How Chick-fil-A, Nicolas Batum saved Sixers − but Joel Embiid's knee is still an issue

PHILADELPHIA − Yes, it took a nutty chicken promotion to save the 76ers season.

There the Sixers were, trailing by 11 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. They had already been booed off the court at halftime, down by 12. Tobias Harris missed two put-backs under the rim in the first half and got booed. Joel Embiid, clearly affected by his knee, missed a few shots down low as well.

"In the first half, he missed a couple of layups," Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. "He wasn’t alone, though. That list was long."

To sum up, the Sixers were lethargic and sloppy with 12 first-half turnovers. Embiid, who missed the regular-season finale after tweaking his surgically-repaired knee that had caused him to miss two months, seemed to be stuck in quicksand.

And the Wells Fargo Center was deathly quiet.

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That's when Miami's Caleb Martin stepped to the free throw line midway through the third quarter, with a chance to put the Sixers down by 13. He missed the first free throw. The fans started roaring with anticipation. They knew a second straight miss meant free chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A in its "Bricken for Chicken" promotion (fans need the Chick-fil-A app to cash in).

Sure enough, Martin missed the next free throw. And you would have thought the Sixers had won Game 7 of the NBA Finals as opposed to still being down by 11 in the NBA's play-in tournament just to get a berth in the first round of the playoffs.

That's when everything changed.

Nicolas Batum hit a 3-pointer, Buddy Hield followed with a layup and a 3-pointer. Then Batum hit another 3-pointer. In a matter of 2 minutes of game time, the Sixers had whittled Miami's 11-point lead down to 2.

From that point on, the Wells Fargo Center never stopped rocking. Embiid came to life in the fourth quarter, Batum had a key block on Tyler Herro with 26 seconds left and the Sixers escaped with a 105-104 win Wednesday night.

The Sixers will face the Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs beginning Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

If you think it was a struggle just to beat the Heat, wait until the Sixers have to endure a best-of-7 series against the Knicks.

And that, of course, will center around Embiid. He averaged 34.7 points per game this season. Yet through three quarters, Embiid was 3-for-12 shooting for 12 points. Embiid finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

But when asked about his knee, Embiid said: "Well, hopefully, everything gets better, but we’ll just keep managing it."

For one night, Embiid survived. But the Knicks saw the same game everybody else did, and well, they'll try to make it as difficult as possible for Embiid, just like the Heat did.

The Heat's zone was giving the Sixers fits. The Sixers tried beating the zone with 3-point shooting. But they were just 3-for-20 for 15% until Batum hit a 3-pointer just after Martin's two missed free throws led to free chicken nuggets for everyone.

The Sixers then made 8 of their next 11 threes. Batum shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range in the second half and 6-for-10 overall to finish with 20 points.

"The crowd was into it," Batum said. "We played badly in the first half. Their zone is very something. We did a good job. We adjusted. I think we were more aggressive in the second half, and I tried to be more aggressive, find a way to beat their zone."

Batum saved his best for last, blocking Herro's shot just after Embiid fed Kelly Oubre Jr., inside for a layup that became a three-point play after he was fouled and converted the free throw with 36 seconds left. That gave the Sixers a three-point lead.

That's what Tyrese Maxey remembered most from Batum's game, and pretty much all season long.

"He’s guarded the small guys in the NBA like (Atlanta's) Trae Young to the tallest man in the NBA, Wemby," Maxey said about San Antonio Spurs 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyana. "His defensive versatility is second to none. Tonight, he guarded Herro, he guarded (Jimmy) Butler, he guarded Bam Adebayo at times. What he’s done for this team is pretty remarkable and we appreciate that. We’re going to need him down the stretch."

The Sixers are going to need Embiid more, bad knee and all. In the fourth quarter, Embiid delivered. He hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 left for a two-point lead. He converted a three-point lead with 1:47 left, again for a two-point lead. Then he fed Oubre for the three-point lead with 36 seconds left.

"We won the game because of (Batum) and Buddy (Hield), who made some tough shots, obviously, playing against that zone," Embiid said. "You gotta be able to make shots, especially with all of the attention that they gave me and Tyrese.

"Those guys stepped up and we won the game."

But those wins will be much tougher if Embiid's knee is still bothering him against the Knicks. The Sixers rely on Embiid for everything. Batum, Hield, Oubre and other reserves can only take the Sixes so far.

"It’s not that easy," Nurse said about Embiid playing through his knee injury. "I think it’s a good one to get under his belt with a lot of intensity, a lot of minutes."

Embiid said the atmosphere was like a Game 7 − with free chicken to boot. And it's only just beginning.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: As Joel Embiid struggles with knee, Nicolas Batum saves Sixers vs Heat