Game Thread: New York Knicks (2nd seed) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (7th seed) Saturday, April 20th 6 p.m.

[Wildcat]

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I was talking about this this morning. Drop isn't going to work.

[Capn'O]

I want to see good basketball.

And if Joel's healthy, it will give us a solid indication of how good this team is, and otherwise what needs to be done in the offseason.

If they didn't want to face Embiid, they should've tanked the last game. But they didn't. So here we are.

maaaaaan fk all that self righteous ish…

I'm starting to feel bad for Joel always being hurt in the playoffs.

Watching him last night - he's got at least 20 pounds he doesn't need. Shaq's body could manage extra weight, at least in his younger years. Jokic too, for that matter. Embiid's not built like that.

[Wildcat]

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The quote isn't nearly as egregious as everyone things. He said a lot more -- most flattering -- than this little headliner.

[Fat Kat]

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[DaGawd]

Paul Reed??

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thanks for the bulletin board material… bum

[Jalen Bluntson]

I wonder what Paul Reed's feelings are about metal bats.

[Fat Kat]

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[aggo]

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[Fat Kat]

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[mpharris36]

This team isn't the Cavs though, our offensive rebounding is a strength but it can't be a significant portion of your offense. Last year we had RJ and Randle scoring against the Cavs in addition to the rebounding, even a diminished injured Randle is better than nothing. The thing with this series is the fundamental question of who is going to step up with Brunson? All I see is people saying to limit Embiid or that he's hurt and even if we hold him to 20ppg they still have another guy capable of getting 25ppg. Brunson could average 35 but who is gonna give him help in shot creation and scoring?

I would have rather played the Heat, their offense has been trash all season, where as the Sixers can score and their defense was top 10 despite Embiid missing 40+ game.

Miami has way more mental fortitude than Philly though. They were able to nearly beat the sixers on the road with Jimmy Butler playing through an MCL injury and Tyler Herro as the #1 option. Brunson is not going to miss the shots Herro is going to miss.

The Knicks have been operating as a top 10 offense with Brunson doing nearly all the playmaking and scoring. He either dominates 1 on 1 coverage or if the sixers trap him or box and 1 him and he draws multiple defenders he kicks finds the open man and its either Hart then attacking or Ihart in the roller spot hitting that floater or kicking it out to an open shooter.

Ihart was 8 for 9 from the field in the game he went up against Embiid this year...if Embiid can't move Ihart can take advantage of that as well.

This is the playoffs I don't necessarily think there are many "easy" matchups. But you seem to be making it sounds like we are the underdogs in the this series and I don't agree.

It's the play in man, the Bulls nearly beat the Heat in last year's play in, don't draw too much from these games, especially not when the Heat threw a zone at them. You didn't answer me before about will Tom use a zone, and you didn't answer who is going to step up as a secondary scorer. If we're going to throw zones at them to muck things up then I'd have a lot more confidence, but I know we're going to stay man to man. Also, Nurse is probably going to go to a box and 1 against us at times, something we haven't seen all year.


Vegas has us as the slight underdogs, we have 1 guy that can score reliably. Most breakdowns on here are basically centering around Embiid not being 100%, and not asking the question of what happens if he looks better? I'll say it one more time, the best way to impact Embiid in a series isn't being physical with him, it's making him close out on a stretch big that gets him into rotation, that is what drains his energy and when he starts settling on offense. It's why the Celtics have beaten him so much and why Horford guards him well, having to close out then rotate is saps him of energy.

If he looks better then we have a tougher series. Which I'm not claiming otherwise. I'm saying if he looks the same then we have the advantage. I just don't see over the curse of a couple days he is just going to magically feel better.

And we aren't going zone...Thibs wont do that. We will play Embiid 1 on 1 (with occasional help depending how he is looking...and while that might mean Embiid gets more looks it also means that Batum won't be dropping 20 on us with open 3 after open 3 that miami was willing to give up with the zone.

I still like our chances. I am guessing you have us losing in 6?

[KNICKS007]

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Thats pretty deep and true

[TheGreenArrow]

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[Fat Kat]

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[Wildcat]

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I kind of like him around that 30 minute mark. Looks more active and fresh.

[MrDollarBills]

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It's nice to see a superstar who is 100% pure class.

[Knick4Real]

I actually hope that Embiid can look like himself.

The prospect of having a competitive series against one of the greatest talents in the modern history of the NBA is really enticing.

