Knicks Bulletin: “We have to throw the first punch and keep throwing them.”

The Knicks and the Sixers have generated so many headlines in the past few hours because of what happened on Thursday when Joel Embiid decided to put on a Mixed Martial Arts show that absolutely shadowed his basketball skill set and masterful 50-point outing.

New York had to deal with five opponents and a crew of refs that weren’t all that into calling a balanced game but instead seemed to help Philly after the ending of Game 2 and hearing the complaints coming from Cheesesteak Nation.

Here are some more words said during the past few hours as the aftermath of Embiid’s actions keeps generating quotes and soundbites.

Tom Thibodeau

On the series against the Sixers...

“This is playoff basketball. It’s going to go up, it’s going to escalate.”

On the refs only calling fouls one way...

“[Brunson] ended up with 12 free throws, right, and a lot of those came at the end. So, I will look at it again, and I’ll send my clips in like I do every game. And then they’ll say marginal contact, and then we’ll have marginal contact on Embiid and he’ll be at the line 21 times. That’s the way it works.”

Josh Hart

On Embiid masquerading an MMA move as a self-defense action...

“Mitch is what, 280 (pounds)? You grab (him) by the leg when he’s jumping and you don’t allow him to come down, that’s something that, just a sprained ankle would be a fortunate injury. That one was reckless.”

On how to stop Embiid when he’s actually playing basketball...

“Make sure he sees bodies. Don’t foul him. He had more free throws than our whole team, more free throws than field goals attempted. So we gotta try to show our hands as best we can and be physical.”

Donte DiVincenzo

On what happened in Game 3...

“We expect physicality. I think the grab that he did on Mitch was dirty.”

Isaiah Hartenstein

On Embiid’s grab of Robinson’s leg...

“That’s not a basketball play. I think that’s the take on that.”

Miles McBride

On the Knicks mindset entering Game 4...

“We have to come in on Sunday and from the beginning throw the first punch, and keep throwing them.”

On Maxey and Embiid...

“Obviously two great players. I think they had it going and we just didn’t make adjustments as a team. I think understanding that we have to make it hard, we have to make their other guys step up, make shots and make plays. I think we just have to come back, look at the film, and be ready for Sunday.”

Peter Rosenberg (New York Radio Host)

On what the Knicks should do in retaliation for Embiid’s actions...

“The New York Knicks cannot be the New York Mets in Game 4. They need to make a physical statement in Game 4. You have those extra bodies on the bench that [head coach Tom Thibodeau] never plays? Someone needs a nice, good, intentional, accidental slap across Embiid’s face. Needs to happen in Game 4. ‘I don’t care if he’s an MVP or not. I’m not saying you go for the guy’s knees and try to end his season, but guys, [if] you don’t get him with a hard Pistons foul, sorta similar to what happened to [Donte] DiVincenzo yesterday, you could argue he got completely punched in the face. So, someone needs to get racked across the face in the first five minutes on Sunday to show them that they’re not gonna roll over against this team.”

Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On the first-round series through the first three games...

“It’s kind of how the series has been going. Back and forth, tied game. Whoever can come up with stops at the end, and scores at the end, wins the game.”

Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers Player)

On the reason for putting Robinson in danger of suffering an injury...

“Obviously Mitchell Robinson was jumping, and I was trying to make sure he didn’t land on me. Obviously we know the history that I have with Kuminga landing on my knee, so I kind of had some flashbacks when it came down to it.”

”It’s unfortunate. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody but in those situations, I have to protect myself, because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m the recipient of the bad end of it. It was unfortunate, but physical game. They wanted to bring the physicality. We can be physical, too, and we are.”

On his mindset against the Knicks...

“They want to bring the physicality. We can be physical too, and we are.”

Immanuel Quickley (Toronto Raptors Player)

On Embiid’s action on Mitchell Robinson...

“I ain’t trying to get fined. I don’t know if I still can. But if that was anybody else, I don’t know if he’d get the same call.”

Charles Oakley (Former NBA Player)

On Embiid’s illegal antics and how he’d deal with it...

“I probably would have smacked him. You can’t let him send that kind of message. If he had done something like that (when Oakley played), he wouldn’t have gotten away with it. David Robinson, when he played, he knew what he could get away with. They (bullies) pick a fight they think they are going to win.”

Jay Williams (Former NBA Player)

On Embiid’s actions....

“As much as I love that [Embiid’s 50-point game], in the first quarter when he grabbed Mitchell Robinson’s legs — now look I want to see the players determine the game more than anything and I know the referees feel like they would have not gotten out of that arena in Philadelphia had they called Flagrant [foul] 2 — that play alone on Mitchell Robinson while he was on the ground grabbing the knee of another player while he is in the air … deserved a Flagrant 2. Joel deserved to be ejected. That’s how I feel about it. I think that would have been the case for anybody else but I know they wanted to see Joel play but that deserved a Flagrant 2 that would have obviously changed the outcome of Game 3 in Philadelphia.”