The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the New York Knicks 111-104 in Game 1 of their first round series on Saturday evening at Madison Square Garden.
Tyrese Maxey finished with 33 points on 14-of-26 shooting. Joel Embiid totaled 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Kyle Lowry added 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with four rebounds. De’Anthony Melton (back injury recovery) and Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise) were out for the Sixers.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Josh Hart finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Miles McBride scored 21 points, including shooting 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Julius Randle remained out of the lineup for New York due to right shoulder surgery.
Game 2 of the series is on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Here are some instant observations from the loss to the Knicks in Game 1:
Likes:
– After having a subpar outing in the play-in game against the Miami Heat, Embiid quickly put to rest any doubts about his play. He scored the Sixers’ first nine points, knocking down a 3-pointer and making a pair of acrobatic and-ones. Both Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson struggled to handle Embiid in the early going. He effectively controlled the game in the opening quarter, scoring 15 points while powering the Sixers to a 34-25 lead.
Things then went downhill for Embiid late in the first half. He made a tremendous alley-oop to himself off the backboard, but all his weight came down on his surgically repaired left knee. The mood darkened all throughout Philadelphia as Embiid spent the next few minutes down on the floor in pain. He eventually walked himself to the locker room.
Joel Embiid went back to the locker room after an apparent injury. pic.twitter.com/66CZtqG9z3
— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2024
Embiid was back out on the floor coming out of halftime. He continued to make a strong impact on the game, although he was still clearly limited physically. His passing ability took center stage. The pass he made to Kelly Oubre Jr. in transition was something he simply was unable to do in years past.
distribute and dunk. pic.twitter.com/bKquInKtb8
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 21, 2024
The big fella’s decision making was on point. He consistently made good reads and handled the extra attention the Knicks were throwing his direction.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Embiid was worn down physically. He settled for far too many jumpers, missing most of them short. It was easy to see the difference between Embiid before the injury and after. Prior to re-injuring his knee in the first half, he was utilizing his physicality to bully the Knicks’ big men in the paint. After that play, he appeared more hesitant to bump inside and look for his own shot. It is unclear what impact re-aggravating his left knee is going to have on his play for the remainder of the series.
– The Sixers looked dead in the water in the ensuing minutes after Embiid went down late in the first half. Lowry stepped up and lit a spark under the Sixers. He scored 12 points in the first 5:33 of the second half, helping close a 12-point deficit down to five. The Sixers are a better team with Lowry than without, as evidenced by his production in Game 1.
– One of the keys for the Sixers in this series is going to be finding a way to slow Brunson down. Oubre stepped up to the plate in Game 1, doing a great job defending Brunson throughout. Oubre put together his best defensive game of the season, playing with active hands that resulted in five steals. While he had a quiet game offensively, Oubre made up for hit with a dogged defensive effort.
Dislikes:
– Judging by his play in the first half, Maxey was well on his way to a disappointing start to this series. He struggled to get anything going against the Knicks defense to the tune of 5-for-14 shooting in the first half. His poor play showed up particularly in the minutes Embiid was off the floor. He typically did a good job helming the offense in those minutes during the regular season, but he collapsed on that front against the Knicks.
Despite his brutal first half showing, Maxey recovered and provided a lifeline for the Sixers offense for large portions of the second half. He found open driving lanes, using his speed to fly by whoever New York attempted to defend him with. After doing some damage against the Knicks’ perimeter defenders, the Sixers started hunting mismatches for Maxey. He terrorized both Hartenstein and Robinson, pulling them out in space and then blowing past them to finish at the rim. His strong second half play did not prove enough to get the Sixers the win, but it gives him something to build off of moving forward in this series.
– The Sixers were thoroughly demolished by the Knicks on the glass. New York won the rebounding battle 55-33 and, more crucially, 23-9 on the offensive glass. As a result, the Sixers gave up 26 second-chance points. The Sixers are not going to win many games if they lose the rebounding battle that decisively. The Knicks are an elite rebounding team, and the Sixers need to figure out a way to more effectively battle on the glass. There were far too many possessions where the Sixers played great defense, just to give up multiple offensive rebounds and an eventual second-chance basket. Embiid must make a concerted effort to be a more effective rebounder in this series. The Sixers as a team need to battle relentlessly and throw multiple bodies at every single rebound opportunity. If they fail to do so, they stand little chance at advancing past the Knicks.
– Tobias Harris has officially reached the point where he is hurting the Sixers when he is on the floor. He is producing nothing offensively, missing open jumpers and failing to consistently look for his own shot. His defense is not any better, although he is at least putting up a strong effort on the glass. Head coach Nick Nurse is going to have to consider benching or at least cutting down Harris’ minutes.