I want to see us overcome a strong Embiid. I want to see great games. Just no injuries. But competitive basketball against one of the greats.

I hope he is 50% and misses games.

This is not about pride. It's about winning and advancing.

Yep. We’re also not at full strength, and they’re not either. We’ll also get our full share of monsters if we’re lucky enough to go deep in the playoffs.

I was about to say the same thing!

We're not at full strength, so it's odd for somebody to wish Philly was at full strength. That makes zero sense.

[MrDollarBills]

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The quote isn't nearly as egregious as everyone things. He said a lot more -- most flattering -- than this little headliner.

Doesn't matter. This quote is probably pinned to every Knick player's locker

[BigShot Bojan]

I wonder what Paul Reed's feelings are about metal bats.

sig worthy quote

[DaGawd]

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thibs is fully erect after hearing this news

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Miami has way more mental fortitude than Philly though. They were able to nearly beat the sixers on the road with Jimmy Butler playing through an MCL injury and Tyler Herro as the #1 option. Brunson is not going to miss the shots Herro is going to miss.

The Knicks have been operating as a top 10 offense with Brunson doing nearly all the playmaking and scoring. He either dominates 1 on 1 coverage or if the sixers trap him or box and 1 him and he draws multiple defenders he kicks finds the open man and its either Hart then attacking or Ihart in the roller spot hitting that floater or kicking it out to an open shooter.

Ihart was 8 for 9 from the field in the game he went up against Embiid this year...if Embiid can't move Ihart can take advantage of that as well.

This is the playoffs I don't necessarily think there are many "easy" matchups. But you seem to be making it sounds like we are the underdogs in the this series and I don't agree.

It's the play in man, the Bulls nearly beat the Heat in last year's play in, don't draw too much from these games, especially not when the Heat threw a zone at them. You didn't answer me before about will Tom use a zone, and you didn't answer who is going to step up as a secondary scorer. If we're going to throw zones at them to muck things up then I'd have a lot more confidence, but I know we're going to stay man to man. Also, Nurse is probably going to go to a box and 1 against us at times, something we haven't seen all year.


Vegas has us as the slight underdogs, we have 1 guy that can score reliably. Most breakdowns on here are basically centering around Embiid not being 100%, and not asking the question of what happens if he looks better? I'll say it one more time, the best way to impact Embiid in a series isn't being physical with him, it's making him close out on a stretch big that gets him into rotation, that is what drains his energy and when he starts settling on offense. It's why the Celtics have beaten him so much and why Horford guards him well, having to close out then rotate is saps him of energy.

If he looks better then we have a tougher series. Which I'm not claiming otherwise. I'm saying if he looks the same then we have the advantage. I just don't see over the curse of a couple days he is just going to magically feel better.

And we aren't going zone...Thibs wont do that. We will play Embiid 1 on 1 (with occasional help depending how he is looking...and while that might mean Embiid gets more looks it also means that Batum won't be dropping 20 on us with open 3 after open 3 that miami was willing to give up with the zone.

I still like our chances. I am guessing you have us losing in 6?

You're basing too much off one game, not the other games he played prior to last night. He had 29 on 11-24 against Bam last week, they didn't zone him and he looked fairly close to his normal self. Last night he got Bam in foul trouble and then they went to a zone which clearly impacted them, he used a lot of energy fighting for post position last night because the zone kept him off his favorite spots. If we don't zone up we're going to just allow him to play where he wants and that's not good. It's like if Sixer fans said they'd win because we went to OT against the Bulls while playing guys real minutes, playoffs don't work like that and they'd be foolish to argue that. I don't use what happened against 1 team in 1 game as the basis of what I think will happen, especially if we won't use a key ingredient from last night which is the zone.



I don't see us winning if Embiid is like 80%, the Heat series was the better matchup because of how awful their offense is and now Jimmy being out. Like you say they aren't going to get 20 from Batum, when Maxey is averaging 26ppg on 45% vs us on the season, who is going to help Brunson with the shot creation and scoring? They have more top end talent than us, especially as far as scoring goes and they're just as good defensively when Embiid is on the floor. If Embiid gets hurt or misses games we'll win, if he's out there and he looks like he did against the Heat last week, we lose, if he looks like he did against the zone then we have a chance. You seem to think he's going to be the guy from last night , but what if he's the guy from April 12th game against the Magic when he has 32/13/7.

Basically you're hoping he's diminished and I'm just saying what if that's a biproduct of the zone?