PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers got back Joel Embiid Friday night -- but it didn't prevent them from moving to within one game of elimination in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks.
Embiid finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 minutes, but it was New York -- playing without OG Anunoby, who is sidelined with a hamstring strain he suffered in Game 2 Wednesday night -- that emerged with an impressive 108-94 victory over the 76ers in front of a sold out, but pretty evenly divided, crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
"I'm okay," Embiid said afterward, when asked how he is feeling. "Obviously a tough loss tonight. Just have to take it one game at a time."
As a result, New York is now up 3 games to 0 in this best-of-7 affair and is one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia -- barring a second straight historic comeback, after becoming the fourth team in NBA history to come back from down 3 games to 1 as the lower seed against the Boston Celtics in the first round -- is about to see its season end in the conference semifinals for a sixth time in the last nine years, and will see its streak of years without a conference finals appearance stretch to 25 consecutive seasons.
"S---. Win a game," said Paul George, who had 15 points in the first quarter but didn't score again, missing his final nine shots. "Win a game. Keep [the season] alive."
After sitting out of Game 2 with right hip and ankle injuries, Embiid went through shootaround with his teammates Friday morning and his usual pregame routine about 45 minutes before tipoff before being put back into the starting lineup.
Rather than the dominant version that was the best player on the court against the Celtics in Games 5, 6 and 7 of that 3-1 comeback in the first round of the playoffs, though, Embiid instead resembled something closer to the version that Philadelphia saw here in Game 4 against the Celtics, a game the 76ers got run off the court in.
"I thought he gave us everything he could," 76ers coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid. "I really do. I think he tried to give us everything he could tonight and that's all he can do."
The Knicks repeatedly hunted Embiid in space, taking advantage of his limited mobility to get easy baskets, or to attack the offensive glass and get second chance opportunities.
New York's second unit, meanwhile, outscored Philadelphia's 29-11 - and that doesn't even tell the story properly. The 76ers didn't have a single bench point until Quentin Grimes hit a 3-pointer in the middle of the fourth quarter, and didn't score another one until Nurse emptied his bench.
"We've got a lot of good guys that are resilient, that are fighters," Knicks coach Mike Brown said of his bench. And they've done a good job of keeping their mind or staying present in whatever we're doing. And it's showing when they go out there and get the opportunity."
While an early terrific shooting display from Paul George, who scored 15 of the team's 31 first quarter points, staked the 76ers to an early lead, George missed all nine shots he took and didn't score another point over the final three quarters. And, as the game wore on it was the Knicks - despite missing Anunoby, whom the Knicks declined to reveal any details about his ability to do anything on the court, or whether he can run, simply repeating three times that he is "day-to-day" - who made far more hustle, energy and effort plays despite leading the series 2-0.
Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, there were plenty of Knicks fans in the building - despite numerous attempts by the 76ers to counteract that over the past several days - leading to MVP chants for Brunson and "Let's Go Knicks!" chants from the celebratory Knick fans in attendance.
"I don't know," said Embiid, who had implored the local fans to keep Knicks fans out of the building after beating the Boston Celtics in Game 7 less than a week ago, when asked about the Knicks fans and their cheers.
"I was focused on the game. I really wasn't paying attention."
As a result, the 76ers have, in the span of a week, gone from closing out the first 3 games to 1 comeback in franchise history to finding themselves down 3 games to 0, and see the end of their season staring them in the face barring becoming the first team in NBA history to recover from such a deficit.
"We're right there," said George. "We're just not finishing the game. I think we're right there. We're putting together three great quarters. We're just not closing it out.
"I think we've just got to take it one game at a time. Again, we've been in position to win these games, give them credit. They've been huge down the stretch on their end, but I think the adjustments we can make limit their possessions, their extra second possessions, take one game at a time and we'll be back in that 3-1 spot where we were comfortable in the first series and try to claw our way back into it."
