PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid almost ended the Philadelphia 76ers’ season on Thursday. Then he saved it.

In the first quarter of Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first-round series against the New York Knicks, Embiid earned a flagrant foul for grabbing Mitchell Robinson’s legs (from the floor) as the Knicks center went up for a layup. After a replay review, the officials determined it was a flagrant 1, meaning he would not be ejected. Down 2-0 in the series, Embiid played the remainder of the game as if he had seen the Sixers’ collective life flash before his eyes.

In the third quarter alone, Embiid had 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including a 59-second second stretch in which he made a 3-pointer on three consecutive possessions. The Sixers outscored the Knicks 43-27 in that frame, with an offensive rating of 204.8.

“He’s catching and shooting, he’s firing it with no hesitation,” Sixers guard Kyle Lowry said. “He’s playing the game on one leg right now, and he’s manipulating the game to make sure he’s helping us win basketball games. You just gotta tip your hat to a guy who’s going out there and playing his butt off for us.”

Embiid scored 33 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the second half and finished with 50 points, a career playoff high, on 13-for-19 shooting (5-for-7 from 3-point range, 19-for-21 from the line), in the 125-114 win. He got Isaiah Hartenstein and Robinson, the Knicks’ starting and backup centers, in foul trouble, and, when third-string center Precious Achiuwa entered the picture in because of Robinson’s sprained ankle, Embiid gave him the business, too.

For months, Embiid’s health status has been hanging over Philadelphia’s season. He had surgery to address a meniscus injury in his left knee in February, returned to the lineup in April and had an injury scare in the playoff opener. Although he put up huge numbers in both games in New York, he appeared to be laboring in crunch time. Making matters worse, Embiid has been dealing with Bell’s palsy since before the series began. This time, with the Sixers’ season effectively on the line, Embiid got better as the game went on.

“He’s always a fighter for the group and wants to win and wants to contribute,” Philadelphia forward Tobias Harris said. “I’m not in the man’s body, so I don’t really know what he’s going through, but as anybody in this locker room would say, just excited and happy to have him out there with us.”

Embiid said that, a day or two before the Sixers’ Play-In game against the Miami Heat last week, he had “bad migraines,” which turned out to be a symptom of Bell’s palsy. “That’s why. that Miami game, my body was just — I was just not feeling it,” he said.

“It’s pretty annoying,” Embiid said, “with my left side of my face, my mouth and my eye. It’s been tough, but I’m not a quitter.”

On the subject of his flagrant foul, Embiid said he was trying to make sure that Robinson didn’t land on him, as he “kind of had some flashbacks” about Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga landing on his leg in late January.

“It’s unfortunate,” Embiid said. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. In those situations, I gotta protect myself because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m the recipient of the bad end of it.”

Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo called the foul “dirty” and wing Josh Hart said it was “something that can put a guy out for a significant amount of time, so we’re lucky [Robinson] didn’t get seriously hurt.”

Embiid said that he “got lucky” in the third quarter and “made a few shots.” He emphasized, however, that he can’t rely on making 3s moving forward and must “keep pushing myself to put myself in better positions to succeed.”

On one set play in the first quarter, Embiid, was stationed in the left corner, then came off a down screen from Lowry, caught a pass from Kelly Oubre Jr. in the paint and got himself an easy layup. This action was “tough to guard,” Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said, back when the Cleveland Cavaliers ran it for Kevin Love and Channing Frye.

Embiid’s many other buckets — and trips to the free throw line — came on his usual assortment of post-ups, isolations, rolls to the rim and pops to the perimeter.

“The first conversation that I had with Coach Nurse when he got in, the word was unpredictability,” Embiid said. “Just being unpredictable and just putting me all over the floor: Handle, corner, top of the key, paint, posting up. So, yeah, we’re just trying to be unpredictable as much as we can, and that’s how I love to play.”

He may or may not be banned from the Empire State Building now, but Embiid’s performance immediately entered the pantheon in Philadelphia. It was the fifth time a Sixer has scored 50 points in a playoff game; Allen Iverson, seated front row on the baseline at Wells Fargo Center, did it three times, and Billy Cunningham did it once.

The Sixers needed a superhuman performance from their franchise player. After holding Knicks star Jalen Brunson in check at Madison Square Garden, the All-Star guard erupted for 39 points on 13-for-27 shooting. New York scored 123.9 points per 100 possessions, made 43.3% of its 3-point attempts — Hart made four 3s for the third consecutive game — and took care of the ball, but had no answer whatsoever for Embiid on the other end.

“I just love playing the game,” Embiid said. “I just want to be on the floor as much as possible. I want to play as much as possible. I only got about maybe eight years left, so I gotta enjoy it as much as possible.”

Now that the 2024 NBA postseason has begun, the basketball betting market is hotter than ever. CBS Sports will be providing daily picks for the duration of the postseason. Sam Quinn will make at least one pick for every game between now and the NBA Finals.

