Joel Embiid’s career is more important than these playoffs. The Sixers’ Game 1 loss should show him that.

NEW YORK — He began the game by scoring the 76ers’ first three baskets and 15 of their 34 first-quarter points.

This is what responsibility looks like.

He played in the entire first quarter despite being hit above his left eye.

This is what accountability feels like.

He went to the locker room after landing awkwardly on his surgically repaired left knee and bumping it against Mitchell Robinson after dunking on the New York Knicks center. Yet he returned after halftime to play in the Sixers’ 111-104 loss to Knicks Saturday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

This is what a warrior’s response looks like.

In more than two unrelenting hours Saturday, Joel Embiid was everywhere and did everything, driving, dunking, blocking, and even reinjuring his knee and making a surprise return at Madison Square Garden.

The Sixers didn’t pull out the victory, but Embiid was clearly prepared to address his playoff history, put his team on his back, and push for a deep postseason run.

Welcome to the playoffs. But Embiid needs to be careful because he risked a ton.

That’s why it was surprising that the Sixers put him back in after reinjuring his knee for the second time in nine days.

The ligament stress Embiid is placing on his ailing knee could lead to an injury that costs him next season. But Embiid was determined to play, finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals. After reinjuring his knee, Embiid didn’t have his legs under him in the second half, making just 2 of 12 shots. However, he made 6 of 6 foul shots to score 11 points after intermission.

Like Embiid, the Sixers don’t think it’s time to strongly consider shutting him down for the postseason.

“I don’t think so,” coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s really a warrior, and he’s battling. I think he absolutely wants to play.”

No one got an answer from Embiid, who donned white sunglasses following the game, because he refused to speak to the media.

Right now, Embiid is known as a great regular-season player whose level of play declines in the postseason. But a lot of that has to do with how often he has been injured in the postseason.

So one can fully understand why Embiid was determined to return this season after tearing the meniscus in left knee on Jan. 30 against the Golden State Warriors.

He returned eight weeks later on April 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He averaged 30 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in his first four games back.

But Saturday was the second time Embiid reinjured his surgically repaired left knee.

This time, Embiid went to the locker room with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first half after landing awkwardly and colliding with Robinson.

Eight days earlier, he injured it after scoring on a Euro step late in the second quarter. He went to the locker room to get his knee checked out and returned after intermission.

Embiid is showing a lot of heart. And let’s be honest, the Sixers will have a tough time winning this series without him. He knows that and is aware that an early postseason exit will be another stain on his legacy. On Saturday, they were outscored by 21 points during the 11 minutes he was out of the game.

That’s why he’s showing us what responsibility, accountability, and warrior spirit look like. He just needs to be careful, because his career is more important than this postseason.