Getty Tobias Harris #12 and Kelly Oubre Jr. #9 of the Philadelphia 76ers huddle before the opening tipoff against the New York Knicks.
Kelly Oubre Jr. just shrugged off the car crash that wrecked his Lamborghini a few hours after the Philadelphia 76ers’ Game 2 loss against the Knicks in New York.
“Everything is good,” Oubre told reporters on Thursday night, April 25, following the Sixers 125-114 Game 3 victory that cut the Knicks’ series lead to 2-1. “I’m OK. The people that were involved are OK. I need to probably get a driver or something and just stay off the roads, (not) be behind the wheel. But everything is good. I still was able to do my job, support my family, and things are good.”
According to a TMZ report, the Philadelphia police said the crash happened at around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 23, after “Oubre’s 2021 matte purple Lambo ‘disregarded a red traffic signal’ … and plowed into a 2023 Hyundai Elantra.”
No one was injured but both vehicles were towed, the outlet reported.
Oubre showed no ill-effects of the car crash as he scored 15 points in 38 minutes Game 3. The 6-foot-7 forward also added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in his best game of the opening round series.
Oubre was injured in a hit-and-run incident in November 2023, when police investigated after he said he was hit by a vehicle while walking in Philadelphia. He missed 11 games due to broken ribs and other injuries as a result of the accident.
The Sixers look to even the series on Saturday, April 27, at Wells Fargo Center.
Joel Embiid Drops 50 on Knicks
Sixers star Joel Embiid scored a playoff career-high 50 points as he walked the talk.
Embiid earlier guaranteed the Sixers would win the series after losing the first two games in New York.
“We should be (up) 2-0, so we’re good,” Embiid told reporters after their heartbreaking Game 2 loss. “We should be winning this series. We’re going to win this. We know what we’ve got to fix. We did a better job today, so we’re going to fix it. But we’re the better team and we’re going to keep fighting.”
He backed it up with a sensational performance, obliterating the Knicks defense.
Embiid hit 13 of 19 shots, made 19 of 21 free throws and knocked down five 3-pointers. He exploded for 18 points in the third quarter that gave the Sixers a commanding 98-85 lead.
He set the tone for the Sixers’ pushback when with a flagrant foul 1 on an airborne Mitchell Robinson by grabbing the Knicks center’s feet while he was on the floor.
“They want to bring the physicality,” Embiid told reporters. “We can be physical, too.”
Then he defended himself from accusations of playing dirty.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” Embiid said. “In those situations, I’ve got to protect myself.”
Joel Embiid Fighting Bell’s Palsy Syndrome
Embiid’s heroics came on the heels of a report that he is suffering from a mild case of Bell’s palsy syndrome.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news shortly after the Sixers Game 3 win which explains Embiid’s odd facial reactions and his wearing sunglasses before and after games.
“I don’t know exactly what happened. But, obviously, I guess that’s a normal thing. I think it started a day or two before the Miami game, and I had you know bad migraines and thought it was nothing,” Embiid told reporters. “Usually I don’t like to check it out, but for some reason I ended up having to tell somebody and, yeah.”