Indiana Pacers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton’s injury makes this a complicated game to bet on. But now that the series has shifted to Indianapolis and we have two games of data, it seems as though the faster pace Indiana wants to play with has set in. Middleton’s potential absence won’t hurt in that regard given his slower, isolation-based game, and if the Bucks lean more heavily on their shooters like Malik Beasley and A.J. Green, then all the better. Whether or not these teams shoot as well as they did in Game 2, the track meet style of this series is what’s informing this bet. The Pacers want to run. The Bucks have no way of preventing them from doing so. The Pick: Over 221.5

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks
P.J. Washington scored 18 points in Game 2, and that wasn’t an accident. With Tim Hardaway Jr. injured, Dallas does not have many offensive role players to turn to. Washington has to play significant minutes because he is one of their few role players who is somewhat reliable on both ends of the floor. The Clippers have thrown a ton of doubles at Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving coming off of screens in this series, and that creates easy looks for teammates. Washington is the player best equipped to take advantage of them. The Pick: Washington Over 11.5 Points

Phoenix Suns vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota has dominated the first two games, and it hasn’t done so through unsustainable means. The Timberwolves have won the first two games by 37 combined points despite shooting a lower percentage on 3-pointers (32.8% for them vs. 34% for Phoenix). The problems for Phoenix are the sort of things that don’t shift from one building to another. The Timberwolves are +22 in rebounds. Their shot selection is significantly better. With Grayson Allen out, the Suns aren’t even at full strength. Phoenix might win because their superstars are talented enough to swing games if they get hot, but nothing that has happened in this series suggests that the Timberwolves should be four-point underdogs no matter where the games are played. The Pick: Timberwolves +4

MILWAUKEE — In the middle of the second quarter of Game 2 on Tuesday night, Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sensed momentum had swung the Milwaukee Bucks’ way and called a timeout to settle his team down. Coming out of the break, Pascal Siakam took it from there.

Siakam, who said later that he didn’t even remember that huddle, scored or assisted on 13 points in the next 5:08, as the Pacers ripped off an 18-10 run to take the lead at the half. They never trailed again, and Siakam finished with a playoff-career-high 37 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a 125-108 win that evened the series at 1-1.

“Special talent, he really is,” TJ McConnell said. “Trading for him, the plays he’s making in those moments, that’s why you trade for a guy like that. He’s been unbelievable in Game 1 and Game 2 and pretty much willed us to get this one. It was a group effort, but he was spectacular.”

In the process, Siakam became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 to open the postseason with back-to-back games of at least 35 points and 10 rebounds. No one would have predicted Siakam as the next member of that exclusive club, whose only other member is Elgin Baylor, but he has looked legitimately unstoppable so far against the short-handed Bucks.

As the Pacers head back to Indianapolis, they do so with homecourt advantage in hand and a real belief that they can win their first playoff series since 2014.

Not only because Siakam has arguably been the best player on the floor, but due to his experience and leadership, which has “100%” rubbed off on his teammates, according to Andrew Nembhard. “Since he’s got here he’s been a great voice in the locker room, he really understands it and he has a calm, cool demeanor about him that lets everybody else be calm,” Nembhard added.

The Pacers acquired Siakam from the Toronto Raptors in January in a three-team blockbuster that cost them Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, Kira Lewis and three first-round picks. While the steep price raised some eyebrows, the Pacers were confident that Siakam was just the addition they needed. So far, they’ve been proven correct.

“He’s been to the mountaintop and won at the highest level,” McConnell said, which adds a gravitas to the wisdom he imparts. No one else on the Pacers has a ring, and Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith are the only other players who have been to the Finals, though Nesmith only played sparingly and Smith didn’t see the floor.

“His experience in the playoffs is so valuable,” Carlisle said. “He’s not a guy that’s gonna get rattled by anything. Never has once since January since we got him.”

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While Siakam has often been the teacher since arriving in Indiana, he admitted that he’s had to do some learning of his own. He spent most of his career playing with veterans such as Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Kawhi Leonard and Fred VanVleet. As that crew departed Toronto one-by-one, Siakam had to take on a bigger role. But as someone who describes himself as “not a talkative person,” he preferred to lead by example. The Pacers pushed him out of his comfort zone.

“I thought I was challenged a little bit with this group to continue to talk, and I think it feels better when it feels like your voice is received well,” Siakam explained. “Like the guys when you talk are looking and hearing you and it feels like they want to get whatever information that you have. That makes you feel even better, especially for a person like me, like that’s not what I do.”

The two-time All-Star has enjoyed taking on this added responsibility and wants to continue to grow as a leader. His play on the court will only make that easier, as his preferred method of influence never goes out of style. “The stuff he’s talking about, he’s going out there and doing,” Myles Turner said.

Siakam averaged 21.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 54.9% shooting from the field with the Pacers after the trade to help them clinch the No. 6 seed. He is at 36.5 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on 64.6% shooting in the playoffs so far.

His versatile and unselfish game is a perfect fit for Indiana’s offense. Though happy to keep the ball moving and able to knock down open shots, he gives the Pacers a legitimate one-on-one option who can create his own shot when necessary. His back-to-back mid-range jumpers in the fourth quarter of Game 2 that put the Pacers up by double-digits were perfect examples.

On the other end, his length and mobility allows him to guard multiple positions, and he’s willing and able to take on tough assignments. The Pacers’ defensive rating pre-trade was 119.6, and dropped to 115.5 after Siakam arrived. There were a few factors at play there, but his impact was a major one.

In just a few short months, Siakam has already become a “mentor” and “a guy that people confide in and look up to,” Carlisle said. There was perhaps no better indication of the respect Siakam has earned than his teammates’ refusal to divulge what he said to the team between Games 1 and 2.

“Yeah [he delivered a message],” Nembhard said. “But I’m not gonna tell you guys.”