News & Blogs
2026 NBA playoffs: Conference semifinals takeaways – ESPN
Mike Brown embraces Knicks’ NBA Finals-or-bust mandate: ‘That’s what I expect’ – SNY
Knicks learned vital lessons in first round of NBA playoffs, just as they did a year ago – The Athletic – The New York Times
Knicks Bulletin: ‘When we do that, we’re playing our best basketball’ – Posting & Toasting
Knicks 137, 76ers 98: “Really surreal” – Posting & Toasting
Knicks determined not to follow up blowout win with a Game 2 letdown – SNY
Knicks-76ers Game 1 reaction with James Edwards III | The Putback with Ian Begley – Begley Putback
Knicks Life Crisis Game 1 Reaction and Look Ahead to Game 2 – Knick of Time
The Run.down Knicks vs Sixers R2G1 Postgame Show – The Strickland
Basketball Bliss (Knicks/Sixers, Game 1 Reactions) | KFS Playoff Hangover | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
The Sixers Have NO ANSWER For Jalen Brunson | KFTV – Knicks Fan TV
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94 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.05.06)”
G’mornin’, all!
This team has an unfortunate history of Game 2 letdowns. Even the second game against the Celtics last year was one where the guys dug a deep whole for themselves before mounting another furious comeback. If they come in tonight as focused as they’ve been for the previous four games — even if the margin of victory is substantially tighter — then I’ll feel very good. If they start letting Maxey blow by them on every other possession, and generally playing with their food, then it could be a longer series than anyone here other than Donnie wants it to be.
I hate when I tout Ausar and he shows up with a negative 9 in a Detroit win
He had 11/8/5, though. That’s far from crapping the bed.
Nurse lost his brother in the middle of this series. Awful.
Knicks up to +950, reflecting IMHO the money’s increased belief in the Pistons and to a smaller degree the Thunder. Though the latter is more a slightly impacting re-confirmation.
Pistons next in the East at +1600, way up from the lows.
(For consistency’s sake, should be “Knicks down to +950.” Odds have worsened since their peak high. Pistons’ odds have gotten significantly better since their low point.)
Escaping elimination will do that
The Pistons’ odds no doubt got better because it’s now clear that the Cavs have no juice and basically quite quit a tied playoff game with four minutes remaining. The Pistons got dunks off of simple screen actions just about every time they touched the ball at the end of that game.
After watching the end of that game I was disabused of the notion that Pistons-Cavs was going to be competitive.
Idk JK, these series change from game to game. I still see it going 7 because the Pistons really aren’t all that good either.
I still kinda fear those guys. I just keep reminding myself that they didn’t see this souped-up version of us during the regular season. I’m just praying that we can get to that series intact. (It sucks and seems a little ridiculous that we have to hope beyond the regular amount that players on our team might get injured during an individual playoff series, but here we are.)
Side note: We keep getting the “not-preferred” opponents in our playoff series—Atlanta over Toronto, and now Philly over Boston, and probably Detroit over Orlando or Cleveland. But we keep seeming to be better than whoever we get, anyway.
Harden has been brutal with turnovers in this playoffs. He had seven turnovers yesterday and has 43 turnovers in 8 playoff games. When you watch him play he looks like an old washed up boxer who should have retired but keeps coming back to get beaten up by young contenders.
He still gets buckets but it comes at a huge cost with the turnovers and crummy defense.
Yes, but!
Last year’s game 2 was on the same night of my charity’s annual party for their junior board — the Ali MacNeil game.
Tonight is my charity’s annual party for their junior board, and Ali’s back.
So we’re good.
Plus the Sixers suck.
Honestly, it shouldn’t have been that close of a game with the Cavs on the road. The Pistons aren’t great. They’re athletic but don’t have much shooting. They will probably ultimately beat the Cavs, but mostly because of home court advantage.
Detroit kind of looks like they can stop people whenever they decide to…
And Cade looks better.
The Pistons are fascinating because we were down 2-1, turned it on, and everyone’s forgotten the first 3 games. They were down 3-1, turned it on, and everyone still thinks they’re frauds for being down.
I think the Orlando series likely did to them what our series with them did to us last year — it made them stronger.
They’re going to be a tough out. It would have been a lot cooler if the Magic hadn’t blown game 6.
I think that’s because (i) it was more Orlando forgetting how to shoot than Detroit turning it on; (ii) Orlando lost Franz, who is their offensive engine.
I agree 100%. They’re getting better and tougher as they get ready to see NY. Feels like last years OKC playoff team a little. Great regular season but still learning how to win the playoffs and, most importantly, advancing.
This was a great article by Fred Katz:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7256416/2026/05/06/knicks-76ers-joel-embiid-playoffs-game-1/
Watch the embedded video and how all Knicks are basically reading the play in the same way. It’s so impressive.
The Pistons will always have games where the supporting cast will shoot like garbage and Cade will have to take 40 shots and they lose, but the Cavs look so unimpressive and they’ll have those games too, so I don’t see it going 7 games unless something weird happens.
That’s why I hope the team comes out focused today, Philly looks outmatched but it’s still dangerous and closing out this series in 5 would be amazing for the rest after.
We may have a history of Game 2 letdowns but so does Philly. Hopefully 2024 Game 2 is living rent-free in some Sixer heads.
One thing I do know is that they’ll come to play this time — they are way too good to have another uncompetitive game. It’s probably for the best that we don’t win every game by 30. Based on the ATL series, this group could use a few more reps in high leverage late-game situations.
Speaking for myself, I’d be totally ok with the Knicks winning by 30.
Not that I’m looking past the 76ers, but I am back to worrying about the Pistons. They gave us a tough time last year, have vengence on their minds and are better this year. I’m so pissed off Orlando couldn’t stay healthy and blew that game 6. Orlando is good, but I wasn’t worried about that matchup. The Piston should be out and I am worried about that one.
It’s way more likely than +950 that Kenny Atkinson detested the Harden trade.
I’d fear the Pistons more if they had last year’s Malik Beasley still on their team; that said, I’d expect Cade to be way better in a potential this year Knicks series than he was last year in the actual one.
Cavs getting a bum rap here IMO. Yeah, their bigs are kinda soft and everyone hates James Harden, but they have a lot of talent and they were 21-9 after the trade. Pistons had the same record in that span.
Game 1 wasn’t uncompetitive either. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather play the Cavs in the ECF and watch Mobley/Allen get Mitch-slapped again, but by all accounts they should put up a real fight in the series and they should have a better chance of prevailing than the Sixers should against us.
Why is it that Pags is able to change his name, but I can’t? All I get is “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” when I go to edit my profile.
The way Atkinson used his personnel at the end of that game was ridiculous.
Harden gets the three free throws to tie the game. Detroit brings Cade in for the stretch run. Atkinson leaves both Mobley and Mitchell on the bench, along with Jarrett Allen. Allen has four fouls, but it’s crunch time! Worry about him fouling out AFTER he fouls out.
Instead they run out a scrub-heavy lineup with Thomas Bryant as the rim protector and they get repeatedly roasted on basic pick and roll actions. By the time Mitchell and Mobley get back in the game— remember this all occurs with under four minutes of game time— the game is effectively over.
That was a winnable game and Atkinson galaxy brained his way out of winning.
Yeah…i was watching and I couldn’t believe he had Mitchell on the bench at the 4 minute mark…what was he saving him for? That alone should get him canned…
Of course, Game 2 has to coincide with my wife’s birthday today. 😂
I’ll be following this one online too.
I expect the Sixers to regroup some fora much more competitive game, and for Maxey to be much better today. But I don’t think they can truly counter the Knicks’ exploiting Embiid on D. Which means I don’t think they’ll be able to stop Point-KAT.
Shams:
Any chance they’ll play better without him, just given his mobility issues?
This does lower the probability of a serious Knick injury but now I have to watch Andre Drummond post ups
Damn, no Embiid tonight! He was a useful weakspot.
This will probably make the 76ers defense alot better.
Bona’s gonna be out there swinging his elbows wildly until he fouls out.
Wow, Embiid out.
It’s a fair question whether or not they’re better with Drummond, who can still play a little, rather than a comically hobbled Embiid. They’ll miss the free throw spamming but Drummond could not possibly be any worse than Embiid in drop coverage, and Drummond still rebounds like a fiend.
That’s probably 7-8 FTA attempts they won’t be getting though, plus it completely changes the gravity for the Knicks on defense. I guess they also get some extra minutes of Bona whacking the Knicks with folding chairs.
If that guy Bona plays more…we are likely more exposed to some hatchet job injury…but I can’t see where this enhances philly’s chances other than Maxey will be looking for his a bunch more (obviously) whereas in that first game…he was certainly focused on feeding embiid as first option
Embiid is out — what do we think folks?
Bitch
He’s probably just resting because he knows he’s going to spend all of game 3 flopping and diving to get free throws at home.
Didn’t Andre Drummond become a corner 3 specialist this year? Or was that just against us?
Helps them on defense; hurts them on offense. Helps us on defense; mostly helps us on offense. I think Mike Brown can counter Maxey going off if he doesn’t also have to deal with Embiid. I’ll just be glad not to see his behemoth face out there.
Overall a win for us, I’m guessing.
(Drummond was 32-for-90 .356 on 3s during the regular season over 63 games, about one-half of one made three per game. Doesn’t seem like a huge—pardon the pun—worry.)
I bet this is likely a strategic choice to get a few games of him playing rested instead of getting the hobbled version of him every night.
They think if they rest him tonight he’ll be full strength in games 3 & 4 at home. If they win those games, he can sit game 5, come back rested in game 6, and they’ll have two days off before game 7.
Hubert, I think if Embiid could play, he would play. They can’t afford to get down 2-0, given that his health is always a dice roll at best, given that we have home court and greater depth, etc.
Embiid totally made the difference vs. the Celtics so it’s hard to argue that they are not significantly worse without him. This sort of makes tonight a trap game. Hopefully we don’t take the win for granted and take care of business against a vastly inferior opponent.
This is also a good point, from our former-former beat writer:
The one way in which Embiid’s absence will definitely help is that Nurse will have no choice but to tell the two guards to play at warp speed. Can we contain that often enough?
And I still think that we should be playing the Celtics right now were it not for the idiocy of Joe Mazzulla in game seven.
I hate the guy as a player, but got to sympathise with him—out most of the year with a knee problem, rehab, get reps and games in showing potential to get to elite level, appendix out costing 3 weeks and improvement reset, and now hip and ankle issues. Seems like a nice guy off the court. But he should just hang it up. His frame can no longer take what it takes
I want to see Drummond trying to back up a defender from the corner 3 point line. That was hilarious.
The Sixers were much better with Bona as center than Embiid during the season. He’s a good offensive rebounder, but a terrible defensive rebounder (16% DREB rate – Mitch was 26%, KAT was 32% this year).
The big plus for the Knicks is that they are less likely to get into foul trouble.
Count me as totally perplexed as to whether not having Embiid helps or hurts the 76’ers.
I think it “hurts” them a little bit but it kind of ups the anarchy/chaos level of this game and that could potentially help the 76ers. With Embiid, there is deference towards him that has to happen and without him, Maxey and Edgecomb could potentially just go HAM. They can’t really keep up with us with Embiid when the game turns into a track meet but now they might be able to out run us.
I don’t know. It certainly adds an element of chaos that might work in their favor.
I do think if we take care of business tonight, though, it will show that this recent amazing play is real. I expect us to do that.
Embiid averaged 28/9/7 against the Celtics.
Let’s not go overboard here.
I mean, obviously if he’s injured or badly hobbled, he’s not the guy who played against the Celtics, but Celtics Embiid is eleventy billion times better that what Philly’s going to run out there tonight.
The thing with Philly was always whether they’d stay healthy and it looks like the answer to that is, at this stage, no.
I’m just guessing, Alan. But he doesn’t strike me as a “if I can play, I will play” kinda guy.
If he misses game 3 I’m definitely wrong.
If he comes back in game 3 looking 25% more nimble, I’m going to guess that my guess was correct. But I’m still just guessing.
I don’t think “can’t afford to go down 0-2” is a thing, though. The goal is to be 2-2, not 1-1. And resting him tonight could give them the best chance at getting there.
Nah
I could live with the whininess and foul-grifting if he also wasn’t so dirty, and if he hadn’t basically knocked Mitch out for an entire season through said dirtiness. As a result, I have a very hard time separating my feelings for Embiid the player with whoever he is as a human being with a family and friends and such.
Shams apparently said on Pat McAfee’s show that, “It’s gonna be at least this game.” At least.
The Celtics were small and they inexplicably chucked threes instead of attacking him.
It’s a real question here.
If he comes back in game 3 looking 25% more nimble
He couldn’t move laterally on defence.Team said it is a hip issue, which does not fix itself inside of a week.
One small worry is that the Knicks were so prepared to carve out the Sixers, I wonder if they have had enough time to think about the Embiid-less Sixers and plan for it.
I mean, they should have, because it’s Embiid and he misses games, but it adds a wrinkle.
It’s kind of telling that Embiid had the appendectomy and then the overextended knee, and yet is missing time because of two totally different injuries.
Mr. 2025, it’s because I was born again in the light of Hubert. Upon this rock we shall build his church. You probably wouldn’t know anything about such a redemption arc.
Speaking of which: Hubie, would you mind just going ahead and revealing tonight’s result? It would save us some suspense.
I don’t want to overstate it here, but Embiid really did get endlessly roasted defensively in game one. It was a defensive nightmare, like having Eddy Curry as your center or something. There’s just no way to hide him.
Even when healthy Embiid’s game is kind of an eyesore with the foul baiting. Clearly he is a talented player, but he is one of the most annoying players to watch in the entire NBA. You have to beat not just him, but also his bullshit.
The 76ers are big on using bullshit to try to win games, and one of their best bullshit generators can’t play now. They’ll have to rely more on basketball, less on bullshit. Advantage Knicks.
I’m a little annoyed that all of a sudden the Knicks have as close to a must win game as can happen at this point in a series.
Catch me outside, Doogie
Yeah, this is my worry. Like over the course or a season or 20 games, Philly is obviously better with Embiid than without. But for one game in a playoff series, especially if he is really hurt, they might be better without him and it kind of ups the chaos level to this game and takes away a little of our control and game planning for it. So it could help Philly steal a game, which would be bad if Hubs is correct and he’s just sitting it out to be better rested for game 3.
Having to game plan for 2 different versions of a team that plays very differently based on who is available is an annoying thing for us in a series.
I still think we can take care of business though.
Why does Embiid being out make this a must-win? So we don’t ‘waste’ his absence?
Seriously though how did the Celtics spend three games chucking 40 footers instead of attacking Embiid?
I thought they paid Thibs to explain this to them.
I’m so bummed we didn’t get to play those fools.
FWIW Vegas seems to think Embiid sitting helps us out substantially. Spread was Knicks -7.5 this morning and it’s now -10.5, same as the Spurs’ edge over the Wolves.
LOL Yes, Hubert, I know it’s not just me. But that doesn’t help me in changing my username, or in figuring out why I cannot do so. 🙂
Worrying about the impact of Embiid not playing is a champagne problem.
I used to dream about times like these.
Yes?
Doogie you have to change your nickname. Then you can select a new display name from the dropdown.
But that doesn’t make any sense unless you think sitting out today means he comes back in improved condition for Game 3, which doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny. If anything, it’s a bad indicator for his ability to play in Game 3.
If we were Sixers fans we sure wouldn’t be thinking “Sweet! Embiid being banged up now heralds improved performance for Game 3,’ would we?
There we go. Dunno who made it so that I could suddenly have access to editing my profile (Hubert, that couldn’t have been you, right?), but if anyone did anything so that I could, thank you so much!
Welcome to the board, Knicks in ’26. How did you find us?
A dear friend of mine told me that it was an interesting place to hang out. I’ve been a Knicks fan since ’78, so thought I’d check it out.
Transformation Week is now complete.
Sixers fans don’t feel real good about this, that’s for sure. They’re not very high on Bona, who they seem to think can’t catch the ball.
They’re not very optimistic about Embiid returning at all, nor are they very optimistic in general about having Embiid’s salary on the books.
The appendix bones connected to the hip bone, the hip bones connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bones connected the knee bone… mostly he’s just a raging wanker.
“ I thought they paid Thibs to explain this to them.”
They payed Thibs to tell them how to expose get KAT in foul trouble.
yep, my first thought exactly…
It’s definitely better for Embiid to be out, but the Sixers could catch us napping with a hot shooting night. PG is still slow, but they’ll be a much faster team in transition without Embiid. That said, if we can pick their pockets like last game, we will probably be ok.
still making my way through today’s thread like an old hen looking for some juicy kernels…
before I forget though – doogie, if you could change your moniker, what would it be to?
oh yeah, be warned – every single time I type your name in a post auto-correct switches it up to: doggie…
just wanna be clear, if you ever see me calling you doggie, auto-correct did it…most likely…
Whenever we talked about the Sixers at the start of the year, we always say, “If healthy, but THEY WILL NEVER BE HEALTHY.”
And it continues to hold true. What a great piece of news. The Knicks were kicking their ass WITH him. WITHOUT him?! Holy fucking shit!
hopefully no 30 plus free throws for the sixers tonight…
yeah, maxey will definitely look to get loose, same thing with vj…
incoming vj max alert!!!
This is like when people used to say that the backup QB was the most important position on a football.
pretty sure it was mikal’s elbows that put embiid in street clothes for tonight…
he already came back quick from the appendectomy scare stuff…
not sure what to expect on friday…hopefully they all give up, roll over, wave bye, book summer plans…
and, thank goodness I still got espn…who, got to give credit where credit is due carries the MLB network stuff…
i’m sorta looking forward to july and being back in to baseball…
By 9:00 PM, Tyler Kolek and Mo Diawara will be hoisting threes…Get ready for more of the same. Recency biased be damned, Knicks winning by 40 points again.
I don’t remember where I read it, but apparently they ran a ton of P&R at Embiid, and created open 3s from them (which missed). Brunson’s weapon is his ability to hit from middle range in a very particular way, which Boston wasn’t as well equipped to do.
Nice to have Nerlens Noel or Jared Jeffries playing on the other team for once (OAKAAK).
Watching the last couple of Boston losses, they just fucking choked, plain and simple.
I really feel like Boston’s 3PT barrage against Philly is just what Mazzulla wants to do. In Udoku’s last year in Boston they were 8th in 3PAr in the regular season. In the 4 years since, they’ve finished 2nd, 1st, 1st (by a mile), and 4th. And that 4th place finish probably has more to do with replacing their 3PT shooting bigs with non-shooting bigs this offseason.
Yeah, they’ll be definitely adding a shooting big this offseason.
Nikola Vucevic, come on down!
The only way I think Embiid being out can be a positive for the Sixers is that his possessions are not exactly conducive to continuity. It’s an endless loop of standing around watching him post up, and stoppages of play that mean more standing around watching him shoot FTs. Then players have to constantly cover for his defensive woes.
Embiid had his way vs. Boston because they employed a certified scrub (Garza), a limited big who kills their 5-out signature offense(Queta) and a terrible defensive big who stretches the floor but at great cost (Vuc). His legs were also kind of fresh from not playing for a couple of weeks. But once the games and minutes piled up in short order (he played 34, 39, 34, and 39 minutes in the four games after he came back) he started breaking down. And now he is facing two legit bigs on a team that runs several offenses at a high level.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is being rested strictly for rest and recovery purposes in the hope that his injuries calm down, and whether he plays in game 3 will come down to whether the Sixers can somehow grind out a win tonight. They simply must win one of the next 2 games to have a shot, so if they lose tonight all the eggs will be dumped into the game 3 basket. But if the Sixers win tonight, I am guessing that they will rest him again in game 3.
One hidden benefit of playing even a hobbled Embiid with the Sixers as currently constituted is that he slows the game way down with his playstyle and endless free throws and lessens the impact of having only six other NBA players. This enables the other six to sustain higher minutes loads than they would otherwise.
Without him they can play faster, but even Maxey and Edgecombe don’t have infinite stamina, and guys like Drummond and George will definitely be running on empty down the stretch.
Boston is suddenly in a relatively favorable cap position. They will have $21+M in first apron space and have team options on Queta and Walsh on minimum deals. They can easily unload Hauser and Garza to create more space. They will definitely be wheeling and dealing this offseason.
There’s a lot of Giannis to Boston smoke, with Jaylen Brown going to Atlanta, and picks to the Bucks (Atlanta has New Orleans’ pick this year and Milwaukee’s pick next year). I actually like that more for Atlanta than Boston. You put Brown with Johnson, Okongwu, Daniels, and NAW… that’s a damn good team.
All the more reason for the Knicks to make shit happen in this playoffs. THIS IS THE YEAR.
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