Bad call! Embiid caught with phone on bench

PHILADELPHIA – Joel Embiid probably wishes he didn’t play.

Ruled doubtful a day earlier because of knee tendinitis, the Sixers center started in Saturday’s 111-102 loss to the Nets in Game 1 and succumbed to a series of misadventures — including being caught peeking at a cellphone on the bench with teammate Amir Johnson.

Embiid avoided a team fine, however, presumably because Johnson was showing him the phone. The taboo moment was caught on TV. According to Sixers GM Elton Brand, Johnson — who was inactive Saturday — was fined for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Johnson apologized in a statement.

“I take full responsibility and will accept the consequences of my actions,” he said. “I also apologize to my teammates, the 76ers organization and the fans for the distraction this has caused.”

The use of a cell phone on the bench is a violation of the NBA rules, which was established in 2009 after Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva tweeted at halftime. Embiid, a social-media maven, explained after the game that, “Amir was checking on his daughter. She is extremely sick.”

Sixers coach Brett Brown wasn’t happy.

“It’s completely unacceptable and we will deal with it internally, I’m sure very soon,” Brown said.

Embiid, who has missed several games during the regular season with knee pain, said he decided to play about 15 minutes before tip-off. It began well for the gargantuan center. In Philly’s first two possessions, he drew fouls on the undersized and outmatched Jarrett Allen. Within three minutes, Embiid had eight points and seven free throw attempts. Allen was unplayable because of the size disadvantage.

But Embiid was also clearly limited by his knee, and subbed out after five minutes. When he returned, the Nets allowed him to take jumpers, and Embiid missed — prodigiously — finishing the half 1for-9 from the field. The firstquarter chants of “MVP” and “Trust the Process” turned to boos in the second. He finished with 22 points and 15 boards on 5-for-15 shooting and was largely outplayed by Nets backup Ed Davis.

“I was out there just thinking ‘Oh my gosh, push through the pain,’” Embiid said. “And obviously, it came with a loss, but I was just trying to do the right thing.”

Davis acknowledged that the Nets conceded the jump shot to Embiid. And it worked.

“You got to live with something. He definitely has the whole package and we were lucky he missed,” Davis said. “We were lucky he missed. Next time he could go 5-for-5.”