Embiid vows to keep fighting vs. Celtics: 'I don't want to be swept'

Pushed to the brink of elimination, Joel Embiid knows his Philadelphia 76ers face long odds to get back into their first-round series versus the rival Boston Celtics.

However, the All-Star center isn't ready to throw in the towel quite yet.

"You can't give up," Embiid said on a video conference call after Friday's 102-94 defeat in Game 3. "You've got to keep fighting. You've got to play hard. You've got to come in on Sunday.

"You know, I don't want to be swept. I don't want that on my resume, so like I said, I've been playing my butt off, and I'm going to come in and do everything that I can to make sure that we win a game and take one game at a time."

The 76ers haven't been swept in the playoffs since Allen Iverson and Co. fell to Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers in 1999. Embiid hopes his squad can avoid a similar fate, but history suggests Philadelphia will be in tough to emerge victorious from the series; to date, no team has ever come back to win a series after being down 0-3.

Embiid has impressed with fellow All-Star Ben Simmons out with injury. The Cameroonian big man has averaged 30 points, 13 rebounds, one steal, and one block through three games.

"It sucks when you play super hard and you try to do everything possible to win games," said Embiid. "It's hard when you come up short. No one wants to be in this position."

Game 4 tips off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, which means the 76ers could become the first team eliminated from the 2020 playoffs in Orlando.