#2 Knicks vs #7 Sixers

[Snotbubbles]

One thing to be cautious about on our part is that the Knicks have two starting-quality bigs with 10 fouls to give. This will really test Embiid's conditioning, as there won't be any rest for the full 48 minutes.

Nurse could also keep hunting Brunson and exhaust him. Taking away Brunson could leave a big hole in the Knicks' offense.

It will be really hard for Brunson to operate with Embiid able to stay in the paint and provide help defense, while being defended individually by 6’8” to 6’9” defenders like Oubre or Batum. Brunson's in-between game consisting of fakes and pivots will be hard to pull off under such defensive pressure.

If there was series where a double big lineup could be helpful, it's this one. Reed is an effort guy. Knicks are not a tough team to defend, but Reed could get back in transition and crash the boards on both ends.

I think Joel should be used as a decoy and dho guy primarily. But, if they are willing to go one on one with him Even with 2 good centers, that's a huge win for Philly. He'll score and get to the line easy. His few one on one opportunities vs Bam on Wednesday were good possessions.

Thought the same thing as well. Would like to see a double big lineup, thinking Bamba though. Make it near impossible to get to the rim.

[Iscull]

Don't sleep on Tobias this series. This is a good matchup for him. I know he's been terrible lately, but he's got a great opportunity in this one.

I hope he plays well, but I think splitting minutes between Batum and Martin is the better option. I truly believe Harris makes us worse both offensively and defensively.

[PhillyNj]

Sixers in 6. Double team Brunson every time he gets the ball.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Don't sleep on Tobias this series.

I'm sleeping with the A/C on 60.

That's cool bro. Can you stop being a weirdo please?

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Don't sleep on Tobias this series. This is a good matchup for him. I know he's been terrible lately, but he's got a great opportunity in this one.

I hope he plays well, but I think splitting minutes between Batum and Martin is the better option. I truly believe Harris makes us worse both offensively and defensively.

Harris is going to play for sure. I agree that Batum and KJ need to play though. Both are physical players and you need that against New York. I like Tobias in this series though because he's got some size on the guys that could be potentially guarding him and when he has a size/strength advantage on opposing players he usually does well. We'll see. So far Nurse has handled the situation quite well. Doc would have just stuck with Harris and ignored KJ Martin completely. Nurse at least knows when to use the likes of Martin and Council when the situation calls for it.

[bballcool34]

What do you all make of folks who point to the season series to support the Knicks?

Lowe took Knicks in 7. I’m filling out a bracket and on paper I still can’t get over fact that 76ers have the best two players and the better coach. So I’m leaning towards 76ers but could use some education!

[Arsenal]

Sixers in 6. Double team Brunson every time he gets the ball.

Time for a Nurse coaching masterclass to slow down Brunson ala the Box-and-1 vs. Steph in the finals.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

What do you all make of folks who point to the season series to support the Knicks?

Lowe took Knicks in 7. I’m filling out a bracket and on paper I still can’t get over fact that 76ers have the best two players and the better coach. So I’m leaning towards 76ers but could use some education!

Personally I think the series is as 50/50 as it gets. People can pick whoever they want to win.

[Negrodamus]

What do you all make of folks who point to the season series to support the Knicks?

Lowe took Knicks in 7. I’m filling out a bracket and on paper I still can’t get over fact that 76ers have the best two players and the better coach. So I’m leaning towards 76ers but could use some education!

Embiid played in one game against them. If he's feeling good, I'd take Sixers in 6 but really want to take them in 5. Problem is I think he'll be at like 70%, so I'll still go with Sixers in 6.

[Murray_17]

Stupid question

Is this gonna be a thread for the series entirely or are we gonna do game threads too??

[elchengue20]

If Biid is reasonably healthy (80% or better, or in the same shape he had his firsts games back) it's 70/30 Sixers.

If he's "limping" around all series like against the Heat is 50/50.

[stormi]

I feel on the ledger regarding this one. Joel Embiid has look awkward since coming back. He's clearly not at 100%, but I trust Nurse and his ability to scheme up easy looks for him to deposit. Dominate both paints.

We should have two of the three best players in this series, but the Knicks embody the idea of the whole > sum of its parts. They'll be annoying to play against. iHart is a baller and Hart + DDV + OG are top tier roleplayers and Miles McBride is someone we were pounding the table to draft in our thread back in 2021.

I also for the first time in the Embiid era really like our roleplayers as well, even sans Melton.

We'll get consistent impact from Batum and Lowry. Need a Hield game or two. An Oubre game or two as well along with his pestering POA defense chasing Brunson around.

Short leash Tobias is crucial. If he's back to passing up open 3s, driving into the paint to sky lay-ups, cosplaying as a cone on the perimeter and refusing to bend over for loose balls, hook him. Play Council if you need a body. I've been extremely impressed with his effort on defense and his ability to make a play when he puts the ball on the floor.

All in all, Sixers in six. It won't be pretty though.

Also fun to get a new matchup. Feels like it's been Washington/Brooklyn/Miami/Toronto/Boston en masse since 2018.

[kuclas]

Their will try to put embiid on high pick and roll. Except their bigs don’t shoot. So embiid will drop down with coverage. Just a make or miss league. If knicks hit their shots. It will make life more difficult for sixers.

On the offensive end. Thibs is pretty good defensive mastermind. They will have bigs one on one further from the paint. As embiid moves closer the wings like og will wreck havoc with defensive help.

