2024 NBA Playoffs - East 1st Round: #2 New York Knicks vs. #7 Philadelphia 76ers (NYK WINS 4-2)

[eyeatoma]

…he’s not a top 20 player. He’s closer to top 35 than top 20.

And there’s a decent gap between Brunson and Maxey right now.

If you believe the potential is there, that’s a different conversation. But as of right now, he’s not there.

Ok I would love to see you attempt to name 35 players better than Maxey currently.

On top of the 20 I already named…

Zion
Ingram
Jaylen Brown
Kyrie
Jamal Murray
Ja Morant

It starts getting debatable around here…

Dame
KAT
Paolo
Randle
Trae Young
Scottie Barnes
Siakam
Lauri

You could put Maxey anywhere in this range. Could take any of these players over him. You could pick him over them if you choose. But again, top 35 range.

A player who averages 26 ppg, 3 3pg,over 6 assists, and under 2 turnovers per game is not top 35 by any stretch of the imagination. That is the definition of a top 20 player.

[bronxknicksfan1]

Ok I would love to see you attempt to name 35 players better than Maxey currently.

On top of the 20 I already named…

Zion
Ingram
Jaylen Brown
Kyrie
Jamal Murray
Ja Morant

It starts getting debatable around here…

Dame
KAT
Paolo
Randle
Trae Young
Scottie Barnes
Siakam
Lauri

You could put Maxey anywhere in this range. Could take any of these players over him. You could pick him over them if you choose. But again, top 35 range.

A player who averages 26 ppg, 3 3pg,over 6 assists, and under 2 turnovers per game is not top 35 by any stretch of the imagination. That is the definition of a top 20 player.

Did that on league average efficiency and being a liability defensively. He had a great season, for sure. Watched a lot of Sixers games since he was on my fantasy team. But one thing was for sure. He played worse when Embiid was out and he was the focus of the defense. He’ll get better. But he’s not top 20 rn.

[eyeatoma]

On top of the 20 I already named…

Zion
Ingram
Jaylen Brown
Kyrie
Jamal Murray
Ja Morant

It starts getting debatable around here…

Dame
KAT
Paolo
Randle
Trae Young
Scottie Barnes
Siakam
Lauri

You could put Maxey anywhere in this range. Could take any of these players over him. You could pick him over them if you choose. But again, top 35 range.

A player who averages 26 ppg, 3 3pg,over 6 assists, and under 2 turnovers per game is not top 35 by any stretch of the imagination. That is the definition of a top 20 player.

Did that on league average efficiency and being a liability defensively. He had a great season, for sure. Watched a lot of Sixers games since he was on my fantasy team. But one thing was for sure. He played worse when Embiid was out and he was the focus of the defense. He’ll get better. But he’s not top 20 rn.

He averaged 27 in February and 30 in the month of April. He took some time to adjust but then figured it out.

[drekwins]

lol he played 36 minutes. -29 +/-, 10-23, 30pts, 10reb, 3blk, 6TOs

REBs - NYK 49, Philly 38
TOs - NYK 11, Philly 14

This is how NY wins. The Knicks got 8 more shots than Philly. Randle shot 1-11 with 4 turnovers this game too. Mitchell Robinson did not play. Brunson shot 11-20 with zero turnovers. iHart had 17, 6, 5 and 2blks w/ 1 turnover.

All in all, Philly has to play very clean ball in order to have a chance and they must rebound better than they have all year. The Knicks aregoing to swarm the glass and double Embiid from many different angles.

Clearly you don't watch Embiid. He usually plays through the injury, and often sits out the next game. Been the Sixers MO for years.

Also, my bad, it wasn't his ankle, it was his knee... He then proceeded to miss the next 3 games like I said. Take the L bruh...

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401585111

Joel Embiid twisted his left knee early — “I'll be fine,” he said — and had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers. Embiid extended his franchise records to 16 straight 30-point games and 15 in a row of 30 points and 10 rebounds.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/PHI/philadelphia-76ers/schedule/regular/

Yeah he actually bangs knees with Randle I think in the second quarter of this one. Might have been the third. I know the Knicks blew our doors off that night in a regular season game which means very little. The fact that people are pointing this out to expose Embiid is rather stupid. If they're going to do this, then they need to be reminded that Embiid is 16-3 against them all time (which would be equally as witless as this is).

This was however the beginning to the whole injury run for Embiid this year. That collision with Randle has been vastly overlooked, but I do remember it happening and it's what got all this started. His knee was never right after that and then he was finished off by Kuminga a few weeks later. Of course it was inadvertent, but hopefully, he gets it right in this series against NY.

I like Knicks basketball so I'm not going to sit here and trash New York. This is the playoffs though. They have players that are probably going to piss me off. I love Josh Hart, but I for one can see him getting under the skin of Philly fans in this one. In fact, if we ignore the Nova connection, I can see DiVincenzo doing the same. Love both the guys, but they will be temporary enemies for the next two weeks. That doesn't mean I don't like them though. They are one of my favorite teams not from Philly in this league. This is going to be a fun series for sure! Can't wait to get this going! NY vrs Philly! I was 8 the last time this happened! Two badass cities going at it!

