The Knicks left Philly shooters wide open quite a bit at the three point line.. Philly didn't have anywhere close to the shooters Boston does, IMO, but I guess we'll see how they defend Indiana.
edit: also wonder how much Hart's knee is hurt.
2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (2) New York Knicks vs (7) Philadelphia 76ers - The Danse Macabre
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edit: also wonder how much Hart's knee is hurt.
I’d say 5-4-6-7 in order of likelihood. Celtics just have a much larger margin of error.
Holy shit.
My wife has barely watched any NBA before this series and thought that Nick Nurse was medical personnel for NY, understandably.
I thought it was crazy to not have Achiuwa pound on Embiid for 15 minutes but it worked. Barely.
More later.
My wife has barely watched any NBA before this series and thought that Nick Nurse was medical personnel for NY, understandably.
I thought it was crazy to not have Achiuwa pound on Embiid for 15 minutes but it worked. Barely.
More later.
What can they do? Sign or acquire the best player they can with cap space; re-sign Maxey to a max extension; fill out the roster; and hope for the best.
It's going to be hard for the Knicks to muck things up against Indy like they did with Philly. If you're Indy just play with a ton of pace and tire out the 7-man rotation? The Knicks bigs will definitely be forced into defending at a whole different speed.
I've hated the Philly hoops teams since Wilt came into the league but I almost feel sorry for 76er fans. They have dealt with some shit for years
Also a few things I have been wanting to say all series but did not want to jinx either:
Is Hield really that bad defensively that he can't get any minutes on this team? (Unclear but some serious shooting tonight)
Holy shit Tobias Harris is so bad! 0 points in 29 minutes in an elimination game tonight! (Very accurate, thankfully)
Harris will be an instant bad deal this summer, pretty much whatever it is.
Is Hield really that bad defensively that he can't get any minutes on this team? (Unclear but some serious shooting tonight)
Holy shit Tobias Harris is so bad! 0 points in 29 minutes in an elimination game tonight! (Very accurate, thankfully)
Harris will be an instant bad deal this summer, pretty much whatever it is.
Crazy postseason. That Milwaukee, Philly, GS, LAL are all out- while teams like OKC, Indy, Minny, NYK, Cleveland / Orlando march on feels wild, if not surprising. Whole new era and mix of teams.
I dunno. Knicks play fantastic D and get tons of extra possessions. Add in an elite scorer, and I think that's a very tough team to beat. Thibs might play them into an injury or two before a potential ECF, however.
The Knicks are scrappy and small. My goodness, the length difference at every position vs. the Celtics will jump off the screen especially if KP is back. The Knicks are a nice story.
Certainly in recent memory. The Celtics starters played 215 minutes in Game 4 of the 1987 finals (the baby skyhook game) - that’s the highest I’ve seen kicking around bbref for a few minutes.
They might not. Or they might find they can use the cap space on someone else who is better. No one thought -least of all Paul I’m sure - that PHI wouldn’t advance pass first round.
Enjoy the Motor City Tobias.
Over the last 5 seasons, there was never a moment, I ever worried that Tobias Harris would burn the C's.
Close but no cigar within Knicks playoff history, Game 3 of 1971 saw 222 combined minutes. I'm pretty sure that's the 48-minute Knicks record. 1972 East Semis Game 4 saw 215 as well. Yes, I made sure no OT applied.
As part of a larger point, this reminds me of how weird it was that it was an emphasis by both the graphics and Eagle beyond the usual norm of how the Sixer bench was dominating scoring, as a contrast between the two units. Well, yeah, basic logic there, not even math, if the bench is playing, they can't be scoring.
God this series was good, neutrally. True throwback, loved how physical it was. Hope a rematch happens next spring.
It got them an Embiid / Ben Simmons / Jimmy Butler core. They just pissed it away, first to not keep Jimmy, second to get Harden, third to send him back out again.
Gotta judge The Process by 5 years ago, not its shattered remains today. If Simmons wasn't a flake or they made less stupid decisions, they might've actually been a contendah.
damn. There's oldschool, and then there's Bill Belichick-level, "I've seen literally everything" oldschool.
Brunson averaged 42 and 12 in the three games in Philly, and he has so little help offensively. It’s a little like the Iverson Sixers who made the Finals, awesome team D and a stellar offensive PG who doesn’t get much help on that end.
Brunson sat for 2 minutes in the 4th and came back into a tie game with 6:38 left. They showed that he had 27 points at the time, and I guessed to my wife that he'd end up with 39. He actually ended with 41, 14 in the final 6:38.
There was something subtly hilarious about watching the game knowing both coaches would be determined not to repeat the mistakes of G5 by failing to get their star any rest down the stretch... but then seeing how badly each team sagged in the few minutes that Brunson/Embiid sat.
