PHILADELPHIA — Only two numbers at the bottom of the box score shown on the Jumbotron hanging atop the Wells Fargo Center court were bolded in red.
Points and fouls.
For the 76ers, the key to their most competitive game of a first-round playoff series against the Knicks lied in the latter.
And not just fouls, but an overwhelming level of physicality courtesy of the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player of the Year.
The seven-foot, 280-pound Joel Embiid was the difference in his team’s first win of the series, scoring a series-high 50 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field to will his Sixers to a 125-114 victory over the Knicks on Sunday.
The Knicks now lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 back on the 76ers’ home floor on Sunday.
And make no mistake, Embiid won the game in the foul column before he did his damage from behind the arc.
To say Embiid mucked the game up is an understatement.
Philadelphia’s game plan very clearly was to foul the Knicks centers out — or worse, do them bodily harm — and unfortunately for New York, the star big man carried out the plan with precision.
If accusing a player of purposeful bodily harm seems excessive, consider Embiid’s first-half rampage. Game 3 of Knicks-Sixers should have been tacked on to the Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney card at Barclays Center last week.
In fact, officials reviewed three plays for hostile activity within the game’s opening eight minutes.
Philadelphia’s Kyle Lowry smacked Donte DiVincenzo in the face on a layup attempt and ultimately had the foul bumped up to a flagrant foul penalty one.
Embiid got away with punching starting Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein in the groin, then moments later was called for an offensive foul for purposely banging knees with Hartenstein while trotting up the court.
Later in the first quarter, Embiid, who was on the ground, pulled Mitchell Robinson down by the legs as Robinson went up for a dunk attempt.
Officials immediately separated Embiid from the Knicks, who were fed up from the star center’s strategy. Later, while bringing the ball up the court after a defensive rebound, Embiid drove directly into Robinson and led with his elbow.
76ers head coach Nick Nurse lost the challenge on the play, and Embiid picked up his third foul, but the damage had been done to Robinson. The backup five left the game at halftime and didn’t return due to a sprained left ankle.
It was the same ankle in need of surgery after a Dec. 8 stress fracture knocked him out of the rotation for nearly three months.
And once enough damage was done — once Embiid’s physical presence took its toll on the Knicks — he resorted to more conventional methods of bullying: with stones from long range.
Embiid shot 0-of-2 from three through the first two quarters then made all four of his attempts in the third, including three triples in a row to combat a Knicks flurry of threes of their own. Embiid finished the game shooting 5-for-7 from downtown.
The Sixers shot 5-of-17 from three in the first half as a team then lit it up in the third, where they shot 9-of-12 from behind the arc. They won the third period, 43-27, and the Knicks never fully recovered.
Jalen Brunson had his best game of the series, shooting 13-of-26 from the field for 39 points and 13 assists. Josh Hart hit another four threes for 20 points, OG Anunoby added 17 points on a trey of threes, and Hartenstein scored 14 points, largely on floaters when Embiid helped on others on defense.
DiVincenzo ended up with just five points on two-of-seven shooting from the field, plus a big red welt on the right side of his face courtesy of the first-quarter smack dealt from Lowry.
The Knicks got just 19 points from their bench: Miles McBride chipped in eight points on two-of-four shooting from three, and Bojan Bogdanovic struggled with just five points on one-of-five shooting.
Precious Achiuwa played his first playoff minutes with Hartenstein in foul trouble and Robinson out hurt.
Achiuwa picked up three fouls in 10 minutes, then flailed his arms in disbelief. There isn’t much anyone can do with the league’s reigning MVP, let alone a third-stringer who hadn’t played in Games 1 and 2.
And without Robinson, whose status for Game 4 is uncertain after re-injuring his surgically repaired left ankle, the Knicks should expect more of the same from Embiid with the series on the line.
Embiid believes the 76ers are the better team, as he proudly declared with his head in his hands at his locker after the Game 2 loss at Madison Square Garden.
By hook and by crook, he proved his point in Game 3.
The Knicks have a chance to prove him wrong in Game 4 on Sunday, but they had better bring their boxing gloves.
You don’t need headliners like Garcia and Haney to tell this series is going to be a dogfight.