This is why it’s so key for embiid to read the defense and not force things. Embiid will never be jokic with passing ability vision. But he’s gotten to be pretty serviceable.

[Bum Adebayo]

What do you all make of folks who point to the season series to support the Knicks?

Lowe took Knicks in 7. I’m filling out a bracket and on paper I still can’t get over fact that 76ers have the best two players and the better coach. So I’m leaning towards 76ers but could use some education!

Embiid should be the best player in the series if you ignore his past playoffs failures, but Brunson is better than Maxey.
It heavily depends on which version of Embiid we get. He usually plays better in 1st round compared to 2nd round, less accumulated fatigue probably helps. With a 100% Embiid we should probably win with Nurse as a coach.

[sodmoraes]

Maxey can be better than brunson in a couple years, if he keeps with his pokemon evolution rotine, but hes not there yet. Brunson is more reliable, and clutcher than Maxey. Tyrese disapear in a lot of games, and he still defers a lot. He gotta be more consistent.

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[Sixerscan]

Who cares if Brunson is better than Maxey?

Ricky Council is better than Obi Toppin’s brother.

[M2J]

What do you all make of folks who point to the season series to support the Knicks?

Lowe took Knicks in 7. I’m filling out a bracket and on paper I still can’t get over fact that 76ers have the best two players and the better coach. So I’m leaning towards 76ers but could use some education!

Embiid played in one game against them. If he's feeling good, I'd take Sixers in 6 but really want to take them in 5. Problem is I think he'll be at like 70%, so I'll still go with Sixers in 6.

Philly has more shot creators, including 2 all NBA players. They have the better size, and I think unless they load up on Maxey, he'll out produce Brunson. OG can't guard him, he'll have OG gassed through the screens, Dante isn't fast enough. Again, I think Joel is just out of shape, not hurt. He'll be the biggest defensive difference maker too. As long as Joel is even what he was vs Miami..... Sixers in 5 should be the case... because they should be able to shut the Knicks offense down and generate more points in tough contests.

[76ciology]

One thing to be cautious about on our part is that the Knicks have two starting-quality bigs with 10 fouls to give. This will really test Embiid's conditioning, as there won't be any rest for the full 48 minutes.

Nurse could also keep hunting Brunson and exhaust him. Taking away Brunson could leave a big hole in the Knicks' offense.

It will be really hard for Brunson to operate with Embiid able to stay in the paint and provide help defense, while being defended individually by 6’8” to 6’9” defenders like Oubre or Batum. Brunson's in-between game consisting of fakes and pivots will be hard to pull off under such defensive pressure.

If there was series where a double big lineup could be helpful, it's this one. Reed is an effort guy. Knicks are not a tough team to defend, but Reed could get back in transition and crash the boards on both ends.

I think Joel should be used as a decoy and dho guy primarily. But, if they are willing to go one on one with him Even with 2 good centers, that's a huge win for Philly. He'll score and get to the line easy. His few one on one opportunities vs Bam on Wednesday were good possessions.

Thought the same thing as well. Would like to see a double big lineup, thinking Bamba though. Make it near impossible to get to the rim.

I believe we would be compelled to play with a double big lineup when facing teams that also deploy such a strategy, especially if their size presents a challenge, like Giannis and Brolo, KP and Al, or atleast Gordon and Jokic.

However, I don't see the necessity of using a double big lineup against the Knicks, as they appear to favor a smaller lineup where our current lineup already holds a size advantage.

The situation might shift if Thibs decides to utilize Achiuwa at the 4 position, considering Achiuwa plays 63% of his total minutes there.

[76ciology]

I believe Brunson is better than Maxey because he led his team to a second seed, whereas Maxey seems to struggle as the primary option without Jojo. However, as Sixerscan mentioned, individual comparisons don't hold much weight; what truly matters is the team as a whole. We have someone like Maxey, who is in contention to be as good as or even better than Brunson, but Maxey serves as our second-best player while Brunson holds that position for the Knicks. It's not about a one-on-one matchup; if it ever comes down to that, it would likely be Brunson versus Embiid.

[76ciology]

Reasons why the Knicks think they can beat us:
- They have defeated us three times by significant margins (though we managed to win once without Jojo and Maxey).
- Embiid is not at 100% (I believe this is more related to conditioning).
- Knicks has 2 starting caliber to borderline star bigs
- They have a win percentage of .90 or higher with OG and Brunson.

Reasons why the Sixers think they can beat the Knicks:
- Embiid is significantly better than Brunson.
- There's a small gap between Maxey and Brunson.
- We seem to have the right tools that has been proven effective to slow down Brunson.
- The Sixers have been the clear second-best team when Embiid is healthy.

My thoughts:
I believe we have a 60+% chance of beating the Knicks. I'm quite confident in our ability to defeat them, although not overly so. And this changes as the series goes.

This Knicks squad reminds me of the 2021 Hawks, and the toughness of the 2018 Celtics, but they are mostly comparable in talent to our first-round opponents rather than our second-round opponents.

I also have concerns about Embiid's conditioning, especially for Game 1. Additionally, I'm unsure about Tobi's situation, and I don't expect Batum to maintain a 5-6 three-pointers per game average.

Nevertheless, Vegas seems to slightly favor us in the series, which promises to be an exciting matchup.

Regardless of the outcome, as long as we play with intensity and intelligence and Embiid remains healthy, I'll accept the result.

If we can’t beat the Knicks, then we most likely won’t be able to beat the Bucks and the Celtics.