Feel badly for the Philly fan owner at our dog park. On a whim, he bought aftermarket tickets and drove all the way down to Philly from northeast Bergen county (granted, it's not THAT long of a drive) for this game.
To be faIr, this is predicated on the long-standing notion that if something happens outside of New York City then it doesn't really count. The Harvard of cities in that regard.
Hart played 278 of 293 minutes in the series. 2.5 minutes of rest per game. He played the full 53 minutes in one game, and full 48 in another.
16.8/12.3/4.5 while shooting 43% from downtown. Only hit 38% of his 2’s against Philly so expect both those percentages to normalize next round. Perfect glue guy for this team.
Josh Hart echoed this (source):
“It’s always funny because you see especially now during the playoffs, everybody is playing 40 minutes. Some people can’t do it,” Hart said. “Some people go from 34 to 41 and they don’t have the energy.
“It’s something we’ve had to deal with throughout the whole season.”
I'm sure Thibs probably gets a short-term boost for riding his guys this hard for 1/2 season but it can't be good for their careers.(I'm also sure that Hart's pre-game diet as described in that article - caffine and Mike & Ikes - doesn't help for longevity.
)
And USMNT right-back Sergiño Dest's pregame routine involves eating an entire french baguette. Pro athletes are idiosyncratic weirdos sometimes.(I'm also sure that Hart's pre-game diet as described in that article - caffine and Mike & Ikes - doesn't help for longevity.
Frankly, well-adjusted, even-tempered family-man Jayson Tatum is the weirdo for not being a weirdo.
Reminds me of the old Simmons contention that there are really only 5-7 competent (or better) GMs in the NBA at any given time.
For the record, I had no dislike for Embiid before this series, but he is an incredibly dirty player. He is constantly pushing guys while they are in the air and vulnerable, I think it's in part to protect his knee some but it's really dangerous.
Going from Hinkle to Mr Burner Account to Elton Brand is also a recipe for chaos. Changing strategy multiple times, when years into executing the previous strategy, has probably never worked in the history of business or sports, except maybe by accident. Like Pfizer with Viagra.
Crazy that Okafor (#3) and Fultz (#1) aren't even included in that list since they could have been part of that core if they were actually good. They had so many bites at the apple and still...
Simmons flaking was definitely a problem. But The Process baked in that not everyone was going to work out. Sometimes, the #1 overall pick is a Wembenyama or LeBron. Other times its Olowokandi or Anthony Bennett. It pays to be worse in some years than others, and then hope the balls bounce your way.
I haven't seen everything but I've seen a lot. I think I earned my diploma.
My first Celt memory was listening to the '58 Finals with my dad and seeing his disappointment when the Celts lost to the Hawks. But that game and the decade that followed got me hooked.
I've got a pretty good Wilt story. I'm pretty sure I posted it, I''ll see if I can dig it up.
EDIT The Wilt story from the 2019-2020 76ers thread
[QUOTE ="bankshot1, post: 3771870, member: 9"]
I got a Wilt story for you.
it was April 1967, the Eastern Conference Finals, Philly was up 1-0, and game 2 was a Sunday afternoon game on the parquet.
i snagged tickets early in the week (I went into the Garden box office, it used to be easy snagging C's tickets) in the 2nd balcony, and me and my buddy, took the T for the 40 minute trollley ride into the Garden to witness the latest battle between the Eastern conference rivals, and the match-up between Bill and Wilt.
As you surely recall that 76ers team was a monster, Wilt, Greer, Chet the Jet, Luke Jackson, Billy C, winning a then record 68 games, and favorites to finally dethrone the Celts.
Most details of that sad Sunday escape me, but as the 76ers were putting a strangle-hold on a 107-102 win and a 2-0 series lead, with the last few seonds ticking off the clock, Wilt took the ball and fist punched it straight up in the air, almost hitting the huge scoreboard that hovered over the court .
Disappointed and almost in shock with the home court loss, my buddy and I went to pinball arcade off the North Station lobby to kill time and let reality sink in before hopping the T back to the burbs. After dropping several dimes, we headed towards North Station lobby and to the subway, when I noticed I was walking in the shadow of a mountain. I looked up and saw a goateed covered chin what seemed like seeral feet above my head.
As I looked up, I said, "Good game Wilt""
He looked down and through the clouds, I heard a laugh, as he said,
"Good game?" Kid that was a great game"
And he was right as he strode off leaving me and the Cetls in his wake.
Wilt was going back to Philly up 2-0, secure in the knowledge he had a vice like grip on the series and now Bill and the Cs had to come to his house and win on his court.
That 76ers team was awesome.
[/QUOTE]
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0 points on just 2 FGA in 29 minutes. I don't think that is what the 76ers wanted from his $39M salary. Not sure if he was hurt but he really went out with a whimper. Wonder where he ends up next season.
42-5 difference in bench scoring in a close game with each team scoring in the 110s has to be some kind of record as well.
