Giglio: 'When the lights shine the brightest, Joel Embiid shrinks'

The Knicks took over game four in the fourth quarter on Sunday, as Jalen Brunson rolled to a 47-point day to help New York take a commanding 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

Meanwhile, a clearly fatigued Joel Embiid didn’t sit at all in the fourth, and shot 0-for-5 from the field. Some argued that Nick Nurse shouldn’t have had Embiid out there for the entire second half as he continues to work his way back from knee surgery, but Joe Giglio said it was another example of the Sixers star coming up short when it matters most.

“The fourth quarter rolled around yesterday, and nothing was different. It was all the same,” Giglio said. “It was the same Joel Embiid I’ve watched…over and over again.

“When the lights shine the brightest, Joel Embiid shrinks.”

Embiid has often been criticized for his inability to replicate his regular season stardom come playoff time, or his inability to stay healthy through the playoffs, and after dropping 50 points in game three on Thursday night, Embiid took a step back to put the Sixers on the brink of elimination.

Giglio said the Sixers as a whole didn’t step up, but it starts with their MVP.

“The Knicks took their lunch. They wanted it more,” Giglio said. “The worst part of [Sunday] was that the Knicks played like we’ve always wanted the Sixers to play.”