Sixers-Knicks news: Joel Embiid powers Sixers to home victory over Knicks, bringing series to 2-1

Now we know why Joel Embiid wore sunglasses this week.

The 76ers center has been receiving treatment for a mild case of Bell’s palsy for the past week. The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder started dealing with the condition before the Sixers’ NBA Play-In Tournament victory over the Miami Heat on April 17.

Embiid’s condition affected the facial muscles on the left side of his face. The reigning MVP donned a pair of sunglasses to cover the condition, but drew attention by doing so. Media members asked if the glasses were work as a result of Embiid being hit in the left side of his face in Game 1.

Let’s begin with the first half. It’s a worthy starting point, because it does a lot to explain how a player so talented can have so many detractors. No doubt, you’ve heard them. You may be one of them yourself.

The dynamic has always been a curious one. In a lot of cities, Joel Embiid would be known only by the balance of his account.

He is an MVP, a perennial All-Star, one of the top two players at his position, one of the top two or three in his franchise’s history, one of the top five or 10 in the game, a member of the most exclusive caste of basketball players on the planet, the ones who make a team an instant force to be reckoned with, if not a contender then one that is at least expected to win 50-plus games, regardless of the players who happen to surround him.

All the pregame chatter was about De'Anthony Melton being available to play tonight in his latest comeback attempt from a spine issue. But it's been Cam Payne providing a massive burst off the bench, with eight points and two assists to help the Sixers retake the lead.

After hitting two three-pointers in rapid succession, he celebrated by skipping to the opposite end of the court.

The high-energy guard, whom the Sixers acquired as part of the Patrick Beverley deadline trade, was part of the rotation during the regular season but had largely been squeezed out since flipping to the postseason. But he has epitomized the "stay-ready" mindset.

The Sixers were pushed around against the Knicks in Game 2 of their first-round series.

Well, that’s definitely not the case in the first quarter of Game 3 Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Kyle Lowry received a flagrant foul whacking Donte DiVincenzo on the left side of the face during a layup attempt. The Knicks guard remained on the court for a couple of minutes before attempting foul shots.

The Sixers will need to see more from their bench to match the Knicks.

The Knicks got 42 points from their bench in Game 1, including 21 points from Miles McBride and 13 from Bojan Boganovic, while the Sixers’ bench added just seven points. While it was more even in Game 2, the Sixers still got just 10 points off the bench.

So how do you get the role players and the bench to be more involved? It starts on the defensive end, according to Nick Nurse.

It is a mark of shame. It is a damning example of weak play. It is utterly astounding.

Tobias Harris averaged 3.0 free throws in the regular season, right about his career average. He hasn’t shot a free throw in two playoff games against the Knicks.

Kelly Oubre Jr. averaged 3.4 free throws in the regular season, well above his career average if 2.8. He has shot two free throws in two games.

League sources have confirmed to The Inquirer's Gina Mizell that Sixers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. was involved in a car crash at 16th Street and Vine Street in Philadelphia following the team's Game 2 loss to the Knicks.

According the Philadelphia Police Department, the crash happened at around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday, hours after the team's loss at Madison Square Garden. Oubre's 2021 purple Lamborghini "disregarded a red traffic signal as it was driving northbound on 16th Street when it hit a 2023 Hyundai Elantra, which was traveling eastbound on Vine Street."

No one was injured, and Oubre was on the court warming up before Game 3, but according to TMZ both vehicles needed to be towed from the scene.

Do role players really play better at home? The Sixers have to hope so.

There’s an old bit of conventional wisdom that says role players tend to play better at home. I’m not sure how true it is, mostly because the generalization is far too sweeping and unspecific to really pin down. Do they shoot better at home? Probably, because everybody shoots better at home. And if we’re defining “role players” as non-stars, and the vast majority of players in the NBA are non-stars, then it would seem to follow that role players shoot better at home.

“I think people say that a lot, that they play better at home in the playoffs,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “I think that’s probably true. I think everybody probably plays better at home. I think if you look at all the data you could probably find a bunch of instances to make that a true statement.”

De’Anthony Melton is officially available to play in Game 3 of the 76ers’ first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks, the team said, after spending much of the past four months dealing with a spine issue.

Melton has attempted to come back from the injury three times since early January, but has never made it more than three games before being sidelined again. But he went through Wednesday’s practice and said following the session that he expected to play Thursday.

