April 19, 2024
Vincent Carchietta/USA Today
The Sixers and Knicks will meet in the playoffs for the first time in 35 years.
On Saturday evening, the Sixers will be at the hollowed grounds of Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. You'd think the Sixers and Knicks would have a more natural rivalry given the proximity of the respective cities, but they've rarely been good at the same time (if good at all...).
This will be the first playoff meeting between the Sixers and Knicks since 1989 when the Knicks pulled off a sweep in a best-of-five series.
Before the action tips off, the PhillyVoice sports staff will make their predictions for the series:
Series take: This is going to be an absolute dogfight from beginning to end. The Sixers have been making a concerted effort to increase their physicality all season long. There may not be a single NBA team that relishes doing dirty work as much as these Knicks. Both teams have offensive firepower, but this will likely be a series remembered for slow, methodical games that go down to the wire.
When two teams are as evenly-matched as these two on paper in a playoff series, my inclination is to side with whichever team has the best player. There is no question that that guy belongs to the Sixers: reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid. But the Knicks' ability to play as a cohesive unit, their larger sample size of success compared to the new-look Sixers and their massive home-court advantage all give me pause.
I do not feel strongly about either team winning this series. The only thing I feel strongly about is that the series is going to be as close as it gets. If I am being forced to make a choice (it appears I am!), I will go with the team who I have a bit more faith in maximizing their potential.
Prediction: Knicks in seven.
Series take: I have a $20 bet with my cousin Josh, a lifelong tortured Knicks fan who still fantasizes about the what-if Patrick Ewing era. The Sixers, in my opinion, have the two best players in the series — I know Jalen Brunson is an All-NBA player but I think I'd take Tyrese Maxey over the Nova product. Joel Embiid is getting more into a groove, and there will be built in rest in between games. I think the Sixers are the better team and the Knicks will continue to be snakebitten.
Prediction: Sixers in six.
Series take: Jalen Brunson is an All-NBA player, but this series feels like a team with star power against one that's a collection of junkyard dogs that gel so well together. Joel Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, is an all-time talent and clearly the best player in this series. Tyrese Maxey has a chance to go beyond his first All-Star Game nod and truly make a name for himself on the national stage.
The Knicks, conversely, are going to beat the crap out of you on the boards while the Villanova dudes hit clutch shot after clutch shot. Josh Hart will have Sixers fans pulling their hair out with offensive rebounds. Jalen Brunson is destined to drop 40 at least one time in Philly.
Still, the Sixers have the coaching advantage with Nick Nurse and, again, the No. 1 player in the matchup and, really, two of the top three.
It's going to go the distance.
Prediction: Sixers in seven.
Series take: This one's going to take the Sixers getting their hands dirty quite possibly more than this era of the team has ever had to. I think they're going to be willing to match the Knicks on that level of physicality, and in the first round, outright talent is often the trump card, which Philly wins with between Embiid and Maxey.
What really scares me is after. If this series ends up as tough as we're expecting it to, then Embiid is going to take his bumps and won't leave the series unscathed, which for me leaves the threat of another playoff injury and the second-round wall still looming large.
It's never really been the first round that's been the problem for the Embiid-era Sixers. It's always the shape they're in leaving it, and what comes after.
And I don't know if Nick Nurse fixes that.
Prediction: Sixers in seven.
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