Jason Burgos
Joel Embiid doesn’t want any blame for the Philadelphia 76ers‘ failures in their semifinal series against the New York Knicks. And after their Game 3 defeat, he went the conspiracy route to avoid it.
Friday was a must-win scenario for Embiid and the 76ers. They entered last night’s Game 3 in a 2-0 hole, having lost a lot of the confidence they had following a Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics in the quarterfinals. With the seven-time All-Star back on the floor after missing Game 2, and having some home support, Philly was better positioned to get their first W of the series.
However, after a strong first quarter and early lead, the Knicks took control of the game in the second and never relinquished it for the rest of the night. While there are many people who can take blame for now being in a 3-0 deficit, Embiid doesn’t want to take any of it.
After Game 1, he tried to put the onus on the referees and alleged dirty plays by the Knicks. Unsurprisingly, he is also blaming the refs again for their Game 3 setback. Yet, he is now going beyond just claiming a bad performance by officials and is now going the conspiracy route.
Joel Embiid: ‘I guess it’s good when New York wins’
“They shot 32 free throws, we had 16. We’re not a team that shoots a lot of threes. We attack, put the ball on the ground. I don’t know,” Embiid said after Game 3 when asked about the officiating. “I guess it’s good when New York wins, so we’ve just got to have that mentality of just not fouling. Being smart enough to not put ourselves in a position where they’re going to take advantage of it.”
Of course, it must be that the league just wants the Knicks to advance and get to the NBA Finals. It couldn’t be that he was 3-11 in 14 minutes and -24 when he was on the floor in Game 1. Or that his briddle body led to missing Game 2. Or that when he was clearly not hot, letting Tyrese Maxey lead the way in Game 3 instead of taking 17 shots and being a -9.
Making Embiid’s avoidance of taking blame for the 76ers being down 3-0 in their series even worse is becoming a viral sensation on Saturday for his flop-a-thon in Game 3. The one-time NBA MVP is already done as an elite player. Passing on taking ownership of the losses and being a leader makes him one of the least likable stars in the NBA.
