Despite Embiid’s Return, Sixers Drop Game 3 Vs. Knicks, Fall Down 3-0

Yeah, this is going to be a harder one to come back from.

The Sixers were outclassed again by the New York Knicks, falling 108-94 in Game 3 and into a 3-0 series deficit.

After missing Game 2, Joel Embiid never looked quite right, finishing with 18 points shooting 7-of-17 from the floor along with six rebounds and five assists. Tyrese Maxey had another passive first half, going for 17 points along with seven assists shooting 8-of-12 from the field.

Paul George couldn’t score after the first quarter, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting. VJ Edgecombe had 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists.

Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Sixers with 22 while Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 33.

OG Anunoby was out with a hamstring strain.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Boston had it thoroughly scouted, but the Sixers were able to hit the opening tip off right to Oubre in the frontcourt for an easy layup. It was a solid start, as picking up Brunson full court helped the Sixers get stops on the first four possessions of the game. Embiid found George open twice passing out of double teams as the Sixers started on a 9-0 run.
• Even with that, Embiid started the game furious at the refs for the calls he wasn’t able to get. He and Karl-Anthony Towns were so physical to start the game they might as well have been wrestling. Once he seemed to settle down he got on the board with a midrange jumper. Defensively the Sixers threw a lot at the Knicks. On top of picking up full court, Embiid would occasionally be assigned to Josh Hart so he could roam. Three of their first four baskets were putbacks, and the Sixers were able to force four early turnovers. Brunson and Mikal Bridges hitting back-to-back threes felt like their first good looks of the night.
• Maxey and Edgecombe used those turnovers well to control the game in transition, but George’s shotmaking gave them the biggest lift early as he had 15 in the first. The Knicks were slowly able to catch up as they continued to crash the glass. They grabbed four offensive rebounds and got 10 second-chance points in the quarter. Quentin Grimes’ layup attempt at the buzzer was no good, keeping the Sixers lead at four.

Second Quarter

• Andre Drummond was again the backup for Embiid. Dominick Barlow got some earlier playing time, checking in alongside Embiid as they replaced Drummond. Barlow picked up two early fouls which put an abrupt end to this shift. Between Embiid being unable to draw the fouls he wanted and the Sixers missing a ton of layups, they were playing a lot tighter on offense than they were to start the game. As detrimental as the tussling between the centers was, Embiid was at least able to draw Towns’ third foul relatively early in the quarter thanks to a challenge.
• Mitchell Robinson throwing down a lob over Embiid really got the Knicks fans in the building loud. Maxey knocked down a much needed jumper, but the Sixers were struggling to stop the bleeding. Brunson answered that by drilling a three just in time toe beat the shot clock. Nick Nurse mixed things up again pulling Drummond for Adem Bona a couple minutes into his second shift. On his first offensive possession George turned it over when Bona didn’t know a pass was coming, then he fouled Bridges on the transition layup to make it an and-1.
• The Sixers just looked like they were in their own heads as the Knicks kept pouring on baskets, which was jarring to see given the start they had. Maxey had only missed once, but he had only taken five shots, and he continued to be sloppy with the ball at an alarmingly casual rate. Embiid had a couple free throws rim out on him and telegraphed a moving screen badly. George had to sit for the final minute and a half of the quarter in foul trouble. Oubre trying to pressure the rim was really their most consistent offense in the quarter. He got a three to bounce in at the buzzer that cut the Knicks lead to eight.

Third Quarter

• Fittingly, the first points of the second half came after Towns grabbed an offensive rebound over Embiid, giving Miles McBride a second chance to bury the corner three. The Sixers did have a response by finding Oubre near the basket and Edgecombe knocked down a three. George, who was still looking for his first points since the first quarter, missed his first two jumpers of the half. Embiid’s struggles continued from three as he hit the front of the rim. Brunson ended any chance of a run by beating Oubre for an and-1.
• Maxey finally showed some aggression. His first three didn’t fall but he was able to create a couple baskets getting to the rim. Embiid hitting another midrange seemed to settle him as he was able to drive down the paint and hit Oubre in the dunker on the next possession. The offensive process had dramatically improved, the problem was they weren’t able to slow Brunson down on the other end.

• Oubre had appeared to draw an offensive foul on Brunson, but a challenge overturned the play and the foul was called on Edgecombe. The Sixers were still able to get that stop as the Knicks sailed an inbounds pass, Edgecombe was able to chase it down, cutting it to four with a fast break dunk. They got Robinson on the line who split a pair of free throws, but that was in the midst of two straight turnovers for the Sixers.
• Embiid cut it to three at the line, but he took a hard foul in the process and was favoring his hip. After that the Sixers went back to hack-a-Mitch. It backfired on them with Robinson making three of his four attempts. The Sixers were unable to answer that, and a pair of Brunson free throws followed by another three from Landry Shamet put the Knicks back up by nine.

Fourth Quarter

• Still looking for their first bench points of the game, Barlow returned, this time as a small-ball five. This quarter also started with the Knicks grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a three on their second attempt. At least the Sixers finally got those elusive first bench points when Grimes hit a three on his fourth shot attempt. 
• After that first possession the Sixers were able to take advantage of some Brunson-less minutes. After a few stops, Grimes was able to drill another three to pull them within four and force a Knicks’ timeout. They put Brunson back in the game and ripped off an 11-2 run in response. Things only continued to look precarious as Grimes turned it over coming out of a Sixers’ timeout.
• A loose ball finding its way to Maxey had him take another three and it fell, giving the Sixers a glimmer of hope. Brunson got right down the floor and answered with a bucket. Bridges beat everyone down the floor off a miss, the fast break layup putting the game away for good. The Sixers didn’t have any of the requirements to win this game. Not the effort, the shooting, rebounding, defense — none of it was good enough to get this one done.