Nick Nurse explains Joel Embiid played the entire second half in the Game 4 loss

PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers knew how important Game 4 was for them. They couldn't afford to return to Madison Square Garden with a 3-1 deficit against the New York Knicks. That's why coach Nick Nurse went all-in.

Joel Embiid, the most dominant player in this series, is the guy the Sixers will continue to turn to no matter what. On Sunday, Nurse allowed Embiid to play the entire second half and 44 total minutes in a 97-92 loss to the Knicks.

Embiid shot 2 of 7 in the second half and had just one point and one rebound in the fourth quarter. It was an overall difficult effort for him as it looked like he had run out of gas.

“He felt good and wanted to go,” the nurse said afterwards. “I think all of these games are imperative to win and when he went off in the first half we weren't in a particularly good position so we were ready to move on.”

Nurse has a point about the first half. Paul Reed played four minutes in the second quarter and New York went on an 8-2 run when he scored directly on Reed. The nurse recognized the problems and quickly re-introduced Embiid.

“It's tough, especially playing so many minutes, but it's unfortunate,” Embiid added. “Their competitive nature will always prevail and I felt like they kept coming into play in this series, so I thought, 'I've got nothing to lose.'” I just have to put in the effort. Obviously it didn’t work out the way I wanted, but like I said, it takes everything to win.”

However, considering everything Embiid has to deal with, it's understandable that the big guy couldn't be his dominant self in this case. He admitted he wasn't feeling well, but he's doing everything he can to help the Sixers in this series.

“Not good, but like I said, I have to keep pushing,” Embiid explained. “Whatever it takes to win.”