76ers’ Joel Embiid addresses Mikal Bridges’ possible ‘dirty’ play

Did Embiid believe the collision fell into the dirty category? Here’s what he shared to reporters postgame. 

“I got hit on it. I don’t know if it was—obviously, based on what’s been going on,” Embiid said.

The perennial NBA All-Star then dropped this admission after the hit.

“I guess I got to protect it more,” Embiid said. “I don’t know if it was dirty or not.”

Again, Embiid acknowledged “I guess I gotta do a better job of protecting my, yeah, especially that part.”

Embiid became lauded for his grit during the Boston Celtics series. Tyrese Maxey praised his teammate for carrying Philly despite his litany of injuries and criticism. Embiid dropped 34 points to close out Game 7 at TD Garden Arena, which capped the epic comeback from down 3-1.

Philadelphia faced a Knicks team that deal with their own harsh critique. New York struggled in the beginning against the Atlanta Hawks including falling 2-1 early on. But the Knicks rolled to three straight wins, sealing the series with a record 51-point beatdown in Game 6.

New York carried that momentum over to Madison Square Garden in setting the tone of this series. Philly must regroup quick on Wednesday.