Down 2-0 on a questionable knee with an even more questionable team around him, Joel Embiid is doing his best Joe Namath.
Or Mark Messier.
“We should be [up] 2-0. So we’re good. We’re going to win this series,” Joel Embiid said Monday night after Philadelphia’s epic collapse in a 104-101 first-round Game 2 loss to the Knicks at the Garden. And just for extra emphasis, he predicted it again.
“We’re going to win this. We know what we’ve got to fix. We did a better job today, so we’re going to fix it. But we’re the better team and we’re gonna keep fighting.”
Embiid didn’t let a knee injury or the endgame incompetence from his team dampen his confidence. Unless he was trying to convince himself.
Embiid — listed as questionable with a left knee injury, and still in doubt minutes before tipoff —- eventually suited up and didn’t just start, but starred.
Showered by chants of “Fu-k Embiid! Fu-k Embiid!” the center poured in a game-high 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
This despite the knee injury that required midseason surgery, sidelined him for 29 games and forced him off the floor briefly in Saturday’s Game 1 loss.
But in Monday’s Game 2 with his Sixers leading by five with 28 seconds left to play, they folded.
They gave up a Jalen Brunson 3-pointer, and — after trying to call timeout but not being given one — watched Tyrese Maxey turn the ball over.
Even after forcing a missed 3-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo, Embiid & Co. couldn’t corral the rebound.
Naturally, they let the Knicks outfight them for it, and this time DiVincenzo didn’t miss his next look from deep for the lead.
It was a bitter end to Embiid’s night.
“Thats f—ing unacceptable to lose a game like this, especially in the playoffs,” said Embiid.
“Everybody on the floor was trying to call a timeout, myself included, Nico [Batum], coach on the sideline, but they didn’t give it to us. But forget about a timeout. There’s a bunch of fouls. Like I said, that’s f—ing unacceptable.”