Knicks run into an angry Joel Embiid, who gets the 76ers back in the series

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid took his game to a wild and scary level Thursday night.

With his legacy on the line, Embiid came out fighting both literally and figuratively to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 125-114 victory over Knicks in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

Embiid, the NBA’s reigning MVP, scored a career playoff-high 50 points as the 76ers narrowed the Knicks' lead in the series to 2-1. The performance, however, basically deserves an asterisk given that he basically assaulted Knicks centers Isiah Hartenstein and Michell Robinson in the first quarter.

If it had been a regular-season game, Embiid likely would have been ejected for the way he pulled Robinson down by his ankle. Minutes earlier, he had been whistled for hitting Hartenstein away from the ball.

“It’s unfortunate. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” Embiid said. “In those situations, I have to protect myself.”

Nick Nurse had no problem with the way Embiid set the tone of the game.

“Nope,” Nurse said when asked if the thought Embiid was losing his cool. “He was playing tough. Tonight, he was aggressive.”

When asked what he thought about the foul, the 76ers coach said he didn’t see it.

Embiid appeared at his postgame news conference wearing sunglasses and explained to reporters that he had been suffering from Bell’s palsy, which is an unexplained weakness on one side of his face, since before the Miami play-in game.

Embiid also indicated that he was suffering from a case of PTSD when he fouled Robinson. Earlier in the year, Embiid hurt his knee when Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga fell on it

“I was trying to make sure he doesn’t land on me because we all know what happened when Kuminga landed on my knee,” he said “I kind of had some flashbacks.”

Robinson played some after the foul but did not return in the second half. The Knicks said he had suffered a sprained ankle on the same ankle he had surgery on early in the year. It’s not known if the sprain happened on that play.

Despite the proximity of the two cities, there hadn’t been much of a recent rivalry. This marked the first time the two had met in the playoffs since 1989 when the Knicks swept a best-of-five first round series. Thanks to two come-from-behind wins in New York, times have clearly changed.

The 76ers were clearly ticked off about the way the Knicks had beaten them in Game 2. With the help of some missed calls by officials, the Knicks had scored eight points in 27.4 seconds. Afterward, a despondent Embiid let the Knicks know exactly what he thought of them.

“We should be 2-0. We’re good,” Embiid said. “We’re going to win this series. We’re going to win this. We know what we gotta fix this….We’re the better team, and we’re going to keep on fighting.”

Fight, they did.

The first half of the game featured a fourth-quarter-like intensity. The Knicks were desperate not to get off to another bad start. The 76ers were desperate to make a statement.

Embiid was so hyped up that he bordered on being out of control. After the foul on Robinson, he nearly got into it with Donte DiVincenzo

The Sixers blew open the game in the third quarter, outscoring a tired-looking Knicks, 43-27. Embiid scored 18 of his 50 in the third quarter. He shot 6-for-8 from the field and hit four three-pointers.

It was an important and timely performance for Embiid. His team is on their third coach trying to get a team centered around him past the second round of the playoffs. Embiid’s leadership was being questioned around the league after the Knicks jumped out to a 2-0 lead and he declared they were a better team.

Thursday night, they were a better team. Stay tuned.

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.