Joel Embiid played through yet another playoff injury, his knee now the most-watched body part in these NBA playoffs.
The reigning MVP hurt his left knee again in the first half of Saturday’s Game 1 against the Knicks, returned for the second but still couldn’t carry Philadelphia in a 111-104 loss at the sold-out Garden.
And now after getting humiliated in the minutes that Embiid sat, the 76ers only can hope his surgically repaired knee doesn’t cost him too much time going forward — and cost them again in another sooner-than-expected postseason exit.
“Just like we do after every game [we’ll look at him]. Obviously he got assessed at halftime, but just like after every game we’ll assess him,” said 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who added the team isn’t to the point of shutting Embiid down.
But they’d better hope Embiid’s body doesn’t shut him down before they do.
Embiid — who did not talk to the press — finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He was the only Sixer to turn in a double-digit plus-minus, a plus-14 in 36:33.
But it’s the minutes he missed that should scare the Sixers. They got dominated by 21 points in the 11 minutes Embiid sat.
With 2:49 left in the half, Embiid pulled off a play that was spectacular but potentially costly.
He tossed an alley oop to himself off the backboard and dunked on Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby for a 49-46 lead.
But he landed awkwardly and twisted the knee that had required meniscus surgery earlier this season and cost him 29 games.
“[First thought was] ‘hell of a play.’ And then ‘oh s- -t.’ … It was scary,” Kelly Oubre said.
“Yeah, it’s tough seeing your brother go down and you just feel for him, pray for him and hope he’s OK,” Tyrese Maxey said. “And then just glad to see him when we got back to the locker room and he said he was going to go back out there and give it a try. So hats off to him, his determination and his will to win.
“Nothing with Joel surprises me now. He’s always a fighter; he’s always gonna go out there and try to give it his best. If he’s able to go, he’ll for sure be out there.”
Maxey picked up the slack with 33 points.
But make no mistake, the Sixers need Embiid healthy. And that never happens this time of year.
There was the orbital fracture and concussion in 2018, and knee tendinitis the following season. And the 2021 torn meniscus, dragging his beat-up body into the playoffs a year later (another orbital fracture, concussion and torn thumb ligament), and even another knee sprain last season.
And now this. Embiid did return and was a stellar plus-15 in the third.
Down 65-51, he sparked a 27-7 run to put the Sixers up by six.
But they couldn’t hold it, the bench giving away all the progress they made behind Embiid.
And now they’ll have to wait and hope his knee doesn’t cost him too much time.
And cost the Sixers the postseason.
