After a 0-2 start to the series on the road, the 76ers hoped to bounce back in Game 3 at home as they expected a favorable atmosphere in front of their home crowd against the Knicks in the second round of the Eastern semifinals. Joel Embiid even requested the 76ers fans to make it to this game, but it seems like the Knicks’ fans had other plans.
Thousands of Knicks fans swarmed the 76ers’ home arena in Game 3, and the atmosphere of the arena apparently felt like they were still playing at Madison Square Garden.
Eventually, this atmosphere seemed to cost the team’s morale as the 76ers lost 94-108 and are now down 0-3 in the series to the Knicks. Following the game, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Joel Embiid both addressed their reaction to the hostile atmosphere they faced at home.
“I could say something that could get clickbaited, but I’m not. At the end of the day, we’re the show on the court. We’re not necessarily focused on the crowd, things like that. Obviously, we need it. We love it, and we love our fans. But at the end of the day, we have to lock in on our task,” said Oubre Jr.
“We have to figure out our game plan, just have a tight huddle. No matter what, it’s loud. It’s kind of the same no matter who the crowd is cheering for. It’s loud. We have to be focused on the task at hand and just kind of have a short-term memory when it comes to things like that.”
“But at the end of the day, we are home. This is the court that we practice on, we shoot around on, and we’re comfortable here. We just got to go out there and just perform,” concluded Oubre Jr.
The 76ers forward ended the game with 22 points, eight rebounds, and one assist while shooting 7-16 from the field (43.8 FG%) and 2-5 from the three-point line (40.0 3P%).
At the end of Game 2, Oubre Jr. and V.J. Edgecombe got into an intense exchange with Jeremy Sochan and Kevin McCullar Jr. of the Knicks. A few hours after the incident, Oubre Jr. took to social media and responded to the incident.
“Keep that same energy,” he wrote as though he was confident that the 76ers would bounce back when they head to Philadelphia. Unfortunately for him, the 76ers’ fans seemed like a minority in Game 3, despite being at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Game 2: Jeremy Sochan gets into scuffle at buzzer
Game 3: Cap, Kale & KAT make sure he doesn’t pic.twitter.com/zIfRqrofgn
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 9, 2026
Even Joel Embiid tried to coldly shut down the impact of a hostile crowd despite being at home on his game tonight. He ended up with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists while shooting 7-17 from the field (41.2 FG%).
“I don’t know. I was focused on the game. I really wasn’t paying attention,” said Embiid on his reaction to seeing a hostile crowd at home. The Knicks fans were constantly hurling profanity at the 76ers’ star player and even loudly cheering when he missed a free throw.
FUCK EMBIID IN YA OWN HOUSE LMAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/zncjBOhfqK
— krissy🍀 (@krissyy_elyse) May 8, 2026
Kelly Oubre. Jr tried to get into the Knicks’ heads by mocking Jalen Brunson’s head size and flopping during an offensive foul called against him. This was a reference to his comments earlier in the series where he said Brunson uses his ‘big head’ to flop and draw fouls. But that call was immediately overturned on a challenge by the Knicks, and they emphatically closed out the game.
Oubre accuses Brunson of using his head and braids to get a call
Brunson gets the call pic.twitter.com/Sc2gS0iCFh
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 9, 2026
Even at the end of the game, the crowd was cheering extremely loudly when the game was out of the 76ers’ reach, and both Kelly Oubre Jr. and Joel Embiid looked devastated on the bench.
Knicks fans TOOK OVER Philly and the Sixers bench is DEVESTATED
Kelly Oubre Jr: “I don’t know, man.” pic.twitter.com/BfRgumiCYw
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) May 9, 2026
After defeating the Celtics in the first round, Embiid had a heartfelt message for the 76ers fans before they came back to Philadelphia.
“I just have a message for our fans. Last time we played the Knicks, it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. We’re going to need the support. Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. If you need money, I’ve got you,” said Embiid.
But despite his pleas, it seemed like the Knicks fans had other ideas since Philadelphia is only a two-hour drive from New York. No team has ever completed a comeback from down 0-3 in an NBA playoff series.
If the 76ers want to make history and climb a mountain that is nearly impossible to climb at this point, they need the morale boost that a friendly home crowd brings to their game. Instead of looking at the next four games as a mammoth task, they need to now go one game at a time if they hope to mentally not feel defeated already.
Therefore, I know that Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. hope that in Game 4, the 76ers fans will flood the arena, even if they say that they don’t care about them and can tune them out.
