The Sixers have been swept for just the fourth time in franchise history, following an embarrassing 144-114 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Here’s what stood out.
What a way to end a season. Down 3-0 against a division rival, the Sixers had an opportunity to show some fight on their home court; instead, they gave fans yet another major disappointment in another Mother’s Day loss, in the final career game for in-arena announcement and legendary voice Matt Cord, no less.
Philadelphia was just over a week removed from an improbable comeback, eliminating the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics after falling behind 3-1 earlier in the series. The team that took the court in this second round has looked drastically different, to the point it’s genuinely hard to believe they are the same squad.
The Sixers began this game with a quick basket by Tyrese Maxey, who has flirted with a frustrating lack of aggression throughout the series as he attempts to overcome New York’s physical defensive scheme against him. Throughout the series, the Knicks have consistently blitzed Maxey in the pick-and-roll, disrupting the Sixers’ typical offensive rhythm and Maxey’s two-man game with Joel Embiid.
Maxey was far more aggressive despite this coverage, taking eight first-quarter shots, but only converted three of those attempts while going 2-4 from the free-throw line. He would finish the game having shot 6-16 from the floor, making only one of his seven attempts from deep. He was far from the only Sixer who struggled, especially from three-point range, as the Sixers converted just 8-35 of their threes over the course of this game.
Shooting remains a major struggle for this Sixers team, who finished this series shooting 41-131 from three (31.3%), while their defense continued to surrender threes on the other end, allowing the Knicks to go 60-134 (44.7%) from deep.
Paul George took the fewest shots he’s attempted throughout the entire postseason, making just three of his seven attempts for just seven total points. Kelly Oubre was similarly quiet, taking just six shots after leading the Sixers in scoring in Game 3. Oubre was 4-6 from the field, scoring 10 points, and even rookie sensation VJ Edgecombe was held to just eight points on 4-14 shooting.
It wasn’t just the lack of scoring that did the Sixers in; a complete lack of defensive interest doomed them from the first quarter, putting them behind 43-24. The Sixers had no answers defensively. The team was simply out of sorts, energy, and seemingly broken after all they had endured during the season. It’s by no means an excuse, but it also comes as little surprise, considering how the series had been played through three games.
While many will be quick to list this as Joel Embiid's latest postseason disappointment, his individual performance was the lone positive in this game.
Despite the lack of fight from his teammates, Joel Embiid deserves special recognition for the fight he showed throughout this game. The Sixers were down by nearly 20 after the first quarter, but that didn’t stop Embiid from doing all that his body would allow.
Coming into the year, there was little certainty whether Embiid would come close to being a capable player again, let alone his former, dominant self. While he struggled defensively, both in this series and throughout the regular season, he was near-perfect as a scorer in this game and has clearly demonstrated he can still be a 25-30-point scorer on a nightly basis.
Embiid was 8-8 from the floor tonight and 6-7 from the free-throw line, scoring a team-high 24 points. It wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the game, but Embiid, more than his teammates at least, can take pride in his effort in this game, knowing that he not only did the most he could despite his litany of injuries throughout the season, including his recent appendectomy.
In that sense, Embiid can hold his head up high, despite the loss, but the Sixers have nothing to celebrate after being swept. The season, though an improvement over last year, has still highlighted several ongoing issues in both the team’s coaching and roster construction.
Still, while the year did not end the way anyone in Philadelphia wanted, the future looks bright with Embiid's return, Maxey's continued rise, and VJ Edgecombe's successful rookie season.
