Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid both played instrumental roles for their teams in advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
A few years ago, the Sixers made moves designed to overtake top teams in the East such as the Knicks. This involved acquiring Paul George and signing him to a fat contract to join former MVP Joel Embiid and a fast-developing Tyrese Maxey. But Embiid had injury issues, George regressed and the Sixers lost to the Knicks in six games two years ago in the first round. Well, they now have a second chance. Fueled by a triumphant first round against the No. 2 seed Celtics, the Sixers believe anything’s possible, although the Knicks will be another steep challenge. OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson are coming off a solid showing against the Hawks and will be a handful for their Philly counterparts — Embiid, George and Maxey. This showdown between divisional opponents who know each other well should invite drama.
Series schedule
Here’s how to watch the Knicks vs. 76ers series:
All times Eastern Standard Time
- Game 1: Philadelphia at New York | Monday May 4 (8 ET, NBC/Peacock)
- Game 2: Philadelphia at New York | Wednesday May 6 (7 ET, ESPN)
- Game 3: New York at Philadelphia | Friday May 8 (7 ET, Prime Video)
- Game 4: New York at Philadelphia | Sunday May 10 (3:30 ET, ABC)
- Game 5: Philadelphia at New York | Tuesday May 12*
- Game 6: New York at Philadelphia | Thursday May 14*
- Game 7: Philadelphia at New York | Sunday May 17*
* = If necessary
Regular season results
Top storyline
It’s quite possible the Eastern Conference representative in the NBA Finals will emerge from this second-round series, if only because the East is wide open and the Sixers and Knicks flourished in the first round a bit better than anyone else still alive. They’re bringing size, top-shelf point guards, credible defense and right now are on a roll.
As for the Sixers, they’ve discovered a new life, one that — fingers crossed — will be blessed with good health for Embiid for an entire series for a change. They swerved through a regular season dragging along questions about their staying power and qualifications, but everyone knew if the Sixers were whole, they would be a problem in the playoffs. And here they are. Embiid, Maxey and George are joined by VJ Edgecombe; the rookie can disappear at times, but he isn’t scared of the lights.
The Knicks are clearly the more established and consistent team, by comparison. Their defense has mainly sparkled since Jan. 1 because OG Anunoby and Josh Hart, in particular, have taken it upon themselves to carry that flag. Oh, and OG was a two-way terror for the Knicks in the first round. There are a handful of delicious one-on-one matchups in this series as the combatants ultimately reveal who will emerge heroic from these battles-within-the-battle and who’ll be the goat (lower-case).
Keep your eyes on
Maxey and Brunson. They’re the best point guards east of Shai and Luka and are similarly styled. Both are scorers and A-options when important buckets are needed, especially late in fourth quarters. Brunson is craftier and a bit stronger, although the lefty can often be limited if forced to go to his right. Maxey can shift gears and is better at attacking the rim. They’re equals at the mid-range and streaky as 3-point shooters. The deciding factor might rest with their passing and how they make teammates better. Neither is superb in that regard.
But that’s nitpicking. Maxey and Brunson should each make an All-NBA team this season and, in these playoffs, bring the elements needed to take their teams to the NBA Finals and even win a championship. While the Sixers boast Embiid and the Knicks offer Towns — both top-five centers — these teams often win based on how their point guards play. That says plenty about Maxey and Brunson and the amount of faith their coaches and teammates have in them.
One more thing to watch for each team
For New York: Mikal Bridges’ role. He drifted out of favor in the first round and was on the bench during crucial stretches. This of course comes as a concern to the Knicks, who surrendered six first round picks to get him as a missing piece. Instead, the Knicks have seen Anunoby rise at both ends of the floor. As a long-armed wing, Bridges can bring solid defense and showed as much against the Hawks; it was his poor shooting that cut into his playing time. Mike Brown is a flexible coach, however, and with better shooting Bridges can earn his way back into the coach’s trust with a more complete showing, especially if he contains Maxey. This is his chance to change the conversation.
For Philadelphia: Embiid’s injury status. This obviously is the key to the series, because as the Celtics learned the last few weeks, everything changes with Embiid on the floor. Once he made his first-round debut in Game 4, the Sixers had an extra dimension, a force at both ends and it changed how they were defended and also eased the burden from Maxey and George. With Embiid, it’s long past Trusting The Process, it’s about whether you trust his body. And too often, his body has betrayed him. He limped off the floor in Game 7 against the Celtics. With this series starting two days after the conclusion of the first round and with precious few days between games, can Embiid’s body truly be trusted?
One key number to know
29.0 — The Knicks have the second-ranked bench in the playoffs, and they outscored the Hawks by 29.0 points per 100 possessions in Miles McBride’s 118 minutes on the floor. That was the second best on-court mark among players who averaged at least 10 minutes per game in the first round.
The Knicks’ starting lineup was good, but not great in the regular season. And through the first five games of the Atlanta series (before their 51-point win in Game 6), the lineup had been outscored by 3.1 points per 100 possessions, with sub-par numbers (110.6 scored per 100) on offense. But bench minutes have generally been terrific, and the Knicks should have a bench advantage in this series. The Sixers’ bench ranked 16th in the regular season and 13th in the first round, when they were outscored by 18.4 points per 100 possessions in Paul George’s 76 minutes off the floor.
— John Schuhmann
The pick
Knicks in six. This could be a carbon copy of the first round meeting in 2024, when Embiid looked strong yet staggered through the series with injuries and the Knicks endured. Aside from Embiid and his health, the Sixers’ main issue is whether they can handcuff Brunson. He could roam free more than usual if Brown sticks with his first-round strategy of using Towns as a facilitator. Not only did Towns make his teammates better, but his own scoring wasn’t sacrificed in the process. Towns will make Embiid work at both ends, and he has Mitchell Robinson around to collect fouls against Embiid if necessary. The Knicks therefore can offer more counterpunches than the Sixers, who — because of Embiid’s health scares — will need Maxey, Edgecombe and especially George to all bring their A-game to stagger New York and rewrite the script.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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