NEW YORK — About 46 hours after their valiant effort resulted in a heart-breaking Game 1 loss at the hands of the New York Knicks, the Sixers returned to Madison Square Garden for a rematch: on Monday night was Game 2, as the Sixers looked to even the series at 1-1 before it headed to Philadelphia.
But in those 46 hours or so, a lot has happened and been discussed. The most noteworthy point of discourse has been the state of reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid’s left knee. Embiid suffered an extreme injury scare to the already-damaged knee on Saturday evening, when for a few moments it looked like his season was going to be over due to an injury to the same knee which kept him out for more than two months before his return April 1. Embiid ended up only missing a few moments of game time due to the injury, but was far from the best version of himself after returning.
Then came another cause for concern: on Monday morning, the Sixers suddenly listed their other All-Star, point guard Tyrese Maxey, as questionable for Game 2 with an illness. Maxey went on to miss the team’s shootaround.
Between the uncertain statuses of the two best players on the team and the reeling nature of some of the duo’s critical supporting pieces, the feeling around the team was understandably anxious.
Embiid was not his best self — again — while Maxey dazzled. But brutal late-game errors sent the Sixers packing with a 2-0 series deficit staring them in the faces.
Here is what jumped out from Game 2 of Sixers-Knicks:
Embiid and Maxey play
Per the usual, De’Anthony Melton and Robert Covington were ruled out prior to tip-off: Melton’s status for the remainder of the series and playoffs remains unknown, while Covington appears to be out for the remainder of the season.
The only other Sixers listed on the injury report were the aforementioned stars, Embiid and Maxey, but each was made available after going through their pregame routines.
Maxey’s opening heater
In Game 1, Embiid set the tone with an early 9-0 run after the Knicks had taken a 2-0 lead. In Game 2, Maxey similarly put his foot on the gas early, but he didn’t wait for the Knicks to score first. Maxey opened the scoring in this one by knocking down a three… and then another three… and then another three.
Maxey put together a personal 9-0 run of his own that was — fittingly — very fast. It gave the Sixers a whole lot of juice early, not to mention a healthy lead in the game’s opening minutes.
Of course, any run within a playoff game is enormous, let alone one that opens the game. It certainly does not hurt to get one from the guy who was supposed to be a game-time decision.
Embiid’s up-and-down, but mostly positive, first quarter
Once again, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse played Embiid for the entirety of the first quarter — as he did for most of the regular season prior to Embiid suffering his meniscus injury. Embiid did not shoot the ball particularly well in the opening dozen minutes, but was extremely active: he made four of his 10 field goal attempts — including two of his three tries from beyond the arc — and split four free throws. But Embiid also grabbed eight rebounds — four of them coming on the offensive glass, in a fortunate change of pace — and collected a pair of assists. He committed a turnover in the first minute or two of the game, but after that played a clean quarter of mistake-free basketball.
Embiid’s rim protection, as expected, was also tremendous.
Early returns on rebounding adjustments
The biggest reason the Sixers lost Game 1 was because they were brutalized on the rebounds, particularly as they allowed an almost-comical 23 Knicks offensive rebounds. Nurse and several Sixers rotation players entered Game 2 having spoken at length about the need to shore up their team rebounding efforts.
The Knicks grabbed an offensive rebound on their first possession of the game, and it momentarily felt as if the Sixers were going to be eviscerated on the boards. But it took more than 10 minutes for them to allow another offensive rebound, a play that gave the Knicks their only two second-chance points of the entire quarter.
Rebounding is a team effort under all circumstances, so all Sixers rotation players deserve joint credit for their improved performance in that department, but it is hard to ignore the way Embiid set the tone on the glass with constant energy and effort that was not there in Game 1.
Sixers survive early stretch without Embiid
Despite Paul Reed giving the Sixers strong minutes for most of Game 1, they were pummeled when he manned the middle in Embiid’s place, getting outscored by 21 points in just 11 minutes.
In Game 1, Embiid helped the Sixers build a nine-point lead by the end of the first quarter, and after five minutes of Embiid sitting on the bench, the game was tied.
In this one, Embiid helped create a seven-point Sixers lead by the time for the first quarter ended. He rested for the same amount of time as he did on Saturday, but this time when he returned the Sixers still led by seven: they broke even without their best player, which in the playoffs is an enormous feat. For all of Embiid’s struggles in Game 1, they would have won if they were even outplayed by a modest amount when he sat rather than being obliterated.
Part of succeeding when Embiid rests is successfully running the offense through Maxey, and the Sixers were able to that. Maxey led all scorers in the first half with 20 points, shooting 7-11 from the field, 4-7 from beyond the arc and 2-2 from the free throw line. Maxey also dished out five assists and grabbed three rebounds in before intermission.
The Tobias Harris revival
Harris struggled from the field to open the game, making just two of his first six shot attempts, including missing the mark on two wide open triples. But his energy to open the game was outstanding: he was active on the glass, both in terms of grabbing rebounds on his own and by simply preventing the Knicks from doing so with effective box-outs. He also ran down an offensive rebound that led to an easy layup for Buddy Hield (and nobody needed to see the ball go in more than Hield) and won a jump ball against a seven-footer, Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein.
Two made threes later, Harris entered halftime with a stellar line: in a team-leading 21 minutes, he scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (including 2-4 from beyond the arc), six rebounds, two assists, a steal, a block and zero turnovers.
The outpouring of frustration with Harris in recent days — which has been even more furious than usual — was mostly warranted considering his performance. But given the way he was playing and the way he was being lambasted, regardless of whether or not the criticism was deserved, it is impressive that he was able to collect himself and reward Nurse’s trust in him with such a strong first half.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks repeatedly targeted Harris as a defender, forcing him into switches against their leading offensive option, Jalen Brunson, and Harris just got stops against the scoring aficionado over and over. In Harris’ five-plus years as a Sixer, he has never put together such a marvelous defensive showing,.
Josh Hart at it again
I wrote before this series kicked off that Hart, who was the Knicks’ star in Game 1, had the potential to reach levels of annoyance that the Sixers and their fans have not experienced stemming from the performance a role player in the playoffs in several years. But even this is a bit beyond what I expected.
Hart’s 22 points, 13 rebounds and four threes made him the player folks will remember from Saturday night. And on Monday, he picked up right where he left off: Hart had 19 points, 10 rebounds and another four threes… in the first half.
Nurse spoke in his media availability before Game 2 about the team’s commitment to limiting Brunson, and how that necessitates leaving a subpar three-point shooter like Hart open. Hart is not a good enough shooter to commit a defender to him at all times, but clearly he is good enough that he can make a defense pay for leaving him open at any given moment. So far in this series, the Villanova product has done exactly that.
Maxey’s Most Improved Player case, exemplified
Maxey was named a nominee for the NBA’s 2023-24 Most Improved Player Award on Sunday night, and many expect the fourth-year guard to take home what would be the first full-season individual honor of his NBA career. One crucial stretch early in the third perfectly illustrated two of the underrated ways in which he has progressed as a player in the last year.
Maxey’s case to win the award stems from his significant scoring uptick, but he has also made massive strides as a playmaker and passer in his first full regular season as a point guard. Maxey’s passing was excellent in this game, and perhaps none of his dishes were better than an impressive skip pass he threw that created a made three for Kyle Lowry, who had been silent as a scorer up until that point.
On the other end of the floor, the Knicks set up Maxey to defend their own first-time All-Star guard in Brunson. Brunson is not an easy cover for anyone, but particularly someone like Maxey because Brunson boasts such a massive strength advantage over Maxey. But Maxey stood his ground against the NBA’s fourth-leading per-game scorer in the regular season and forced a stop. Forget last year, Maxey may not have been able to make that play last month. His defensive improvement over the last handful of games alone has been staggering.
Knicks finally take control during Embiid’s second half rest
Embiid did not play the entire third quarter, as Nurse appeared to deviate from his typical substitution patterns. Instead, he rested for four of the final five minutes of the quarter. In that time, the Knicks outscored the Sixers by six as they finally captured their first lead of the game and created a modicum of separation.
That run that continued into the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Knicks’ lead expanded to as wide as eight.
Intense fourth quarter ends with Sixers falling short again after late mistakes
The Sixers led by five with fewer than 30 seconds on the clock in Game 2. Then a Brunson desperation three took a wild bounce in, the Sixers turned the ball over in the backcourt — not using a timeout that they had remaining — and Donte DiVincenzo hit his fourth three of the game to give the Knicks the lead. One Maxey miss, two OG Anunoby free throws and an Embiid missed desperation three later, the Knicks had won.
An all-time, epic disaster for the Sixers, who had Game 2 and a tied series in hand. They head home with a tall task at hand: win four of the next five, or go home.
