Category: 76ers

Sixers’ Joel Embiid gives thoughts on Tyrese Maxey winning MIP

Joel Embiid gives his thoughts on Philadelphia 76ers teammate Tyrese Maxey winning the Most Improved Player award.

PHILADELPHIA — Young Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey has taken big steps forward as a player throughout the four seasons of his career. In the 2023-24 season, the Sixers put the ball in Maxey’s hands as the point guard amid the James Harden drama and he didn’t blink.

Maxey averaged 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 45% from the floor and 37.3% from deep. Those numbers led him to his first All-Star appearance as well as winning the Most Improved Player award.

Joel Embiid, who has been Maxey’s biggest supporter since being drafted in 2020, was proud of his younger teammate for the accomplishment.

“It’s been amazing,” Embiid said of Maxey. “Obviously, I’ve had him since he was a rookie. The steps that he’s taken every single year has been amazing. Like I always say, the hardest worker that I’ve ever been around. He’s always happy. He’s taken another step. I mean, he’s been our best player this whole season and he needs to take another step for us to win.”

To Embiid’s point, Maxey has been Philadelphia’s best player due to the big fella missing two months due to a meniscus procedure on his left knee. He had to be in order to keep Philadelphia afloat until his return.

Now, Maxey’s averaging 31.0 points per game in Round 1 against the New York Knicks. He has continued to be a constant next to Embiid amid a lot of changes and drama the team has had to battle through in the past.

“He’s gonna have to keep stepping up and taking on those challenges, but every single year—we’ve dealt with so much drama and he’s the constant,” Embiid added. “I just keep coming up, like, finally! We have this one guy just a franchise player. He’s just always happy. Everybody wants to be around him.”

Maxey continues to take steps forward in his game. As long as he is on the floor next to Embiid, the Sixers are always going to have a shot.

“He plays hard,” Embiid finished. “A good basketball player, obviously, but a great human being, and throughout what we went through, and we finally find that guy. It’s great and he’s amazing.”

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Tobias Harris seeing Joel Embiid continue to be a fighter, leader for Sixers

Tobias Harris sees Joel Embiid continuing to grow as a fighter and a leader for the Philadelphia 76ers.

PHILADELPHIA — Game 3 on Thursday night could have gone off the rails for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Trailing the New York Knicks 2-0 and the series shifting to the Wells Fargo Center, there was already a lot of hype and intensity for this matchup.

Embiid appeared to be doing a bit too much. He picked up a tough offensive foul, was screaming at officials, and was then called for a flagrant-1 foul when he grabbed Mitchell Robinson’s leg while he was on the ground.

When weird things happen like that in the past, it normally spelled trouble for the Sixers. Instead, Embiid shook that off and dropped a career playoff-high 50 points on only 19 field goal attempts. He was masterful all night long in a win.

“I saw him extremely composed out there for the whole group, obviously,” said Tobias Harris who has played with Embiid the longest on this roster. “After those first two fouls that happened from then on, he was setting balance into the game. So, that was a huge reason why we got the victory tonight and also a 50-point performance from him.”

Harris has been with Embiid through every playoff run. He has seen the ups and the downs. He has seen him continue to grow as a fighter and a leader for the Sixers. He sees the hunger he has shown to continue to improve as a player.

“He’s always a fighter for the group and wants to win and wants to contribute,” Harris added. “I’m not in the man’s body so I don’t know what he’s going through, but as anybody in this locker room will say, we’re just happy to have him out there with us.”

No matter what happens in this series, or even this playoff run as a whole, Embiid deserves everybody’s respect. He is putting his body on the line for the city of Philadelphia and the entire Sixers franchise. He probably shouldn’t be playing when considering the knee injury and the Bell’s Palsy, but he is out there and putting up incredible performances.

“All of us in the locker room, we understand what he means for this team and the impact he brings to our group,” Harris finished. “So when we have him on the floor, we know we are that much of a better team.”

The Sixers will look to even the series with a Game 4 win on Sunday.

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Nick Nurse addresses Joel Embiid’s Bell’s Palsy, chippy play from Game 3

Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse addresses Joel Embiid’s Bell’s Palsy as well as the chippiness from the Game 3 win.

CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers came away with a pivotal, 125-114, Game 3 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday thanks to the heroics of Joel Embiid. The big fella put up 50 points on 13-for-19 shooting and 19-for-21 from the free-throw line.

Afterward, he discussed dealing with Bell’s Palsy which is affecting the muscles on the left side of his face. He admitted it has been tough for him to see at times. That means he is battling through not only that issue, but also is still recovering from the meniscus injury in his left knee.

Coach Nick Nurse was repeatedly asked about Embiid’s eye issue in the past, but Embiid wanted it to remain private, so Nurse respected his wishes. Now that it’s out in the open, Nurse addressed the issue.

“So basically, there’s kind of the daily check in on him,” Nurse said on Friday. “Just to make sure if he’s available or not and that’s kinda always the answer that I’m trying to get to. Obviously, he kinda had this — I kinda consider a personal thing and I just was always just wondering where he was and, obviously, you know it’s affecting him, but not to the point where he can’t see and he can’t play.”

To Embiid’s credit, he is putting his body on the line at the moment for the city of Philadelphia and wants to push through to lead the Sixers. Nurse waits for the daily updates from the medical team.

“That’s where I’m always at,” Nurse continued. “There’s a lot of other people working to see where they’re at and they gotta get the information to me. He’s obviously dealing with a lot, but he’s obviously playing through it.”

Considering Embiid’s dealing with all that and still dropping 50 points in a playoff game, Nurse was impressed: His eyes grew wide and he said “absolutely” when asked about that.

On the flip side, there was a great deal of chippiness in Game 3. Embiid was called for a flagrant-one foul in the first quarter when he grabbed Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson’s leg when Embiid was in an awkward position on the floor. One could have argued it was a flagrant-two and should have led to an ejection.

As a coach, Nurse understands the stakes as the series continues to grow more physical.

“I think about every time these two teams play each other — regular season or playoffs — it’s a rivalry, man,” Nurse stated. “It’s intense. It’s got history. It’s physical. Now, it’s the playoffs on top of it, right? As far as did I say ‘Hey calm down’? No. I think they were kinda isolated incidents. It seemed like they happened right on top of each other there for a bit. They just happened, but it’s physical, man. You never know when there’s gonna be a real physical play in that game. It just so happened to be early.”

Game 4 is Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.

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Donte DiVincenzo, Knicks call out Joel Embiid following flagrant foul

Donte DiVincenzo and the New York Knicks call out Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid following his flagrant one foul in Game 3.

PHILADELPHIA — Play grew chippy in Game 3 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks. Joel Embiid was called for a questionable offensive foul in the first quarter and expressed his frustrations to the officials.

Later in the first, Embiid was in a awkward position. He was lying on the baseline underneath the basket and Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson went up for a shot. Embiid grabbed at his leg, which he said was an attempt to protect himself, but the Knicks aren’t buying it.

Donte DiVincenzo, among others, confronted Embiid, who was called for a flagrant one foul, after the play. The officials stepped in to separate everybody, and Embiid was screaming at every New York player in his vicinity.

After the game, DiVincenzo called out Embiid, saying it was a dirty play.

Lead official Zach Zarba told a pool report about the play:

In that situation, the crew gets together, we go and review the foul. 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.

Josh Hart also said his piece on Embiid. He pointed out the injury to Robinson who left the game with an ankle issue. Now, the leg that Embiid grabbed was Robinson’s right leg. New York’s big man left with a left ankle issue. There is no indication Embiid’s play caused the injury to Robinson.

The series will continue to get chippy as the Sixers look to even it at 2 on Sunday in Game 4.

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Sixers give love to Cam Payne for big performance in Game 3 vs. Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers gave a lot of love to Cam Payne for his efforts in a Game 3 win over the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers picked up a huge 125-114 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 on Thursday thanks to the heroics of Joel Embiid. The big fella had a playoff career-high 50 points despite the knee injury and Bell’s Palsy bothering him.

However, a big factor in the win was the play of Cam Payne. The spark plug hopped off the bench and had 11 points while knocking down three 3s. He had eight points in the second quarter and gave Philadelphia a boost on both ends of the floor.

Along with the eight points, he also had two blocks.

