The Philadelphia 76ers have confirmed their spot in the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs after eliminating the Boston Celtics with a 109-100 Game 7 win on Saturday night. Joel Embiid and the team will now face the New York Knicks in the second round, a rematch of their first-round clash from the 2024 Playoffs that the Knicks won 4-2.
Embiid will face Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns in the center matchup, one of the few major additions from the 2024 Knicks roster. Funnily enough, Embiid and Towns have had a pre-existing rivalry that precedes Towns’ tenure in New York, going back to when Towns was the high-potential franchise cornerstone of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Embiid and Towns had a viral on-court fight in 2019, which started with Towns putting Embiid in a headlock before a team-wide brawl. This led to multiple social media back-and-forths across platforms between the two centers. It started with Towns passive aggressively out Embiid on Twitter (now known as X), attaching pictures of their fight and Embiid crying after his elimination from the 2019 Playoffs a few months prior.
“I aIN’t nO B—- RaiSeD ARoUnD LiOnS.”
Embiid would respond by calling out Towns more explicitly, less than an hour after Towns’ post on October 30, 2019.
“That tough guy act ain’t cutting it… You know what you are… You know what you’ve always been>>> A P—- (SAY IT LOUDER FOR PEOPLE IN THE BACK) Been kicking your ass, and pretty please make the playoffs before you talk. It’s a known thing that I OWN YOU.”
Embiid attached pictures of their interactions on Instagram, going back to a spat the two had in 2017, showing that their 2019 brawl had simmered for years.
Their rivalry has simmered over the last seven years, with both enjoying varying levels of success. Embiid broke out a few seasons later to win an NBA MVP award, while Towns continued leading the Timberwolves until 2024, when he joined the Knicks. While Embiid has achieved more as an individual, Towns can boast two Conference Finals appearances in both the East and West, while Embiid is the only MVP in league history to have never made a Conference Finals appearance.
Embiid has averaged 28.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 14 games against Towns in his career, while Towns has averaged 20.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists against Embiid. The head-to-head record between the two players is 9-5 in Embiid’s favor.
A series win for Towns would mean a third Conference Finals appearance in his career, which would also stop Embiid from achieving his first. That’ll be poetic justice for someone who was trash-talked by Embiid for never making the Playoffs. Fast forward less than a decade, and Towns can argue he has a better Playoff career resume than his counterpart on the 76ers.
The Knicks will be the favorites in the series, but Embiid being fully healthy will give Philly a much better shot at winning the series now than in 2024. The addition of Towns will make it a harder challenge, but one that will create some fantastic basketball action in the second round.
