazzling 50-point outing, easily the largest scoring total of his playoff career. Embiid dismantled New York's formidable defense by beating it at every level: Embiid scored in the paint, did damage in the mid-range area, knocked down five three-pointers and posted a ridiculous 19-21 shooting line on free throws.
"Most of it was decisive," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid's scoring masterpiece.
Embiid made things look easy Thursday night. But for Embiid, things are not easy right now.
In Game 1, Embiid suffered a severe injury scare to the left knee that had a meniscus injury which held him out for more than two months of regular season action. Embiid was on the ground in pain for multiple minutes, but only ended up missing a few minutes of action before returning. He has not always looked like his best self since he went down, but his workload has remained at its same enormous level. Is Embiid feeling more comfortable with his knee as time separates him from the scare?
"Nah," Embiid said Thursday night. "I'm just trying to keep pushing... if it's on one leg, I'm going to go out and try."
Those who have watched the three Sixers-Knicks contests thus far have noticed Embiid frequently grabbing at his face. Those who have watched his press conferences have noticed something even more odd: Embiid exclusively wearing sunglasses.
The reason became clear soon after the buzzer sounded Thursday night, as ESPN reported that Embiid has been dealing with a case of Bell's palsy, a disorder that impacts a person's ability to control the movement of certain facial muscles.
Embiid confirmed that he was diagnosed with the condition a few days before the team's Play-In Tournament victory over the Miami Heat last Wednesday.
"It's pretty annoying," said Embiid, who described experience migraines as one of his first symptoms. "It's been tough, but I'm not a quitter."
One of the main criticisms of Embiid's playoff performance in the past is how he has handled his injuries. Embiid has often been forced to play through various ailments in the playoffs, and while most do not blame him for that, many point to poor effort and body language in Embiid's past: some have argued that it is easy to tell what kind of game Embiid will have within a few minutes of it starting, just based on how he is both moving and emoting.
If watching his performance in a game's opening minutes was once an effective way to forecast how Embiid would look for the remainder of the game, consider that method outdated as of Thursday night. Embiid got off to a shaky start in Game 3, most notably after he got himself in some trouble. Embiid committed two first-quarter fouls, and both caused extended replay reviews by the officiating crew.
First, Embiid tried to use a swing move on Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein -- Embiid was not called for a hostile act, but he was whistled for an offensive foul. Moments later, Embiid fell to the ground while on defense, and instead of letting the Knicks' other primary center, Mitchell Robinson, simply lay the ball in, he grabbed Robinson's leg, sending the injury-plagued New York seven-footer to the ground. Embiid was not only whistled for his second personal foul -- putting him in foul trouble -- but he was quickly assessed a Flagrant 1 Foul.
Embiid claimed after the game that he was simply trying to ensure that Robinson did not land on him. Embiid mentioned experiencing flashbacks to when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga landed on his knee on the Jan. 30 night that Embiid suffered the aforementioned meniscus injury.
Robinson, who missed more than three months of the regular season after needing ankle surgery, was hobbled for the rest of his minutes in the game before he was ruled out with an ankle sprain. Robinson reportedly left the building wearing a walking boot.
Within eight minutes of the game starting, Embiid was in foul trouble and displayed what some believed to be a mental lapse in judgment. Instead of scrambling for answers and spiraling, Embiid calmed down and settled into the game. After a so-so first quarter, he had a very impressive second quarter. Then came intermission and the third quarter, when Embiid went nuclear. Embiid knocked down four triples in the third quarter alone, completely taking over the game, and then iced the game in the fourth quarter by knocking down free throw after free throw.
The Proc3ss. https://t.co/4m0kKdEN1f pic.twitter.com/lcWjqFWXPF
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 26, 2024
By the time the final buzzer sounded, Embiid was casually heading to the locker room, the author of a 50-point showcase.
Three games into the postseason, it appeared that Embiid was writing another chapter in his book of playoff letdowns much similar to the ones in his past. But maybe -- just maybe -- this time things might be different. If that becomes the case, Game 3 of the first round will have been the turning point for Embiid.
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