Tag: Joel Embiid

Sixers feeling confident they can beat Knicks despite 0-2 series deficit

The Philadelphia 76ers are feeling confident they can beat the New York Knicks despite the 0-2 series deficit.

NEW YORK — After two games of this Round 1 playoff series, the Philadelphia 76ers trail the New York Knicks 2-0. The Sixers have given themselves a chance in both games, but they were not able to get the job done in either contest.

However, the Sixers are feeling confident. They’re down, but they’re not out. Coach Nick Nurse will make sure this team continues to fight, scratch, and claw for everything. The Knicks held serve at home. Now the Sixers must do the same as the series shifts to South Philadelphia.

“We played really well, did a lot of great things,” Nurse said after Game 2. “Played better in a bunch of areas tonight. It’s obviously difficult when it’s so close and you kind of give it away at the end. It’s obviously difficult in these circumstances, right? It just makes the series a little longer.”

Joel Embiid, who had 34 points in the Game 2 loss, guaranteed the Sixers would win this series. For that to happen, Philadelphia will need to match the intensity and the physicality that the Knicks play with. The Sixers did so in Game 2, but just came up short.

They will have to be ready to match it again in Game 3 on Thursday.

“Keep fighting,” added Nic Batum. “We showed that in a tough arena with a big crowd, we nearly had a chance to be up by 2-0 right now. It didn’t go our way twice, but we did have a chance to win those two games so all we have to do is keep fighting. Now we go home, it’ll be another big fight. Just go out there and keep playing.”

On top of the fact that they were right there in both games, the Sixers have the two best players in this series: Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. New York has won the first two games of this series, but it’s the first to four. If the Sixers continue to get this type of production out of their star duo, they will be in great shape.

“I thought there were stretches of the game where I didn’t see him being so aggressive, but certainly the last 15 minutes, he was really chasing it down, turning on the jets, slamming on the brakes — all the things he can do time and time again,” Nurse said of Maxey. “So I thought he was great when it really mattered.”

Game 3 is on Thursday from the Wells Fargo Center.

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Sixers will continue to follow Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey as series shifts

The Philadelphia 76ers will continue to lean on star leaders Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey as the series now shifts to Philadelphia.

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers are returning to the Wells Fargo Center down 0-2 in this Round 1 playoff series with the New York Knicks. They had their chances in both Games 1 and 2, but were not able to walk away with the victory in either instance.

The positives for Philadelphia are the play of star duo Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. In the Game 2 loss on Monday, the duo combined for 69 points, 19 rebounds, and 16 assists. They were able to have that type of production despite Embiid dealing with a variety of injuries and Maxey dealing with an illness.

As the series now shifts to the Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers will continue to lean on their star leaders starting with Embiid.

“Very good,” coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid. “I thought he was excellent. Really outstanding.”

It is admirable to see Embiid play as well as he did despite the obvious pain that he’s in. Not only is the knee bothering him, but he was hit in the eye in Game 1 and is dealing with that as well. He has had a couple of dominant games to start this series for Philadelphia.

“It’s all mental,” Embiid added. “Obviously, it’s not the best-case scenario, but I’m good. No excuses. Play good or play bad, got to find a way to win.”

Then, there’s Maxey who fought through an illness that required him to have an IV. He delivered 35 points with 15 coming in the fourth. It appeared that his heroics would be enough before the unfortunate final 30 seconds for Philadelphia.

“He was ballin,” said Tobias Harris of Maxey. “That’s who he is and he made huge shot after huge shot for us. A game like that, you wanna get a victory for those types of performances and him just fighting through sickness and being there for the group. We’ll be fine. We just gotta keep our composure, stay level-headed, and be ready.”

The Sixers are down 0-2 and things look rather bleak at the moment, but Philadelphia will continue to lean on Embiid and Maxey to get back into this series. Being back in the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday should help.

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Officials didn’t help, but Sixers played into their own demise in Game 2

The officials didn’t help the situation, but the Philadelphia 76ers played into their own demise in the Game 2 loss to the New York Knicks.

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers had it. They had Game 2 against the New York Knicks in their grasp. Tyrese Maxey hit a triple with 1:09 left to put Philadelphia up four, the Sixers then got a stop, and Kyle Lowry made a free-throw to put Philadelphia up five with 47.3 seconds to go.

Then, chaos. Jalen Brunson made a side-step triple that hit the front of the rim and bounced into the air before dropping to pull New York to within 101-99. The Sixers then had trouble getting the ball in. Nick Nurse claimed he called timeout and the officials didn’t grant him one. It also appeared Maxey was fouled by Brunson on the inbounds pass. He didn’t get a call.

Maxey then lost the ball in the corner. New York’s Josh Hart then picked it up and found Donte DiVincenzo wide-open on the wing. He missed the 3-point attempt, but Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed the offensive rebound and the ball found DiVincenzo for a triple to give the Knicks a 102-101 lead with 13.0 seconds left on their way to a 104-101 win.

