{"id":729558,"date":"2026-05-09T06:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T06:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/729558\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T06:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T06:21:16","slug":"i-dont-know-joel-embiid-stays-quiet-after-failed-attempt-to-stop-knicks-fans-from-invading-76ers-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/729558\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Don\u2019t Know\u201d: Joel Embiid Stays Quiet After Failed Attempt to Stop Knicks Fans From Invading 76ers Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the very height of the 76ers\u2019 playoffs after defeating the Celtics, Joel Embiid pleaded. \u2018Don\u2019t sell your tickets,\u2019 he told 76ers fans. Embiid wanted them to be a part of The Process that had taken shape. But New York was always ruthless. The arena didn\u2019t sell to anyone listed outside Philadelphia<\/a>. Yet, the Xfinity Mobile Arena failed Embiid. It was a band of Knicks<\/a> fans that became the team\u2019s sixth man on the road.<\/p>\n

In a way, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers were betrayed. The lofty resale tickets tempted the local fans from abandoning their team when they needed the energy. The Knicks\u2019 Mikal Bridges<\/a> admitted to spending a lot of money to bring his people to the arena. And they were there. Anywhere you looked, it was all Knicks and barely a trace of Philly fans.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. I was focused on the game. I really wasn\u2019t paying attention,\u201d Embiid said, almost deflecting the question.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t anything much to pay attention to. It looked like the 76ers were playing a third straight game at MSG. Timothee Chalamet was courtside, cheering every sequence. Every chant was for the Knicks, who used the external support on the road to take a 3-0 lead in their series against the 76ers.<\/p>\n

The Sixers actually had an early 12-point lead to start Game 3. Imagine the pop the team was expecting as they marched on to take a commanding lead. Instead, the audience was drawn to the arena to uplift the Knicks. They executed the mission successfully, without much of a contest from the home fans.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The void was felt. The 76ers lacked energy in the final quarter, scoring just 18 points. Joel Embiid<\/a> only had 18, his second-straight game under 20 points against the Knicks. With the home court advantage lost to passion, Philadelphia didn\u2019t have a choice but to look internally.<\/p>\n

76ers call for better basketball after Game 3 loss<\/p>\n

Aside from losing the fan battle, the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> lost from a position of power. They allowed the Knicks to crawl back in the first quarter. By the end of the first half, the 76ers\u2019 12-point lead became an eight-point deficit. Kelly Oubre Jr.<\/a> didn\u2019t want to put any blame on the fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we need it. We love it, and we love our fans. But at the end of the day, we have to lock in on our task. We have to figure out our game plan, just have a tight huddle,\u201d said the 76ers forward.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Oubre led all the 76ers in scoring, generating 22 points. He answered the call with the Knicks ruthlessly doubling Tyrese Maxey<\/a> all game long. There wasn\u2019t anything else to take away, though. Paul George<\/a>, Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe<\/a> combined for 43 points, as the Sixers converted just 28.1% of their looks from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

George pointed out this difference between the two teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to tip our hat to JB. He\u2019s making some big shots. He\u2019s getting to his spots. But it\u2019s been someone else that\u2019s played big and stepped up \u2013 whether it\u2019s Mikal, whether it\u2019s OG, Karl, Josh \u2013 they\u2019ve all had moments. Shamet<\/a> off the bench tonight,\u201d said PG13.<\/p>\n

Jalen Brunson<\/a> recorded his second 30+ point game of the series. He finished the game with 33 to lead all scorers, followed closely by Bridges\u2019 23. Even without OG Anunoby<\/a>, the Knicks found contributors. Shamet\u2019s 15 points and tenacious defense off the bench resulted in the highest net differential of any Knicks player in Game 3.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

They had the crowd either way. But the Knicks showed guts to claim a 3-0 lead in the series, and have foot one into the conference finals.<\/p>\n

The post \u201cI Don\u2019t Know\u201d: Joel Embiid Stays Quiet After Failed Attempt to Stop Knicks Fans From Invading 76ers Arena<\/a> appeared first on EssentiallySports<\/a>. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the very height of the 76ers\u2019 playoffs after defeating the Celtics, Joel Embiid pleaded. \u2018Don\u2019t sell your…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,288,936,6462,1260,6,191,741,526,678,207,16501,8796,1263,971],"class_list":["post-729558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-celtics","tag-basketball","tag-boston","tag-boston-celtics","tag-bostonceltics","tag-celtics","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-joel-embiid","tag-kelly-oubre-jr","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-og-anunoby","tag-paul-george","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-shamet","tag-the-76ers","tag-tyrese-maxey","tag-vj-edgecombe"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116543179064757447","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}