Joel Embiid is rusty, fatigued in his season debut as the Sixers drop NBA Cup opener to New York Knicks

The last image of Joel Embiid playing with the 76ers was him gritting his way through Bell’s palsy and the aftereffects of a left knee injury. He played 40 minutes in Game 6 of the first-round matchup last season against the New York Knicks despite being clearly limited.

Sure, he could still bully his way to his spots. But when he tried to accelerate, his athleticism and explosion were gone.

But for the fans inside the Wells Fargo Center for Tuesday night’s 111-99 loss for the Sixers in the NBA Cup opener against those same Knicks, Embiid was in better health. The 7-foot-2 center was noticeably rusty, out of game shape and timid in what was his first game since helping Team USA win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 11.

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Embiid finished with 13 points, three rebounds, five assists, one block, and two turnovers while playing just 26 minutes, 25 seconds due to a minutes restriction.

He missed his first five shots en route to shooting 2-for-11 — including making 1 of 5 three-pointers. However, he went a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line.

“He was certainly rusty. Conditioning I think showed up fairly early,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Seen him play through that before, kind of responded in the second half, after being on a layoff. Seemed to do it a little bit, then I thought he got kind of tired again in the fourth, but again, probably to be expected. I thought he played with some pretty good competitive spirit for what he could do out there.”

The 2023 league MVP did have a scare with 9:54 remaining. He fell to the floor momentarily after appearing to bump heads with Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns underneath the Sixers’ basket. Embiid went to the bench during a timeout but remained in the game.

All this came after Embiid missed the entire preseason and the first nine games. Embiid sat out six contests for what the team called left knee injury management and served a three-game suspension for shoving Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in the Sixers’ locker room on Nov. 2.

His presence, however, couldn’t prevent Philly’s knack of scoring droughts at inopportune times.

New York went on a 13-0 run to take an 89-75 lead with 8:14 to play. The Sixers missed seven consecutive shot attempts during that run.

The run turned out to be the difference as the Sixers dropped to 2-8 overall and 0-1 in the NBA Cup. The Knicks improved to 5-5 and 1-0 in the NBA Cup standings.

Despite the loss, Paul George had his best game as a Sixer, finishing with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals, a block, and four turnovers.

The nine-time All-Star forward made 7 of 11 three-pointers. However, his first two points came on an assist from Embiid while cutting to the basket on the game’s opening possession. George took advantage of a lot of open looks due to Embiid’s presence.

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“It felt good,” Embiid said of playing with George for the first time. “I thought tonight we got in a nice rhythm, which we need to keep doing. Like I said, my job is to let the game be easy for the other guys, setting screens, and getting them open. I am just trying to make the game more simple, especially as I am getting back and trying to feel more confident.”

Rookie guard Jared McCain had another solid scoring night, finishing with 23 points on 7-for-16 shooting. He made four three-pointers. The 16th overall pick in June’s NBA draft also had 27 points in Sunday’s home victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

“It was very quickly, to be comfortable out there,” McCain said of playing with Embiid. “They’re so attentive to Joel. So when you come off those, you just really have to make yourself open, run them into the screen, and make a shot.”

OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points. Towns added 21 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists. while getting the best of Embiid. Josh Hart finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Sixers will play the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia).