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2024 Playoff Thread: Knicks vs Sixers, Game 1 – Playoff Opener, which is an awesome thing

Here we go, the most important game of the Knicks’ season (until the next one).

This game is particularly huge because it is sort of the proof of concept game. We know the Knicks can kick the Sixers’ ass, but will they? We shall see today if they can make Embiid run so much he can’t abuse them.

Here’s hoping it all works! I bet it does.

Let’s go, Knicks!

433 replies on “2024 Playoff Thread: Knicks vs Sixers, Game 1 – Playoff Opener, which is an awesome thing”

I feel excited even though I expect us to lose. The cognitive dissonance is uncomfortable.

Glad that relief is coming soon, either way.

Hopefully ESPN shows our game instead of the last 20 minutes of the PHX/MIN blowout…

If anyone happens to be at Finn’s Corner in Brooklyn, come say hi. I’m not wearing a “TNFH” name tag but we’ll figure it out.

Can’t believe we have to watch the end of this awful game before the Knicks start

How many stoppages is this game gonna have? Why the fuck are they challenging plays up by 20 and after Phoenix has pulled their starters?

Right now I am getting crowd volume with no announcers on the ESPN app. I don’t know if this new but it’s new to me and I am loving it.

What a surprise, Embiid destroying us already and our offense is Josh Hart threes. Downgrading to Sixers in 4

Can’t get a stop to save our lives and most of our shots barely hit the rim. Other than that looking great

My wife of course wanted me to clean light fixtures with her.

Doesn’t look good

I admire Breen for being so impartial on the call, but this game is killing me so far. Yikes.

Well if we start hitting shots and they miss a shot, we’ll have a game

Turning this off. It’s way, way worse than I feared, we don’t belong in the same league with this team. I cannot fucking believe we threw a great season away for Thibs’ meaningless ego.

We just need to see a few threes drop. These guys never lose their cool and never quit.

The Knicks have 5 more FGAs than the Sixers. The extra possessions will pay off eventually.

Turning this off. It’s way, way worse than I feared, we don’t belong in the same league with this team. I cannot fucking believe we threw a great season away for Thibs’ meaningless ego.

Wouldn’t we just have to play these guys in the next round doe

Pepper, they are making every shot because they have far superior talent. Outplaying us their expectation. We have no margin forever against a super team like this.

Brunson is already neutralized and all it took was Kelly fucking Oubre

We are playing like shit. They are playing very well. We are still right there.

Pags…you are forgetting the moxie factor…ours is 3x the sixers…equalizes everything

Terrible call, out on Embiid. Not sure I like the challenge though.

That’s the second rebound Hart took away from Embiid

Can the call the obvious foul Hartenstein got away with during this challenge?

If this is how the series go on the fundamentals, I like our chances. The shooting will come.

Can the call the obvious foul Hartenstein got away with during this challenge?

No

We’re only down 5 despite Philly getting every call and being unable to miss. Feeling good about our prospects if things normalize.

Pepper you are forgetting the Maxey factor. He’s a good bet to outplay Brunson this series and has handily done so thus far.

My wife of course wanted me to clean light fixtures with her.

Doesn’t look good

Haha. Love this.

And c’mon, guys!! We have not yet begun to fight!!

Thibs is a golden god

Maxey is a golden bolt of lightning. Is there anyone faster?

Fuck Batum

Thibs will need to make adjustments for what they are doing on Brunson…see if he has some answers

Gus Johnson or Doris Burke?

Just shoot me.

If you have the ESPN app on your TV, there’s a feed called “Above the rim” that has the game with no announcers. It’s just a live continuous feed.

Thibs will need to make adjustments for what they are doing on Brunson…see if he has some answers

Did he not think they were gonna double Brunson?

Brunson constantly losing his man on defense leading to open 3 after open 3 for Philly.

Mitch looks like the better option against Embiid, which would be great if he were 100%

Are the announcers just going to stroke Embiid the entire series?

He can’t last.

People forgot how this works. If we’re within 10 at halftime we’ll win. If we’re within 20 we’ll still win the majority of the time.

Sad to say Joel deserves the stroking so far. He’s got 15, next closest are Maxey and Jalen at 7.

Brunson’s gotta figure something out because they’re defending him perfectly so far.

Second gear kicking in

How the hell are those Paul Reed shots going in?

Knicks are allowing too many offensive rebounds. If they don’t win the rebounding battle by a lot, they are cooked.

My least favorite part of NBA commentary is the take by experts based on 15 minute samples.

We are struggling. Philly is hitting rediculous shots. Things will revert to mean in second half and I like our chances. That being said, Maxey is a problem.

Renegotiate and extend deuce for the max

Deuce!!

Also, missed free throws notwithstanding, and limited skills on D, Bobo is bringing it tonight with the effort.

Mitch. If you’re gonna foul anyway, foul like Oak or Mase. The paint is YOURS!!

Bogie stocks are soaring right now, better get in before they hit the moon

Up FOUR. Fuck you haterz (and you know who you are).

Hahaha. NO! ONE LOVE. All are welcome. Let’s get this f-ing game!

I need to rage quit more often! We were like +20 while I was doing chores just now

I was going to say how fun it is to see Deuce trying to body up Embiid but watching him dunk is much more fun!

How about Thibs sticking this long with Deuce and Bogey over DDV and Hart.

Don’t wanna see Embiid hurt. C’mon, basketball gods … fix his leg.

Renegotiate-and-extend Deuce for the max again

Yes, announcers, let’s stroke our TWO rim protectors. They are GODS!!

If Embiid can’t come back in this series Pags might change his pick to Sixers in 7.

How un-Kncksy: their Injury-prone center takes a risky airborne move and likely takes himself out of the game. Ours takes it out of bounds and throws it off Oubrey. 😎

Let the record show that the Knicks were winning the game when Embiid got hurt.

Doesn’t matter, Embiid couldn’t beat Mitch anyway. At least not consistently enough to carry his team.

Knew I should’ve bet Knicks in 4

Had to make dinner for the family but have enjoyed watching our second team dominate them. And Mitch!! Ready for the playoffs, just in time. Even if Embiid is OK, I still think we win this series

Damn
I sincerely hope Embiid is ok..as in not having another tear or something

Steven Ass Smith almost makes me hate the Knicks. He’s a foul human.

A 12 points lead despite the Little General playing like shit,
a 33-12 2nd quarter, Embiid’s suicidal choice, Deuce burning like a supernova, Bojan with 5 rebounds…

Thanks Pags, your reverse jinx superpowers are pristine! 😉

And for the posterity: we were winning even with Embiid in the game.

Some of the Knicks rebounds were incredible. Truly ferocious stuff. A couple from Hart and one from OG come to mind.

Steven Ass Smith almost makes me hate the Knicks. He’s a foul human.

He’s a fake fan. I resent the fact that he pretends to root for my team. He didn’t even know that Grimes was traded from this team 2 months after the fact.

We played that first half perfectly. They shutdown Brunson as we expected they would (and he missed everything when he had open shots), but everyone kept their cool, other guys (Deuce) stepped up, and we enter the second half in great shape. Perfect.

I suppose that I could hope that we just face four rounds of teams that lose their best players to injury, gambling, family tragedy, Covid-19, wicked dunks, parole violations, political exile, food poisoning, or stage fright… I mean, what would be more satisfying than just having Adam Silver hand the team the trophy by default?

No, I’d rather play the best – at their best – and beat them all.

Shame about Embiid. That play was amazing.

Yeah both Hart and OG straight up ripped away rebounds from a Sixer’s hands.

The weird thing about Stephen A is that ESPN actually pays him.

Mike+Clyde > TNT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ESPN

Also, looks like Deuce can hang in the playoffs. IQ was my favorite… but he ever have a playoff half like that?

I’d actually be okay with parole violations, political exile, food poisoning, or stage fright going forward…

I will not be upset if JoJo is out for tonight and next two games…
edit- oh well

Tasty cakes, I agree. I hated seeing Embiid hurt even though it obviously helps the Knicks.

I wonder what kind of painkillers they are pumping Embiid with for him to play in this game now.

Let the record show that the Knicks were winning the game when Embiid got hurt.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Let’s keep this going. Don’t let them back in.

Jesus we’re bad at inbounds play. It’s like a elementary school team.

I love Kyle Lowry but i hope he tears his acl

(Joking! Joking!)

We need Deuce on Maxey. And to replace Jalen.

I am typing way too slow…

Now I see the Knicksiness. After all that false hope Embiid is fine and Kyle Lowry kills us despite being 50 years old.

Maxey is probably going to outplay Brunson this series , he certainly is today. This is a loss.

My god the starters don’t have shit tonight. I hope Bojan and Deuce can do it again.

None of the starters want to attack Embiid even though he’s playing on one leg

We are just totally outmatched. Why the fuck did we voluntarily play this team? 80% of Embiid would be our franchise GOAT.

They know all of Brunson’s moves before he makes them and he is too small to have any counter Just be tall and block him from behind.

if Maxey is going to outplay Brunson like this we’re going to get swept.

I’ve seen many Knick playoff collapses in my lifetime and losing this game will be right up there with the rest of them.

JB will not yave a single good game this series. Nurse has completely figured him out. This looks like when Jeremy Lin faced the Heatles for the first time and Linsanity ended with a whimper.

This game has had a quarter by quarter back and forth momentum shifts. Ours is coming up.

Early Bird, we are too honorable to attack Embiid just like with Jimmy last year. Thibs will just seppuku over and over.

I used to hang out on a Mets blog where there was one guy who ruined the entire experience by polluting every game thread with relentless overwrought negative crybaby horseshit.

Yeah.

Batum is a useful player.

That was a garbage quarter but I like the energy right now

This is by far the worst I’ve ever seen Brunson play.

And to counter balance, it’s the best we’ve seen from Deuce.

Nova boys picking a bad time for an “off night” but this team continues to gut it out which is awesome to watch.

Yet Knicks are still up 2 early in the 4th, let’s fucking win this game!

Pags is on a Mets blog, too?

Brunson is playing just horribly. I hope he can get some kind of redemption.

When I said Brunson would have a ‘huge’ quarter, I didn’t mean this.

Mitch is healing before our very eyes, absolutely vintage, dominant game from him

Not sure I like it coming down to the “last shot” with our Maestro so cold.

So good. best win ever. Hart grabbing that board as a coup de grace was magnificent.

Hubert, I didn’t want to hear another word ever again against Josh Hart

As long as he shoots, you won’t.

How much do we love Josh “Don’t guard me” Hart. Hahaha.

Mitch with the free throws: Bring it!

Again, the whole team just said to Brunson, “We got you, tonight”

And after that late push from Embiid on Brunson, maybe it’s okay if he suffers some … soreness tomorrow.

Yes! We got this one even with poor games from Brunson, DiVo and iHart, who usually are our best, and amazing games from maxey embiid and lowry. The next one will be easier!

Hustlebunny !!!

This may need to replace those “Free Cole” T-shirts 😉

OMG, we won but Philadelphia is very good and we needed key three pointers from Harr and clutch free throws from Mitch which seems very flukey, to say the least.

Yes! Game-1 in the books!

Mitch is back and J-Hart has big onions.
Great game for Deuce and meaningful contribution from Bojan.

Our superstar had his worst game of the year and we won.

There’s no fear in this TEAM

This may need to replace those “Free Cole” T-shirts 😉

LOL! Let’s do it! 🙂

I was checking in on this game between takes of a sensitive piano ballad. Stressful.

But anyway, HELL YEAH Y’ALL

Ignoring the roller coaster thread that’s probably above this post but just wanted to say LET’S GO KNICKS!!!!!

As Clyde would say “Heroes abound for the Knicks!” Brunson and DDV can’t be that bad. Beside the 3rd quarter, I thought Thibs hit the right buttons.

Love my team! Great crowd too!

LET’S GO, fuck I’m still shaking.

Gigantic game by Mitch, Deuce, Hart down the stretch, OG making that 3 after being invisible for a while. I really didn’t think we could win this game when Maxey is going off and Brunson is playing bad, but it shows the strength of this team’s depth.

And that’s why we don’t fucking tank for playoff position, this team has too much heart and pride to do that bush league shit.

LET’S GO, fuck I’m still shaking.

Not really shaking here, more like wanting to go celebrate on the balcony… but it’s 2AM here! 😀

I really didn’t think we could win this game when Maxey is going off and Brunson is playing bad

Agree. I totally thought Fake IQ (Maxey) was gonna gut us in the end, but … hahahahaha. More more more more more. It’s all happening.

The amount of luck we needed there bodes very poorly. Sixers in 5 still. They have the two best players in the series since Brunson has been figured out and Maxey can just generate unlimited layups against us at will.

Understand why Thibs rides and dies with JHart. Damn, Mitch’s agility took a leap tonite and Deuce was a non-noisy +32.

Those last 3 three pointers were amazing. The 76’ers were putting everything in the hoop and it didn’t matter – the lead was growing longer.

@Owen, I hope the light fixtures are clean, b/c the glass is spotless now thanks to Mitch and JHart!!!

