Knicks get 39 points from Jalen Brunson, but have no answer for Joel Embiid in Game 3 loss to 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, center, goes up for a shot against Knicks' Mitchell Robinson, right, and Josh Hart during the first half of Game 3 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — It wasn’t the hostile Wells Fargo Center crowd the Knicks had to worry about after all. Knicks fans crowded into the arena, chanting and celebrating the Knicks’ exploits.
As the series shifted from New York to Philadelphia, the hostilities came from the Sixers themselves as Joel Embiid and his teammates moved from bold words to physical action — playing with an edge as they opted to outmuscle the Knicks, veering over the edge at times.
But in the end, it was the shots delivered on the scoreboard by Embiid that made the difference, lifting the Sixers to a 125-114 win Thursday night.
The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series, two games to one with Game 4 here Sunday, fittingly not far from the Rocky statue. The Knicks, with Mitchell Robinson departing in a walking boot, spoke calmly, but definitively that Embiid had crossed a line.
“We knew what Game 3 was going to be,” Josh Hart said. “Come on now. We knew, especially how Game 2 ended. Am I surprised? Not at all. Now we’ve just got to move on I’m curious to hear that \[pool report\], though.”
The pool report came with crew chief Zach Zarba explaining why, when Embiid pulled Robinson to the floor and appeared to punch at the back of his leg, it was ruled a flagrant 1 rather than a flagrant 2.
“In that situation, the crew gets together, we go and review the foul,” Zarba said. “In this instance, the crew was unanimous along with the replay center official in Secaucus that this foul was unnecessary but did not rise to the level of a flagrant 2. The unnecessary contact rose to the level of a flagrant 1 but we were unanimous that this did not rise to the level of excessive contact, unnecessary and excessive, which would have been a flagrant 2 ejection. That’s why we kept it a flagrant 1.”
Asked about it, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was not as kind: “Which one? The one they called or the one they didn’t call? ... I just wanna make sure we have clarity on that.”
Embiid, who at times moved as if he was in a scripted Rocky movie slugfest, limping and forced to do most of his work on the perimeter, scored a postseason career-high 50 points, 33 in the second half when the game moved from a street fight to a basketball game, outdueling Jalen Brunson, who regained his scoring form with 39 points and 13-for-27 shooting.
While the Sixers may have been the aggressors, their complaints after Game 2, claiming that they were going to file a grievance with the league, may have paid off as they went to the line for 33 free-throw attempts compared to 19 for the Knicks. The Sixers outrebounded the Knicks (36-32) for the first time in the series and shredded the Knicks defense even without Embiid able to work around the rim.
It took almost no time for it to become clear that Embiid and the Sixers were going to try to match — or exceed — the Knicks’ physical play. But if the Knicks impact was on ripping 50-50 balls from the Sixers, Embiid opted for violence. Just 5:01 into the game, Kyle Lowry was called for a flagrant 1, winding up and raking DiVincenzo across the face.
Then just 22 seconds later, Embiid ran into Isaiah Hartenstein, raising his knee into Hartenstein’s midsection. The officials reviewed the play and called it a common offensive foul. But with 4:34 left in the first quarter, Embiid was called for a flagrant 1 and was fortunate not to be tossed as punched twice at Robinson’s leg as he pulled him down.
DiVincenzo went nose to nose with Embiid — or as close to that as he could go, giving up nearly a foot in height. OG Anunoby came in and then Robinson had words with Embiid as the teams crowded around each other.
“Mitchell Robinson was jumping. I was trying to make sure he doesn’t land on me because obviously we know what happened when [Golden State’s Jonathan] Kuminga landed on my knee,” Embiid said. “I kind of had some flashbacks. It’s unfortunate because I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. It’s just in those situations where I have to protect myself because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m always at the bad end of it.”
The tone was set.
“We expect physicality,” DiVincenzo said. “I think the grab that he did on Mitch was dirty.”
The Knicks survived that flurry, taking a 58-55 lead at the half as they matched the Sixers shot for shot, led by Brunson, who had 17 points and five assists, shaking off the struggles that he’d endured in the first two games.
But in the third quarter, Embiid took over, scoring 18 points and shooting 7-for-8, including 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
As Hartenstein struggled to slow him, the news came that Robinson was out for the remainder of the game with a sprained left ankle, which seemed to be aggravated when Embiid collided with him in the second quarter, limping badly after the play. By the time the quarter was over, the Sixers had built a 13-point advantage.
Philadelphia led by as many as 15 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Knicks closed the gap to eight on back-to-back three-pointers from Anunoby. But twice with a chance to cut it further, they came up empty with a Brunson turnover and a miss on an open three by DiVincenzo. Lowry then hit a pair of free throws with 2:57 left to push the lead back to 10. The Knicks kept pushing, getting as close as 120-113 with 1:13 left.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