“We just tried to be way more [cautious] with it this time,” Melton said of the injury, which was typically listed as lumbar spine stress response. “And with playoffs here pretty much here, I just want to figure it out so I can get out there and help my team.”

After a controversial ending to Game 2 at Madison Square Garden — one that saw the NBA admit multiple last-minute mistakes that went against the Sixers — here's a look at the officiating crew of Thursday's Game 3: Zach Zarba, James Williams, and Kevin Cutler.

Zarba, who has 21 years of experience and has been a part of several NBA Finals, will serve as the crew chief. And according to Sporting News, his home/away splits have shifted slightly in favor of the home team this season.

"His splits are about as even as they come, with home teams owning a .552 winning percentage across 1,311 games. That number has ticked up a bit during the 2023-24 season, with home teams holding a .563 winning percentage." [sportingnews.com]

For 48 hours, the public discussion around the 76ers revolved around those final crushing and chaotic seconds of Game 2, around the timeout that neither Nick Nurse nor Kyle Lowry called, around the fouls that the Knicks allegedly committed and the referees didn’t call, around a 104-101 loss that should have been a victory. The culmination of all that chatter was the NBA’s admission Tuesday that, well, yes, Maxey was fouled a time or two, and Nurse did signal that he wanted a timeout, and well, we and our esteemed officials will try to do better next time. What vindication for the Sixers. Good job filing that grievance, guys. Guess what? You’re still four whines away from the second round.

Oops. Sorry. Wins. Four wins away.

There’s a serious point to be made here, though, and in focusing so much on whether Jalen Brunson did, in fact, attempt to give Maxey an atomic wedgie on that late inbounds play, you can miss it. Game 2 is gone. Game 2 is over. As Nurse said Wednesday after the Sixers practiced at their Camden headquarters, “Clock hit midnight on that game, and I moved on.” What matters for the Sixers, now that they’re down two games to none, now that they’re staring at a gotta-have-it Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night, is whether they understand what the Knicks are doing and what it will take to beat them.

During the 2017 NBA draft — after already selecting Markelle Fultz with the first-overall pick — the Sixers had the chance to add another guard, one with local ties who also happens to be torching them in their first-round series against the Knicks: Villanova product Josh Hart.

Instead, the team took Anzejs Pasecniks, a Latvian player who never suited up for the Sixers, with the 25th-overall pick as part of a trade with the Magic. But Hart was hoping the Sixers would take him instead.

"I wanted to go here. They were at 25. They did a draft-and-stash, some European guy that I can’t pronounce his name. But this is the place I wanted to go," Hart told reporters ahead of Thursday's Game 3. "It was right down the street. Unfortunately, they felt they wanted a draft-and-stash. But draft night I was a little bummed out that 25 came and I wasn’t there.”

No Sixers team has ever come back to win a playoff series after trailing two games to none. The franchise is 0-20 when trying to pull off an 0-2 series comeback.

Not a good sign for the current Sixers, who are trailing 0-2 to the New York Knicks in their best-of-seven first-round series.

But they’re not alone when it comes to franchises that have struggled to overcome 0-2 deficits. The all-time record for teams that started 0-2 is just 33-416.

As the Sixers prepare to take the court in Philadelphia for another playoff game, concessions workers at Wells Fargo Center are going on strike for the second time this month.

The roughly 400 members of Unite Here Local 274 who work at the arena, employees of Aramark, called a work stoppage Thursday morning. Unlike the single-day strike on April 9, the union said this strike will continue until further notice.

After Thursday’s game, the next scheduled event at Wells Fargo Center is Game 4 between the Sixers and the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Once again, Joel Embiid is listed as questionable on the Sixers' injury report ahead of tonight's Game 3 against the New York Knicks.

Embiid is also dealing with an unspecified left-eye injury he suffered during Game 1, but he is expected to play tonight, according to the Inquirer's Keith Pompey.

“He’s feeling OK,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters.

The Sixers are back in South Philly tonight looking for a much needed win against the New York Knicks in their first-round NBA playoff series.

The game will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia beginning at 7:30 p.m., with Kate Scott and Alaa Abdelnaby on the call.

Sixers Pregame Live will air at 6:30 p.m., featuring Amy Fadool, Jim Lynam, and Marc Jackson. Sixers Postgame Live will air immediately following the game.