“Unbelievable,” Kyle Lowry said. “I think Cam Payne was the MVP of this game. He’s staying ready. He’s always constantly got energy and he’s a guy who’s been in this situation before. high energy, high-level IQ, and we need that. It’s a guy in the playoffs that always steps up for you and every single game, it’s a different guy and tonight, Cam Payne was our real-life X factor.”

To Lowry’s point, there is always somebody who steps up in the postseason to give his team a big boost. On Thursday, that guy was Payne as he came up with the big plays the Sixers needed off the bench to match what the Knicks were receiving from theirs.

“That’s what we expect out of him,” Kelly Oubre Jr. added. “Energy and then coming in and kinda keeping us alive. That’s exactly what he did tonight, but it’s tough to stay ready when things change a lot, but for him, he’s been in a lot of big moments. He’s been in a lot of big games and finals and things like that so we lean on him just for the energy and everything he brings to the game of basketball.”

The bench unit was a big factor in New York’s wins in games 1 and 2. The Knicks received big performances from Deuce McBride, Bojan Bogdanovic and Mitchell Robinson. Philadelphia responded in Game 3 with Payne stepping up.

“It was huge,” Tobias Harris stated. “Just his energy. His shot-making as well. His speed. Just to get a different dynamic for us out there on the floor. I just know he did a great job embracing the moment and got going for us.”
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Joel Embiid left wondering ‘Why me?’ as ailments pile up for Sixers’ star

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid left wondering “why me?” as ailments continue to pile up for him.

PHILADELPHIA — The hits keep coming for Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid. The star continues to deal with an assortment of ailments he has to battle through to be available for the Sixers.

After scoring 50 points in a 125-114 Game 3 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday, Embiid disclosed he had been diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. The ailment is on top of his ongoing recovery from the meniscus injury in his left knee.

“Every single year, you start asking yourself questions like, ‘Why?’” Embiid said after the win. “Every single year, it’s very annoying. Maybe it’s just meant to be. 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, 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.”

Since entering the league in 2014, Embiid has dealt with some type of injury annually. He had foot injuries early in his career, orbital fractures in 2018 and 2022 and a torn thumb ligament in 2022. He also suffered a meniscus injury in the 2021 playoffs and had a knee sprain in the 2023 playoffs.

It really is unfortunate that he has dealt with so much.

“It goes through your mind and you can ask yourself those questions, but what are you going to do about it?” Embiid added. “Are you going to quit or are you going to keep going? And if you keep going, what are you going to do about it? The best thing you can do is do the best job possible to prepare yourself every single day, which I’ve done. Sometimes you get the results, sometimes you don’t, but if there’s one thing I’ll say about myself, it’s that I’m not going to quit.”

Even with the injury to his knee and the Bell’s Palsy at the moment, he still dropped a playoff career-high 50 points against the Knicks. He has been a warrior in this series thus far.

“I just love playing the game,” he said. “I just want to be on the floor as much as possible. I want to play as much as possible. I’ve only got about maybe eight years left, so I’ve got to enjoy it as much as possible and I want to win. I think going from the knee injury — I think mentally — the stress, that might be part of it. Like I’ve been saying, mentally, it’s just been so draining, depressing. That could be part of it, so I need to take care of myself mentally and physically.”

Embiid continues to be there for the city of Philadelphia. The fans in this city should be appreciative of what he has brought to the Sixers.

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Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. discusses car accident he was involved in

Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. discusses the car accident he got into after the team returned home from New York.

PHILADELPHIA — After the Philadelphia 76ers returned home from their Game 2 loss to the New York Knicks, forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was involved in a car accident. After a big win over the Knicks in Game 3 on Thursday, Oubre addressed the accident.

“Everything is good,” he stated. “I’m OK. The people that were involved were OK, but I need to probably get a driver or something and just stay off the road and behind the wheel, but everything is good. I’m good. I was still able to do my job and support my family and things are great.”

This is the second time Oubre has been involved in a car accident in the 2023-24 season. In November, he was involved in a hit-and-run incident as a pedestrian. He suffered a rib injury and missed multiple games.

Oubre had 15 points and seven rebounds and played a big factor in the Game 3 win on Thursday.

