Joel Embiid said he felt that the Philadelphia 76ers should have won the first two games of the series against the New York Knicks, and that their Game 2 meltdown was unacceptable, even with the missed calls that went against him. 

Embiid entered Game 3 with the mindset that he needed to win and he did everything humanly possible to inspire his teammates to victory. And guess what? It worked perfectly.

Against a very tough and game opponent, the 2023 MVP was at his dominant best. His 50 points came on 13 of 19 shooting, including 5 of 7 from three. He was also aggressive in his attack, as shown by his 21 free throw attempts.

Embiid was also part of a little controversy as he pulled off a number of dangerous plays including pulling down on Mitchell Robinson’s foot after landing on the ground. 

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t mince words in his postgame interview, clearly feeling that Embiid got away with too much shit.

The Sixers needed all of Embiid’s points seeing as Tyrese Maxey was the only other Sixer to go over 20 points and he struggled from the field, going 9 of 24.

Additionally, Jalen Brunson had his best game of the series so far for the Knicks, finsihing with 39 points and 13 assists while shooting 13 of 27 overall. Josh Hart also had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. 

We’ve now got ourselves a series. It’s been a chippy, physical and there’s certainly no love lost between the two teams. If this version of Embiid shows up again, there’s a very good chance that we’ll be looking at a 2-2 tie heading back to the Big Apple. The series has been a must-watch so far and that remains the same for Game 4.