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Sixers Drop Game 1 Scheduled Loss, Open Up Knicks Series on Wednesday
By Sean Barnard
Published:
If you missed the memo that the Sixers opened their second-round matchup with the Knicks already, most of the team did as well.
New York dismantled the 76ers in a 137-98 victory to take a 1-0 series lead. The Knicks led for 91% of the matchup, extended the lead to as many as 40, and no member of the Sixers’ starting lineup played more than 28 minutes. It’s a frustrating start to an important second round, but largely one that was expected.
Philadelphia was just two days and roughly 45 total hours removed from going up to Boston to win a Game 7 matchup against the Celtics to complete the 3-1 series comeback. This is the same Celtics core that had eliminated the 76ers three times in the postseason across the Joel Embiid era, and the Sixers organization as a whole had not defeated them in the playoffs since 1982. Despite the main character syndrome from the Knicks fan base, Boston remains the main rival.
This was a mental hurdle for Embiid and the Sixers organization that needed to be cleared. It should be viewed as a legacy-shifting conversation for Embiid, given how the Celtics entered the series as -900 favorites and it being just the 14th time in NBA history that a team had completed a 3-1 series comeback. It is not excusable to punt on a playoff game under any circumstance. However, it was pretty clear from the opening tip that the additional two days of rest did the Knicks well from an energy and game plan standpoint, and New York properly capitalized on the circumstantial and home court advantage. It is fair to push back that this is just making excuses, but it is also the reality of the situation.
Now we have a series.
The Sixers and Knicks will face off for a Game 2 matchup that should be judged with significantly more weight. It’s worth noting that the Sixers were blown out by 28+ points twice against the Celtics in the opening round and still found a way to win the series. Also worth noting: I would personally set the odds at 0.0% that the Knicks shoot 63% from the field and 51% from beyond the three-point arc across the entire series.
If there is a fair critique about the circumstances of the Game 1 loss, it is that the Sixers’ lack of regular season success is what put them in this spot. Philadelphia finished with a 45-37 record in, which put them in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They defeated the Magic 109-97 in the opening play-in game to earn the seventh seed and face the Celtics in the opening round, and have largely been fighting for their playoff lives for several weeks now. If they had won just one more regular-season game across the 82 opportunities, this path could have looked much clearer. Joel Embiid’s availability issues did not help with this, Paul George’s 25-game suspension did not help, and the lack of sample size of the team as designed on paper may be the biggest point to make.
But we got a view of what this team is designed to be in the opening round against the Celtics, and they must find this once again to have a chance in this series. The Knicks are a good team, but certainly not unbeatable.
Rather, the biggest takeaways from the series opener are that most of the issues from Philadelphia’s perspective were self-inflicted. The Sixers are not going to win many games when Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combine for 27 points on 6-for-20 shooting. Maxey attempted just nine field goals and failed to show the necessary desire to seek his own shots the way this team needs. This is the same Maxey who had scored 30+ points in six consecutive games at Madison Square Garden before Monday’s loss and dropped 46 during the last postseason series with the Knicks. There is not a player on this Knicks roster that can match his downhill speed, and Maxey must play in attack mode for the remainder of the series for the Sixers to have a chance.
At the same time, Jalen Brunson cruised to 35 points in 31 minutes in Game 1. After a series in which Nick Nurse masterfully schemed ways to take away the Celtics’ top options and limit their offensive damage, the game plan was extremely underwhelming in the second round series opener. Per NBA.com’s tracking data, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Quentin Grimes, Paul George, Justin Edwards, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond, and Dominick Barlow each notched at least a partial possession guarding Brunson. Oubre Jr. headlined the matchup statistically with 3:10 game minutes on Brunson across 17.9 partial possessions.
It’s easy to say now that the game is over, but this largely felt like Nurse wanted to get a look at each potential option and adjust accordingly. The Sixers’ head coach got progressively better as the opening round series went on, and Nurse being able to comfortably out-coach Joe Mazzula was among the biggest surprises of the first round. In some regards, the losing effort felt more of a data collection effort than one that was put in to stop the Knicks’ star.
In addition to just the individual one-one-one matchups, adjustments must be made in the drop coverage the Sixers played with Embiid’s physical limitations being put on display. The former MVP is now listed as probable for the Game 2 matchup with a right ankle sprain, which marks the third different ailment he has landed on the injury report with during this playoff run. He also took a pretty tough shot from Mikal Bridges near the appendix surgery area, on a play that one can certainly claim was dirty if they want to view it through that lens. Embiid himself flirted with doing so after the game, and it should be pointed out that screen navigation is near the top of Bridges’ top traits as a basketball player. At minimum, he certainly chose to initiate contact with Embiid when the play did not require it:
The more things change, the more they stay the same, and the outlook for the series largely comes down to how much Embiid has left in the tank. When he is physically right, there is no real argument about him being the best player in this series by a comfortable margin. But it is seeming increasingly unlikely that him at 100% will be seen in this postseason.
There is also a fairly convincing case to be made that Maxey is the Sixers’ greatest matchup advantage in this series. The defensive adjustments are more significant, but the Sixers also must make a much clearer effort to attack Brunson on the defensive end. For all that he brings to the table offensively, the Knicks’ star can bleed points on the other end when being tasked with taking on too much defensive responsibility. NBA tracking data shows that the Sixers shot 7-for-13 with Brunson as the primary defender, and it should be made a priority for each of these numbers to increase.
While the every-other-day schedule does not allow for the level of physical rest that would be most beneficial to this Sixers team, the emotional rest they are currently benefitting from is just as important. Nurse was willing to wave the white flag earlier than he had in most of the season, and for good reason. Each starter played between 25-28 minutes, and likely will be asked to log 40+ for the remainder of the series, given the Sixers’ failure to bring in adequate bench depth at the deadline. You have to win four games in a series to advance for a reason, and this goal is still at hand for both sides.
The outlook for this series is fully dependent on how the Sixers bounce back and if they can return to the level they flashed in the opening round. Flush the first game, and this series is far from over.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.