May 01, 2024
Brad Penner/USA Today Sports
The Sixers are in uncharted territory, surprising both their own fan base and New Yorkers with a wild comeback win.
Philadelphia fans are a fatalistic bunch. The Phillies are the losingist organization in the history of organized sports. The Flyers are struggling for the slightest relevance. Eagles fans dealt with decades of division rivals screaming about their empty Super Bowl trophy case. There are people who can legally drink who weren't alive the last time the Sixers made the Eastern Conference Finals.
It's deserved.
That's what makes the Sixers' Game 5 win over the Knicks so bizarre. After playing hot potato offensively in high-leverage moments this series and being thoroughly out-muscled with poor effort on the boards, rolling over and giving up was assumed to be the Sixers' prerogative at Madison Square Garden. Knicks fans had invaded South Philadelphia this past weekend and taken over Wells Fargo Center in embarrassing fashion. The vibes were in the dump. Tuesday night's "feels like a loss" transpired exactly that way until the final seconds when Tyrese Maxey kept the team's season alive for at least two more days.
This was the least Sixers thing that could possibly happen. A lead guard dominating in the world's most famous arena, dropping 46 points and making the likes of Jon Stewart, Ben Stiller and Tracy Morgan all go home unhappy? He's a true New York City villain now. Bullseye. Snatching victories from the jaws of defeat? Tobias Harris making high-IQ plays and doing the little things necessary as the Sixers' pseudo third star? A gassed Joel Embiid playing 48 out of a possible 53 minutes and looking like Hakeem Olajuwon defensively in overtime? This is the playoff Sixers we're talking about. This isn't the re-run of postseason flameouts the city has been accustomed to for the last seven seasons!
maxey had jon stewart shook lmao pic.twitter.com/D1ogD0OHTt
— buckets (@buckets) May 1, 2024
The Sixers are still in a 3-2 hole. The margin for error is slimmer than ever. Things roll back to South Philly for Game 6 on Thursday night, which has a bonkers 9 p.m. start time. More time for NYC executives to get out of their business meetings are taking the train down or more time for Sixers fans to get well-lubricated like it's the 2017 NFC Championship Game all over again? We'll know soon.
For any Sixers fan who's flying high right now and soaking up what, in the moment, is the most emotionally cathartic win of the Embiid era, hats off to you. Sports are supposed to be fun and, for at least a single evening, the Sixers suspended disbelief that they were dead in the water and perhaps they could ride the two-man game of Embiid and Maxey (or is it Maxey and Embiid?) into a historic 3-1 comeback.
Doubting all of this is a viable thought process, too. The most Sixers thing possible would be to win the "no one believes in us" game in NYC, come back home and then proceed to lay an egg. The "seeing is believing" approach until the Sixers finally suit up for an Eastern Conference Finals game is the most rational of philosophies.
I would not bet on the Sixers to win this series. Betting on losing dogs, however, has always been the Philadelphia way. Why change it up this week just because a bunch of tech bros who wear Jalen Brunson jerseys over Ralph Lauren polos with Alo hats are coming to town? Go out with dignity. That applies to the fan base and the team in equal parts.
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