Two separate things can be true:

  • The officials messed up and didn’t help the situation. Philadelphia has every right to file that grievance with the league.
  • If the Sixers had just grabbed a rebound off the DiVincenzo miss, they would have won the game and rendered everything else pointless.

Afterward, Joel Embiid ripped the officials and guaranteed the Sixers would win this series against the Knicks. The sentiment is great. Philadelphia should want its leader to speak like this. However, the Sixers played into their own demise.

A big factor in this one was once again rebounding. Philadelphia did a great job of rebounding overall compared to Game 1, but it came down to Hartenstein crashing in and grabbing the critical rebound. That led to the DiVincenzo go-ahead triple. If the Sixers grab that rebound, then they win the game.

The Sixers are not out of this series. At all. They’re down 0-2, but they have two huge games at home that they have to win. Philadelphia has been right there in both Games 1 and 2, but it didn’t go its way.

With that being said, the excuses and blaming the officiating have to stop. The Sixers had their chance in Game 2. Even with the chaotic possession, DiVincenzo missed that initial triple. The Sixers just needed to grab that rebound and that would have won the game.

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Complete injury report for Joel Embiid, Sixers vs. Knicks in Game 1

Here is the complete injury report for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers as they take on the New York Knicks in Game 1 of Round 1.

The Philadelphia 76ers will begin the playoffs on Saturday with Game 1 of Round 1 against the New York Knicks. Entering the playoffs as the No. 7 seed after defeating the Miami Heat in the play-in tournament, the Sixers will look to steal home-court advantage from the Knicks.

Once again, the Sixers will be without De’Anthony Melton due to back injury recovery. He has played in only seven games since the calendar turned to 2024 as the back issue has unfortunately limited him a bit.

Robert Covington also remains out due to a left knee bone bruise as it appears that his season is unfortunately likely over.

Joel Embiid is listed as questionable due to left knee injury recovery. When considering the magnitude of this game and how it’s the playoffs, the big fella is likely to play in this one.

The Knicks took three out of four from the Sixers during the regular season, but Embiid played in only one of those games.

Tip off from Madison Square Garden is set for 6 p.m. EDT.

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Doris Burke gave JJ Redick hilarious advice about using Twitter after he ranted about a Joel Embiid criticism

Doris Burke listened to JJ Redick’s Joel Embiid rant and quickly realized the real problem.

Peruse NBA Twitter while Joel Embiid plays on any given night, and you might notice a common theme.

Some fans on the platform like to talk about how the Philadelphia 76ers superstar “baits” for free throw attempts rather than always relying on old-fashioned scoring. This criticism irked NBA analyst JJ Redick, who came to the defense of Embiid as he shot free throws during the 76ers’ play-in win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

However, as Redick passionately ranted about the unfairness of the Embiid critique, his ESPN broadcast partner Doris Burke noticed a particular tick in his tangent. When pressing Redick about where he got this Embiid criticism from, he revealed he read it on NBA Twitter.

Burke quickly joked that that was Redick’s problem in the first place: He was reading too much Twitter.

We have fair points from both Redick and Burke here.

Drawing fouls against NBA-caliber defenders is a skill, something that is not legislated against by league rules as long there is an actual foul. It’s also just smart because you’re not always going to have a clean shot at the basket, and getting to the line can be integral for your team. Also, someone of Embiid’s listed 7-foot, 280-pound stature probably is getting fouled that much because he’s just so big and strong, and no one can reasonably defend him one-on-one. (Note: Embiid has averaged over 11 free throw attempts per game over each of the last three seasons, which comfortably leads the NBA.)

To Burke’s point, yes, Redick was probably just reading too much Twitter. That is another evergreen lesson for us. Don’t spend too much time, if any, reading other random people’s opinions on social media.

Joel Embiid talks health, production after Sixers beat Heat in play-in

Joel Embiid discusses his health and production after the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Miami Heat in the play-in game.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Miami Heat, 105-104, in the play-in tournament on Wednesday. The win clinched the No. 7 seed, and they head to Manhattan to take on the New York Knicks in the first round.

A big factor in the win against Miami was Nic Batum, who had 17 of his 20 points after halftime to help bust the zone defense the Heat employed to bother the Sixers.

Joel Embiid didn’t have a great night as he shot just 6-for-17 from the floor, but he had 23 points along with 15 rebounds and five assists. The big fella missed some bunnies at the rim and appeared to get frustrated before making some big plays down the stretch.

“It means a lot,” Embiid said of the win. “Being down a lot. … We stuck together. It just shows you that I don’t play my best, I don’t get to my spots the whole game until the fourth quarter, and we still found a way to win. They like to make it nasty and we can do it too, and we made it nasty too. That’s why you go about defense in such a low-scoring game.”

Considering the easy looks Embiid had that he wasn’t able to convert, one has to wonder if his left knee is bothering him. As time goes on, that will be something to monitor.

“Well, hopefully, every day gets better,” Embiid added. “But we’ll just keep monitoring it.”