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Sixers’ Joel Embiid explains what happened on flagrant-1 with Mitchell Robinson

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid explains what happened on his flagrant one foul call with New York Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson.

PHILADELPHIA — There was chippiness from the jump in Thursday’s 125-114 Game 3 win over the New York Knicks for the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a critical game for both sides. New York was looking for a 3-0 lead while Philadelphia desperately needed to get back in the series.

Both sides exchanged hard hits early and the chippiness escalated quickly. One one Knicks possession, Joel Embiid found himself in an awkward position on the ground on the defensive end under the basket. Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson tried taking an offensive rebound up for a dunk, and Embiid grabbed his leg while he was mid-air.

The officials reviewed the play and called it a flagrant one, but it easily could have been a flagrant two foul that would have prompted Embiid’s ejection.

“Obviously Mitchell Robinson was jumping,” Embiid explained. “I was trying to make sure he doesn’t land on me, because obviously we know the history that I have with (Jonathan) Kuminga landing on my knee. So I kind of had some flashbacks. It’s unfortunate. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. It’s just, in those situations, I’ve got to protect myself because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m always the recipient — the bad end of it.”

To Embiid’s point, he has been through a lot on the floor. The Kuminga play  in January essentially caused the meniscus injury that required surgery and sidelined him for two months.

However, the Knicks did not like the play. Donte DiVincenzo got into Embiid’s face to protect Robinson. After the game, Robinson left in a walking boot on his left leg. It appears that what happened with Embiid tweaked the ankle ailment that caused him to miss time.

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Joel Embiid reacts to being diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy after Sixers win

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid discusses being diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy following a win over the New York Knicks in Game 3.

PHILADELPHIA — If it wasn’t enough that Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is recovering from a left knee injury, the big fella is now dealing with Bell’s Palsy.

After the Sixers defeated the New York Knicks, 125-114, in Game 3 on Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Embiid had been diagnosed with the ailment. The affliction is affecting the left side of his face, causing it to appear droopy. That explains why he has been wearing sunglasses lately and why his left eye has looked abnormal.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but obviously, I guess that’s a normal thing,” Embiid said after the win. “I think it started a day or two before the Miami game and I had bad migraines and I thought it was nothing, but usually I like to check it out and for some reason, I ended up having to tell somebody and that’s why the Miami game, my body was just – I was just not feeling it.”

Per the Mayo Clinic, Bell’s Palsy is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face. Often the weakness is short term and improves over weeks. The weakness makes half of the face appear to droop. Smiles are one-sided, and the eye on the affected side is hard to close.

“Obviously, lately with — I’m sure if you Google the symptoms, you know what it is,” Embiid continued. “It’s pretty annoying with my left side of my face, my mouth, and my eye so yeah, it’s been tough, but I’m not a quitter so I gotta keep fighting through everything. It’s unfortunate. That’s the way I look at it, but that’s not an excuse. Gotta keep pushing.”

When asked if the condition is affecting his vision, Embiid revealed it is.

“I mean, the eye is consistently dry, blurry at times, so yeah,” Embiid explained. “I always gotta keep drops in it, but I gotta do it. Like I said, it’s really unfortunate.”

All in all, it is very impressive that the big fella dropped 50 points against the Knicks despite his ailments. Philadelphia is on the board in this series and it will be imperative it wins Game 4 on Sunday before the series shifts back to New York.

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Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. involved in car crash following Game 2 loss to Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was involved in an unfortunate car accident following the team’s Game 2 loss to the New York Knicks.

Hours after the Philadelphia 76ers dropped Game 2 to the New York Knicks on Monday, Kelly Oubre Jr. was involved in a car accident on the way home.

Per TMZ Sports, the accident occurred shortly after the team returned home from Madison Square Garden:

TMZ Sports has learned he wrecked his Lamborghini in a crash just hours after the Sixers fell to the Knicks in Game 2 of their postseason series.

The Philadelphia Police Dept. tells us the wreck happened at around 1:45 AM on Tuesday … shortly after Oubre and the 76ers dropped a heartbreaker at Madison Square Garden, 104-101.

A source told Sixers Wire that Oubre was not injured and he is expected to be in the lineup for Game 3 against the Knicks. The fact he is OK and he is healthy is the most important part.

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