The amount of luck we needed there bodes very poorly. Sixers in 5 still. They have the two best players in the series since Brunson has been figured out and Maxey can just generate unlimited layups against us at will.

Reverse jinxing… I see u

This must feel like their throats were stripped out. I think this will make the Sixers walking wounded for the rest of the series. This bodes very well for the Knicks. It reminds me a lot of the Cavs Game 1 last year, that seemed to really knock the wind out of the Cavs’ sails for the rest of the series.

By Post Author

Shut up Pag!

I say keep it up, Pag. He plays a very important part in our karma equation 😉

Onward, gentlemen.

What shall we fight about tomorrow?

Hugs to all, for now.

Gonna tip the rye a bit. I wish I smoked pot. Happy 4/20, all.

Maxey can just generate unlimited layups against us at will.

Yeah, we won’t adjust, we’ll just keep defending him this way and expecting better results. Sometimes i think you’re trolling us, you can’t believe that sh*t.

A year ago, an off night from Brunson was a likely loss. This year, we have options.

Knicks outrebounded Philly 55-33 and bench outscored Philly 42-7. Holy shit.

@Owen, I hope the light fixtures are clean, b/c the glass is spotless now thanks to Mitch and JHart!!!

LOLOL

Some credit to the sixers-especially oubre-but Brunson was fucking atrocious tonight. Rushed shots, dumb turnovers, definitely a game we could have used Randle

and bench outscored Philly 42-7

Given what a mess the bench has been for parts of the year it’s incredible that Bojan, Mitch and Deuce absolutely saved the team tonight.

Randle down … we’re doomed
Brunson bad ….we’re fucked
Well ..How about We re actually Good?

Brunson can’t continue to play this booty for the rest of the series…can he?

Deuce needs to play more though. He’s been playing phenomenal for over a month. Thibs needs to hurt someone’s feelings and find him more minutes.

Deuce needs to play more though. He’s been playing phenomenal for over a month. Thibs needs to hurt someone’s feelings and find him more minutes.

Looking at you, Donte….especially if you continue to stink up the joint this badly.

If OG can’t hang with Maxey then we probably have to do someting with the starting lineup because DDV and JB can’t check him.

It reminds me a lot of the Cavs Game 1 last year, that seemed to really knock the wind out of the Cavs’ sails for the rest of the series.

With Mitch and Hart bullying them like they did to Allen and Mobley.

The Knicks’ three best players this season were 12-40 with 7 TOs and the Knicks still won.

23 OREBs is outrageous.

Starters vs Starters

Philly – 97

Knicks- 69

Minus 28

Pretty crazy when you win a game your starters get dominated like that

I would not have expected Josh Hart to lead the team in FTAs, I wonder if that’s the first time for that.

It’s probably fair to wonder if Brunson just had a bad game or if the Philly game plan is truly problematic (like the Atlanta one was for Randle). They came right out trapping him at half court and he did not handle it well. They’re not gonna stop doing that, so it’s up to him to figure something out.

It’s probably fair to wonder if Brunson just had a bad game or if the Philly game plan is truly problematic.

Yeah, I’m ecstatic, but this is really the point.

Brunson/Thibs do need to figure something out. I don’t think jHart and Deuce are gonna make it rain all the way to the canyon of heroes ….

Yeah, actual props to the Sixers for some excellent defense throughout, that was something I honestly wasn’t expecting. However Brunson made a lot of stupid plays, both passing (and not passing) and forcing shots. Glad we didn’t lose because of it.

Also glad I wasn’t listening to Clyde because there were a &%$#load of desperate jump passes in that second half by a variety of Knicks that were almost turnovers (and a few that were turnovers). We also need to stop doing that. Breen did mention it when he said “Whoa, another dangerous pass!” at one point.

Did Embiid make any field goal from mid range or farther in the second half? It doesn’t look to me like he can jump off his knee, and his shots were all really short. It wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t play Monday.

It’s probably fair to wonder if Brunson just had a bad game or if the Philly game plan is truly problematic (like the Atlanta one was for Randle). They came right out trapping him at half court and he did not handle it well. They’re not gonna stop doing that, so it’s up to him to figure something out.

A little of both, I think? He missed shots that he makes in his sleep, but he also forced things. Taller defenders bother him a lot, but he couldn’t go off when Maxey was guarding him either. I think the shot was off and then he was forcing it. In the 4th, he leaned more into finding open shooters.

