Despite Joel Embiid’s return from ankle and hip soreness, he seems to be looking at missing another conference finals appearance. The Philadelphia 76ers are now 0-3 as the home court advantage of the Xfinity Mobile Arena failed to help them. However, the former MVP is not blaming the fans but the narrative that would apparently suit the NBA.

The Cameroonian center was asked about the way tonight’s game was officiated and whether or not the officials had any agenda in mind. Yesterday’s Lakers vs. the OKC Thunder also had a similar narrative, so it was not strange for this question. And Embiid did feel there were forces against them, apparently. “I’m not sure. Maybe it was let go on our end,” he began.

“They shot 32 free throws, we had 16. We’re not a team that shoots a lot of threes. We attack, put the ball on the ground. I don’t know. I guess it’s good when New York wins, so we’ve just got to have that mentality of just not fouling, I guess, and being smart enough to not put ourselves in a position where they’re going to take advantage of it.”

While Joel Embiid felt that the refs wanted the Knicks to win, the fans clearly had one winner in mind, and it was not the Sixers. The arena didn’t sell to anyone listed outside Philadelphia. Embiid even pleaded, “Don’t sell your tickets,” he told 76ers fans. Yet every chant was for the Knicks, who used the external support on the road to take a 3-0 lead. Speaking about the situation, he deflected the question. “I don’t know. I was focused on the game. I really wasn’t paying attention.”

The Sixers actually had an early 12-point lead to start Game 3 and even had a 31-27 score after the first quarter. But things faltered right after that. New York levelled it 35-35 after Josh Hart’s layup, and the away team did not look back. It was the only lead change that transpired during the game as the Knicks won 108-94.

Other problems for Joel Embiid

Paul George scored 15 points in the first quarter, then went scoreless and missed all nine shots the rest of the game as the Sixers blew a 12-point lead. George and Maxey each failed to shoot a single free throw. In fact, Philly’s bench also didn’t help as they had just 11 points as the Knicks’ reserves provided 23. They shot 43 percent from the field and committed 11 turnovers, of which 4 were coughed up in the fourth quarter. While the Knicks did wind up shooting 32 free throws to Philly’s 16, there is more nuance to it.

New York did not shoot a free throw until the second quarter. Mitchell Robinson shot six thanks to the “hack-a-Mitch” strategy the Sixers used. Should also mention that 2 of Brunson’s free throws were because they put the Knicks in the bonus by fouling Robinson, so when Grimes fouls him a moment later, he got free throws instead of a side out. But Joel Embiid wasn’t the only one asked about the officiating. Karl-Anthony Towns had five personal fouls to his name and was asked about his frustrations.

Embiid and KAT collapsed to the ground trying to box each other out. Philadelphia would challenge and win, reversing the call and giving Towns his third foul in the second quarter and forcing him to the bench. But Towns was not taken aback by that. “I’m not surprised at anything anymore.” His sentiment also comes from the officiating throughout this series. In Game 1, the Sixers had the free-throw advantage, 34-17. And in the second game, they had a small advantage without Joel Embiid, 28-25. In Game 3, it skewed in favor of the Sixers.