A matchup against the physical Heat is good for Embiid. This will allow him to get an idea of how much he can handle at this stage of his injury recovery. Even on something of an off night, he still had 23 and 15.

“Listen, I thought he was OK,” said coach Nick Nurse. “I thought that he competed. I thought he competed late, especially, the last few minutes and again, it’s not that easy. Herro’s coming out there 100 mph, Joel’s gotta be up on those screens to defend. I thought he made a key play, he rebounded the ball—he started rebounding the ball which is huge. So I’m happy. I think it’s a good one to get under his belt with a big scheme and a lot of intensity and a lot of minutes.”

It also doesn’t help him that the Heat are one of the more physical teams in the league and their zone defense can really bother and befuddle any offense.

“I think it wasn’t easy,” Nurse added. “I thought they certainly did a great job. They built in a huge scheme to make things difficult for him, but he made some big plays. He hits a trail 3, throws a great pass to Kelly (Oubre Jr.) for kind of the big basket that we really needed. I don’t know how many assists he had, but he probably had a good number. It felt like a lot more than that. I thought he kicked some out for 3s that guys were hitting.”

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Sixers vs. Knicks Round 1 schedule: Complete dates, times for series

The Round 1 schedule for the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks has been released with dates and times.

The Philadelphia 76ers are in the playoffs following their play-in tournament win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday evening. They received a big performance from Nic Batum that swayed the game in their favor, and they are the No. 7 seed in the East heading into the playoffs.

That means they get a matchup with the New York Knicks who earned the No. 2 seed in the East. Led by dynamic guard Jalen Brunson and numerous physical players with great chemistry, the Knicks will be a challenge for Philadelphia.

With that being said, the schedule is out for the series and it goes like this:

  • Game 1: April 20 at Knicks 6 p.m. EDT
  • Game 2: April 22 at Knicks 7:30 p.m. EDT
  • Game 3: April 25 vs. Knicks 7:30 p.m. EDT
  • Game 4: April 28 vs. Knicks 1 p.m. EDT
  • *Game 5: April 30 at Knicks TBD
  • *Game 6: May 2 vs. Knicks TBD
  • *Game 7: May 4 at Knicks TBD

*if necessary

The Sixers will lean on Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to lead the way and help Philadelphia go on a deep playoff run in the Eastern Conference.

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Sixers to have Joel Embiid suit up vs. Heat after being listed as questionable

The Philadelphia 76ers will have Joel Embiid suit up against the Miami Heat in their play-in tournament game on Wednesday.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers play host to the Miami Heat in the 7 vs. 8 play-in tournament game on Wednesday with the No. 7 seed on the line. The winner will go on to play the New York Knicks in Round 1 of the playoffs while the loser will prepare for another play-in game.

The Sixers will be healthy for this one. Joel Embiid, who was originally listed as questionable due to knee injury management, will play. The Sixers have won eight in a row since his return. Embiid has played in five of those games, and Philadelphia will look to earn another important win on Wednesday.

KJ Martin was also listed as questionable. He will play as well.

The Heat will certainly be a tough matchup. They have been in this situation before as they have gone from the play-in to the finals in 2023. Philadelphia will need all hands on deck to get the job done.

Tipoff from the Wells Fargo Center is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

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Sixers star Joel Embiid will wear No. 11 while playing for Team USA

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid will wear No. 11 for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has more important matters to attend to at the moment as he prepares for another playoff run in 2024. However, he also will help Team USA pursue a gold medal in the Paris Olympics in the summer.

Embiid has been named to the 12-man roster for Team USA and will look to make an impact in his Olympic debut. He will join LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum and others to help lead America.

USA Basketball Men’s National Team managing director Grant Hill presented Embiid with his Team USA jersey. The big fella will wear No. 11 while representing the Red, White and Blue.

Embiid has bigger responsibilities at the moment as the Sixers get ready for the playoffs, but it will be a great experience for him to play in the Olympics and learn from some of the game’s greats.

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Joel Embiid has a heartwarming reason why he chose to play for Team USA in the Olympics

The 2023 NBA MVP could have also played for France or Cameroon in the Olympics.

Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid will officially represent Team USA during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Embiid had the unique option to represent the United States, France, or Cameroon (though they have not yet qualified). Even though France is the host nation and he is originally from Cameroon, the 2023 NBA MVP will headline a strong roster for Team USA.

The big man said that he had a simple reason why he chose to accept the offer from United States men’s basketball managing director Grant Hill and play for head coach Steve Kerr on Team USA.

According to Embiid, he made the decision for his son, Arthur.

Embiid said the following last year (via Associated Press):

“I’ve been here for such a long time,” Embiid said in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the 76ers are having training camp — and where Embiid met with Hill this week. “For the past few years, every decision I’ve made has been based on just family. My family, my son, and having the chance to represent a country like the U.S., with my son being born here … I love my home country, but I really wanted to play in the Olympics.”

That is a great reason for his decision! When he officially received his jersey, Arthur was there with him to celebrate.

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