Hubs, it’s extremely fair to wonder that and I would say it’s willfully blind to dismiss the concern. It’s one thing if he’s just missing good looks, but he got blocked from behind like they knew what was coming like 20 goddam times and he had a ton of terrible turnovers.

If we’re relying on offensive explosions from Deuce, 3 point barrages from Hart, and FT makes from Mitch we are in big trouble.

They came right out trapping him at half court and he did not handle it well. They’re not gonna stop doing that, so it’s up to him to figure something out.

I think this is another reason for Deuce to play with the starters. He can bring the ball up court and give it to Brunson later in the shot clock. Just like GSW used to do when teams were harassing Steph. And then when Brunson gets the ball Philly’s plan is already derailed, especially if we can get Brunson a good matchup when he gets the ball back.

Kudos to Thibs for pretty much playing the right guys at the right times. No Precious, no Alfred E. Neuman, pretty big dose of Bogie, lots of Deuce, Mitch over iHart for long stretches, willing to sit DDV when he didn’t have it going.

Tremendous night of NBA basketball. One down, 15 to go.

Did Embiid make any field goal from mid range or farther in the second half?

I think i remember him making a 3P in the 2nd half.

Game 2 on Monday with only 1 day rest should be a huge advantage for Knicks, I wonder if Embiid sits to have 4 days of rest before Game 3.

Brunson is the last player I’m worried about.

Do we think his dad is shouting at him? Ulp.

Lebron still elite, but he looks like he’s about to pass out in that altitude

As far as jump shots go, Embiid made 1 3 in the 3rd quarter, and he made no shots from anywhere in the 4th quarter

Knicks winning with Brunson playing one of his worst games of the season is kind of a best case scenario no?

As far as jump shots go, Embiid made 1 3 in the 3rd quarter, and he made no shots from anywhere in the 4th quarter

Thanks. It felt like he was dragging his body there. I wonder if he takes the game off on Monday – it wouldn’t be the first time he finishes a game and then misses a few. The Knicks didn’t exploit him as they could have in the 4th – a few too many fouls, and not taking it to the rim. He couldn’t jump!

I think the Knicks are playing game 2 Monday because the Rangers need the Garden as well. If no Rangers, game might have been played on Tuesday.

Game 2 on Monday with only 1 day rest should be a huge advantage for Knicks, I wonder if Embiid sits to have 4 days of rest before Game 3.

This is Nick Nurse. No way he’s going easy on Embiid minutes if he can help it.

This is Nick Nurse. No way he’s going easy on Embiid minutes if he can help it.

At one point it might not be his call. Who knows what kind of long-term damage Embiid might suffer. It’s now two knee injuries in his last three games, with a game in the middle where he couldn’t move.

I do think Nurse had a great gameplan to defend Brunson, everybody knows the Knicks’ biggest flaw on offense is the lack of a reliable second creator and that Brunson is much more scorer than facilitator. The biggest issue is that when this happens AND DiVo also plays poorly, then the starter lineup just stops working.

But this is Jalen Brunson we’re talking about, the guy has met every type of roadblock in his career and found a way to get over it every time. I’ll trust him to figure this one out too. He brought us here, he earned this trust.

The question will be did: Did Josh Hart do enough to be guarded the next game. If he did that will open things up more for the other guys.

Wasn’t going to watch when it looked like LA might steal a game but noticed Denver tied it up and decided to watch and cheer for Cdiggy.

So far so good. Denver up 9.

Did anyone feel like the ESPN crew of Doris and JJ was phoning it in while Mike Breen (per usual) was doing the heavy lifting? I watched on MSG for Clyde and Gus but rewatching highlights on YouTube and the two are largely quiet but it’s hard to tell via condensed highlights

The thing with Brunson is that the Philly game plan has a downside: it left them even more vulnerable than usual to offensive rebounds. The Knicks rebounded half of their misses, and part of that is Brunson drawing 2-3 defenders to his usual spots.

These stretches when Denver basically decides to win the game are incredible.

that picture in the ny post tomorrow edition of deuce hangin on the rim is awesome..

Wasn’t going to watch when it looked like LA might steal a game but noticed Denver tied it up and decided to watch and cheer for Cdiggy.

😂 hahaha! The trolls have said not one word about their beloved Lakers. They know Denver is about to roast their asses again.

And where was #lolKnicksSupv today while the game was going on? At a daggone LAFC/Red Bulls game, talking smack about how LA scored first (I don’t follow or care about MLS, apologies to the soccer aficionados in here).

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