May 03, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Josh Hart's go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds of Game 6 sunk the Sixers in their first-round series against the New York Knicks.
Around 10 minutes into a do-or-die Game 6 on their home floor against the New York Knicks, the Sixers reached a crossroads: were they going to roll over and exit the playoffs in embarrassing fashion like many of the prior six Sixers teams before them, or were they going to display the sort of mental and physical toughness that remind grizzled fans of their favorite teams and players in the franchise's storied history?
After five games of intense play where the teams were separated by just a few plays, the Sixers found themselves trailing the Knicks by 22 points — 33-11 — before the first quarter had even ended. The minds of many raced back to their Game 7 loss in Boston to end their second-round series against the Celtics last season. That day, the going got tough, and the Sixers threw in the towel.
The Sixers are, once again, headed home earlier than planned. They lost Game 6 to All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, 118-115. Their championship hopes remain just that: hopes, not reality.
But make no mistake about it: these Sixers fought. Until the final buzzer sounded, they did everything they could to force a Game 7 and keep their season alive for at least one more game. But when the chips were down, the Knicks were the better team, and the Sixers simply could not overcome the repeated clutch plays made on offense, defense and the glass by the likes of Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and a Knicks team that is without question here to stay.
To say there is no shame in all of this would be naive. No matter the circumstances, having a player as good as reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid and being eliminated in the first round is an abject failure. But unlike in many of the playoff exits the Sixers have endured over the last seven years, this is a team and an organization that has little to be embarrassed about.
"One thing I'll say is everyone in our locker room tried and played hard," Embiid said in a joint press conference with Tyrese Maxey after the season-ending loss. "Everyone in that locker room cared... I'm just proud of them."
Look at Embiid himself, battling through a severe knee injury and a diagnosis of Bell's palsy to score 39 points and grab 13 rebounds just to give the Sixers a fighting chance — the kind of gutsy performance that has often escaped him in his injury-riddled playoff career.
Look at Maxey, the 23 year-old who continues to blossom into a superstar, who saved the team's season two nights prior with the shot-making display of a lifetime in Game 5. It was not Maxey's sharpest night in Game 6, but he played a team-high 43 minutes, took an absolute beating all night long and just kept pushing.
Look at Buddy Hield, the prized trade deadline acquisition who scored just two points in the first three games of this series — the first playoff games of his eight-year NBA career — fell out of the rotation, and turned a surprise cameo into an epic second quarter in which he scored 17 points, knocked down five triples and had a sellout South Philadelphia crowd chanting "BUDDY" as the first half came to a close.
Look at Nic Batum, the early-season trade acquisition who has dealt with urgent family matters and several injuries throughout the season, the man who achieved cult hero status with his iconic Play-In Tournament performance against the Miami Heat, turning the clock back and scoring 16 points on seven shot attempts in what could be the final game of his impressive 16-year career.
Look at Nick Nurse, the Sixers' first-year head coach who came over from the rival Toronto Raptors and promised to instill a culture that the city of Philadelphia could be proud of. While his first year leading the Sixers ended in heartbreak, Nurse's team exuded the exact sort of resiliency he wanted it to show.
"I'm proud of them because they fought," Nurse said Thursday night. "That's all I've ever said is that when we get out there, we're going to fight no matter what the score is and how many guys are out or injured or whatever is going on. We got to go out there and fight. And they certainly did that in this series."
What comes next is unknown.
The majority of the players on the Sixers' roster are free agents, and next year's team could look a lot different. Maxey will technically be a free agent, but his free agency will be restricted — meaning the Sixers could match any offer he agreed to with another team — and he is expected to quickly agree to a five-year contract to remain in Philadelphia that can top out at $205 million: a well-deserved payday for the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2023-24. Other free-agents-to-be include Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre Jr., De'Anthony Melon, Kyle Lowry, Hield and Batum (who is expected to ponder retirement).
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey is expected to seek out any possible avenues to add another star-level talent to the All-Star duo of Embiid and Maxey, whether that happens via the team's significant projected cap space or the many trade assets they will be armed with once the summer begins.
"I like our guys," Embiid said. "They have a lot of decisions to make. I think the group of guys that we had this year were amazing, and I still believe if everything went right, we had a chance. But everything didn't go right."
Indeed they did not, and that leaves the Sixers in a familiar position: facing the backlash of a disappointing playoff exit, mulling potential pathways to adding another established star and still without an Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2001.
In many ways, things are the same as they have always been for this embattled organization. But this time around, the Sixers died an honorable death. That does not mean nothing.
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