Why a familiar summer awaits Joel Embiid and the 7...
Key takeaways
- THE FOURTH QUARTER had yet to begin, but Joel Embiid's season was already over.
- Embiid, the 76ers and their fans have grown used to disappointing endings: Kawhi Leonard's four-bounce game winner in 2019.
- (Embiid missed Game 2 because of right hip and ankle injuries.)"At times it's OK to say that the other team was just better," Embiid said after the loss.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
THE FOURTH QUARTER had yet to begin, but Joel Embiid's season was already over.
Embiid spent the final 16 minutes of Sunday's Eastern Conference semifinal Game 4 -- the Philadelphia 76ers suffered a 30-point series-ending beatdown by the New York Knicks -- watching from the bench inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Embiid, the 76ers and their fans have grown used to disappointing endings: Kawhi Leonard's four-bounce game winner in 2019. A Game 7 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks in 2021. A Game 6 home loss against the Boston Celtics in 2023. But amid the calamity that has followed this franchise since Embiid made his NBA debut in October 2016, few stretches can match the wild swings of Philadelphia's past two weeks: