New York hates Joel Embiid. But Tuesday he soaked up all the vitriol and answered back with victory.
The Sixers star overcame a bad knee, a bad migraine and for the most part his own bad performance, doing just enough to help his team stave off elimination.
Philadelphia pulled out a 112-106 come-from-behind first-round Game 5 win over the Knicks at the sold-out Garden to extend their season.
The series moves back down the Turnpike to Wells Fargo Center for Thursday’s Game 6 with the Knicks leading 3-2.
But at least the Sixers have hope – and the expectation that Embiid can’t possibly be as bad as he was on Tuesday.
“I was terrible, but I’m hoping that I can be better,” said Embiid, who notched a dubious triple double with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and five blocks.
But he was held to roughly half of his gaudy average — 35.0 in this series, 34.7 for the season — shot just 7-of-19 and committed nine turnovers.
“I felt for the most part I made the right play. But at times I was also careless with the ball. I’ve definitely got to do a better job. But yeah, I’d say most of the time, I think it was good intention to make the right play. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. But there’s no way I can be as bad as I was.”
It’s easy to see why Embiid struggled.
After missing two months following left knee surgery, Embiid was listed as questionable as he has been for every Philadelphia game in the playoffs. But he also suffered from a migraine that kept him out of morning shootaround.
“I just woke up with a bad migraine…Just got to keep fighting,” Embiid shrugged. “I’m ok. We won; that’s all I care about.”
The sellout crowd of 19,812 greeted him with profanity, incentives and all sorts of vituperations.
It didn’t bother him a bit. As a matter of fact, he seemed to enjoy it.
“It’s not hostile. I love New York. New York is my favorite city in the world. I have a place here for the past five years. I just love New York,” said the Philadelphia star. “And then the (Knicks) fans, when you play against a team they’re always gonna pick that guy. And they seem to have picked me, which is fine. I love it. If I gotta be the punching bag and keep hearing a lot of ‘F Embiid,’ that’s ok. I love it.
“I wish I was myself. It usually gets me going in those situations because you want to put yourself in those situations and kind of shut them up. But I think as long as you keep your basketball (it’s fine). Man, they’ve been doing a great job just supporting their team. They’ve been amazing. You can’t (slam) them. That’s why they’re the Knicks; they get hyped about everything and they’ve been doing a fantastic job.”
He hopes to return to his favorite city for Game 7 Saturday.
