For New York’s newest supervillain, the hostility started early.
Deafening boos consumed Madison Square Garden as Joel Embiid, the 76ers’ high-scoring, highly controversial superstar, was announced as a Game 5 starter on Tuesday.
Those bitter boos turned to contentious chants of “F–k Embiid” — an anthem now as synonymous with the Knicks and Sixers’ first-round playoff series as dribbling and jump shots — when Embiid lined up for the opening tip.
And the jeers continued every time Embiid touched the ball. He started 0-for-4 from the field, much to the delight of Knicks fans.
It was an expected welcome for the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, whose elite production in the series — 35.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game entering Tuesday — was at times overshadowed by the hard fouls and extracurricular activity his critics slammed as dirty.
“People have gotten cursed out in this city for doing way less,” Bennett Goldberg, a 34-year-old Knicks season-ticket holder from Cobble Hill, said as he took his seat for Game 5. “For way, way less. … It’s not hard to become a villain in this city.”
That Embiid would suit up for Game 5, with his Sixers down 3-1, wasn’t a sure thing even an hour before tipoff. Less than three months removed from left knee surgery, Embiid is also dealing with a case of Bell’s Palsy and missed shootaround Tuesday with a migraine.
But Embiid played, adding another chapter to a tense series fraught with drama.
That drama began in Game 1, when Embiid appeared to reaggregate his ailing knee during an emphatic alley-oop dunk that he served up to himself.
The “F–k Embiid” chants began in Game 2, with the 7-foot center waving on the jeering Garden crowd to continue after his shove of the Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo earned a technical foul. After a loss put his team down 0-2, Embiid vowed the Sixers would “win this series,” declaring Philadelphia “the better team.”
Embiid backed up his guarantee with 50 points in Game 3 in Philadelphia, though his offensive explosion was overshadowed by his hard flagrant foul on Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, whom he dragged to the court during a shot attempt. He revealed later that night his diagnosis with Bell’s Palsy, a condition that affects facial muscles.
And in Game 4, Embiid’s 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists weren’t enough to fuel another victory at Wells Fargo Center, which became overrun by Knicks fans who brought their explicit anti-Embiid chant with them to Philly. Embiid called the Knicks fans’ takeover “disappointing.”
Asked Tuesday if he believes the hostility fuels Embiid, 76ers coach Nick Nurse said, “I don’t know what’s feeding him to [play well]. I think he loves competing, he wants to win, and he’s playing well.”
The series-long squabble solidified Embiid as the latest Knicks antagonist, joining a list also occupied by Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller and Trae Young. He’s the biggest one since Miller, whose Indiana Pacers faced New York in six playoff series between 1993 and 2000, winning three of them.
Lasting images from those hard-fought series include Miller giving the “choke” gesture to Knicks mega-fan Spike Lee during a comeback victory in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, and Miller scoring eight points in 8.9 seconds late in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“[Embiid] is not like Reggie Miller, because Reggie Miller killed us,” said fan T.J. Geltzeiler, 33, of Rumson, N.J. “We went home crying because of Reggie Miller. We’re going home laughing at [Embiid].”
Jordan eliminated the Knicks in each of the five playoff series his Chicago Bulls played them in between 1989-96. Jordan scored at least 40 points in seven of those games, including 54 in Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Semifinals — the most ever in a playoff game against the Knicks.
Young, meanwhile, averaged 29.2 points per game during the Atlanta Hawks’ first-round win in five games in 2021, spoiling the Knicks’ first trip to the playoffs in eight years at the time. Young scored at least 30 points in all three of that series’ games at the Garden, including 36 in the decisive Game 5.
Now Embiid has joined the club.
“You love when your crowd is getting rowdy, bringing energy, passion and those kinds of things,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said Tuesday when asked about the anticipated crowd response to Embiid in Game 5. “That’s why you play games at home. That’s the home court advantage.”
Added Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, “We feel we have the best fans in the world.”