I don't care if he gave birth at the free throw line. They lost by 36. He still had 30 points on 10-23 shooting. Make no mistake, Philly needs 40 and 20 Embiid to compete. Anything less will not be enough.

[durden_tyler]

Have finally made a decision on which team to pick for this series, thanks for hate comments from both sides. LOL

Knicks in 7. Could finish earlier if Embiid has health issues along the way.

i believe Thibs old school, physical type of defense will wear down Embiid AND the other softer guys in the team (Harris). The problem for the Knicks really is Maxey (let’s assume Embiid will get his), who will be on and off this series but could have a takeover game or two.

Knicks offense could be ugly (low 90s for both teams) but they can survive that if their defense is on.

GO Knicks!

[Chuck Everett]

TNT analysts underrating the defensive capabilities of Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson. Embiid has got his hands full banging with them for 48 minutes.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Clearly you don't watch Embiid. He usually plays through the injury, and often sits out the next game. Been the Sixers MO for years.

Also, my bad, it wasn't his ankle, it was his knee... He then proceeded to miss the next 3 games like I said. Take the L bruh...

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401585111



https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/PHI/philadelphia-76ers/schedule/regular/

Yeah he actually bangs knees with Randle I think in the second quarter of this one. Might have been the third. I know the Knicks blew our doors off that night in a regular season game which means very little. The fact that people are pointing this out to expose Embiid is rather stupid. If they're going to do this, then they need to be reminded that Embiid is 16-3 against them all time (which would be equally as witless as this is).

This was however the beginning to the whole injury run for Embiid this year. That collision with Randle has been vastly overlooked, but I do remember it happening and it's what got all this started. His knee was never right after that and then he was finished off by Kuminga a few weeks later. Of course it was inadvertent, but hopefully, he gets it right in this series against NY.

I like Knicks basketball so I'm not going to sit here and trash New York. This is the playoffs though. They have players that are probably going to piss me off. I love Josh Hart, but I for one can see him getting under the skin of Philly fans in this one. In fact, if we ignore the Nova connection, I can see DiVincenzo doing the same. Love both the guys, but they will be temporary enemies for the next two weeks. That doesn't mean I don't like them though. They are one of my favorite teams not from Philly in this league. This is going to be a fun series for sure! Can't wait to get this going! NY vrs Philly! I was 8 the last time this happened! Two badass cities going at it!

I don't care if he gave birth at the free throw line. They lost by 36. He still had 30 points on 10-23 shooting. Make no mistake, Philly needs 40 and 20 Embiid to compete. Anything less will not be enough.

Huh? Dude I was mostly talking about how he initially hurt his knee. I think this will be a fun series. Definitely not here to argue or talk trash. Yeah...Knicks beat them in a regular season game. They beat them bad that night. That hardly matters at this point. Yeah Jo had 30/10, but that's because he was going for a streak and a run at history with consecutive 30/10 games. It was a dumb reason to leave him in the game. You might not have known that, so that hopefully helps to explain the hollow 30/10 he put up that night in a blowout loss. Like I said it hardly matters, much like Embiid having a 16-3 record Vrs NY. You're clinging to pointless arguments. All I can say is hopefully it's a great series with no injuries.

[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.

[cgf]

Vegas has actually started favoring the Knicks by the slightest of margins…was -110 for both earlier today:

[basketballto]

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.

The biggest advantage is you have Nick Nurse who understands OG's limitations and will come up with an effective strategy for the series.

[ArksNetsSince99]

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.

Sixers in 6

[M2J]

healthy Embiid vs. Knicks

Read on Twitter

He twisted his ankle in this game I believe.

He tweaked the knee he ultimately had surgery on coming down on Hartenstein foot on like the first play of the game after just returning after missing 4 games for said knee injury. He missed the following 2 games after this Knicks game. It was a very weird game too.

[XtremeDunkz]

I do worry that Tobias is mentally out the door already.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[durden_tyler]

I do worry that Tobias is mentally out the door already.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Just checked, on an expiring contract too...

[76ciology]

healthy Embiid vs. Knicks

Read on Twitter

He twisted his ankle in this game I believe.

He tweaked the knee he ultimately had surgery on coming down on Hartenstein foot on like the first play of the game after just returning after missing 4 games for said knee injury. He missed the following 2 games after this Knicks game. It was a very weird game too.

McBride also made bazillion 3s that game

[76ciology]

I do worry that Tobias is mentally out the door already.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

I hope benching him against the Heat would challenge him to play better

[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.

Sixers in 6

Thanks brother! Long live king Cameron!

[KnixtapeH20]

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.

good post

[MoreyWins]

A hard nosed defensive team scares me against the Sixers. The Knicks can disrupt Maxey in the half court. Embiid should win his match-up. 50/50 positions should favor the Knicks more than the Sixers. Can the Sixers contain Brunson? If you trap him and play 4 on 3, can the Knicks capitalize? I don't trust Tobias in the bright lights. He doesn't seem comfortable home or away. I want to take the Knicks and say that the story of the series will be their toughness and grit. I'd say it ends in 6.

[Johnny Bball]

Who's not healthy for game 1 on the Knicks? Just Randle? and is he ever due back?

To me, as in every series, OG is the difference/x-factor. They get enough from him and Brunson to win, so the others just have to hold their ground.