In the first official playoff game of the season for the 2023-24 Sixers, they went up to Madison Square Garden for a Saturday evening contest against the 50-win New York Knicks, who earned the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed. In a game that perhaps evoked just as many emotions as the last, the Sixers ultimately fell short, with the Knicks taking the first game of the first-round series by a score of 111-104. 

Here is what jumped out from Game 1:

Joel Embiid's opening statement

The Sixers ultimately survived Embiid's sloppy and mostly brutal performance in their Play-In Tournament win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. But it was clear just about from the outset that Embiid was not going to bring anything resembling his best against Miami, and it dragged down the entire team. Granted, most of Embiid's teammates also performed poorly early in that game, but in big games, teams want their superstars to set the tone.

That is exactly what Embiid did Saturday night.

After the Knicks scored the first three points of the game on a triple from Josh Hart, Embiid countered by quickly staging a personal 9-0 run. The reigning NBA MVP knocked down a three-pointer of his own from the top of the key and converted a ridiculous, acrobatic and-one finish over Isaiah Hartenstein on a drive, before punishing OG Anunoby and converting an and-one over him in the post.

There were a lot of concerns about Embiid entering this game and series – rightfully so. Embiid has had his fair share of playoff struggles and letdowns. He is still dealing with the knee injury that kept him out for more than two months and flared up a couple of weeks back when the Sixers hosted the Orlando Magic near the end of the regular season.

The results of the first few minutes of a game, let alone an entire game, do not automatically represent what the remainder of a series will look like for any player or team in any series. But given all of the skepticism surrounding Embiid in recent days, it is safe to say the entire Sixers team breathed a sigh of relief when he dominated early.

Opening matchups

Teams oftentimes switch their defensive matchups, schemes and strategies several times within a playoff game, and many more within a playoff series. But how teams line up matchup-wise in Game 1 of a series is usually a decent indicator of what they feel like their best look is.

As expected, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau went with Anunoby as his primary defender of Tyrese Maxey – despite being a relatively large wing, Anunoby's foot speed makes him their most conceivably apt solution to counter Maxey and his tremendous athleticism. Donte DiVincenzo took the Kelly Oubre Jr. assignment, while All-Star guard Jalen Brunson manned fellow Villanova product Kyle Lowry, Josh Hart defended Tobias Harris and Hartenstein manned Embiid. No surprises.

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's initial defensive alignment was nothing to be shocked by, either. Brunson was defended by Oubre, while Maxey defended DiVincenzo, Lowry took on Hart, Harris manned Anunoby and Embiid wrestled with Hartenstein down low. It is worth noting, however, that once Play-In Tournament Hero Nic Batum checked into the game, he took over the Brunson assignment, with Oubre sliding over to the wing.

Deja vu arrives with Embiid on the bench... no fault of BBall Paul

Embiid played the entire first quarter, and once the buzzer sounded, the Sixers owned a healthy lead of nine points. Within two minutes and 32 seconds of Embiid's customary early-second quarter rest beginning, the Knicks had tied the game. 

The Sixers' offense was obviously not the same without the dominant force that is Embiid on the floor, who poured in 15 points to go with three rebounds and a pair of assists in the game's opening 12 minutes. Their defense wasn't the same either. That, combined with some big shots early in the quarter from Knicks role players Bojan Bogdanovic and Miles "Deuce" McBride, allowed the Knicks to make major inroads.

In the past, though, the Sixers' struggles with Embiid off the floor in the playoffs have been associated with a lackluster backup center. But the days of Greg Monroe and Boban Marjanovic are over. Paul Reed has spent years now establishing himself as a viable backup. Despite the team's poor overall performance with him on the floor in the first half, the fourth-year athletic big may have been the only one lifting the team up during that time. His defense was stellar, and on two different occasions, he rebounded Sixers misses and scored second-chance baskets.

Harris' struggles continue in the first half

On his first touch of the game, the Sixers' starting wing who is playing the final games of an infamous five-year, $180 million contract knocked down a corner three. After a frustrating performance against Miami, which featured brutal misses and even more brutal mistakes, perhaps Harris was ready to start the playoffs on the right foot.

Yeah, right. 

Harris' recent stretch of poor play quickly picked back up. Despite his early triple and four first-quarter rebounds, he committed two turnovers in the first half and entered intermission with only those three points to his name on a 1-4 shooting line. He committed three fouls, giving Nurse a convenient excuse (which he no longer actually needs) to sit him for the final seven minutes or so of the half.

Embiid goes down and a Knicks run ensues to end a disastrous second quarter

With just under three minutes remaining in the first half and the Knicks leading by five, Embiid duped Mitchell Robinson with a pump-fake, threw the ball off the glass, and slammed it home over Anunoby to cut the lead to three. It was both a brilliant and impressive move by Embiid, but when he landed, he did so in pain. Embiid grabbed at his left knee – the same one in which he suffered the aforementioned meniscus tear that held him out for more than two months – fell to the floor and needed a minute to be helped to his feet before gingerly walking under his own power back to the locker room.

With Embiid on the ground, the Knicks had a numbers advantage that led to an easy dunk for Anunoby that brought their lead back to five with two minutes and 37 seconds left in the half before Nurse called timeout so his superstar center could be attended to. 

And down their biggest star, the Sixers went to the locker room themselves trailing by a dozen, 58-46, at the break.

The Sixers got decimated in the second quarter, allowing 33 points to a Knicks team that suddenly got hot from beyond the arc while scoring only 12 themselves. And perhaps the most damaging points for the Sixers were two of the dozen they scored themselves, as Embiid went down while finishing what would have been a highlight reel-worthy moment.

Embiid's stunning, lighting-quick return

The halftime clock was well below a minute, and Embiid was nowhere to be found. Paul Reed was in full uniform and on the floor, ready to open the second half as the Sixers' center. Suddenly, with under 30 seconds left on that clock, Embiid emerged from the locker room. Seconds after that, he was on the floor, taking a shot on the Sixers' first possession of the third quarter. Embiid played all but the final three seconds of the third quarter.

Embiid is criticized for a lot of reasons, and sometimes it is fair. The constant microscope he is under comes with the territory when you are as good of a player as he is. But, as his near-instant return under brutal circumstances highlights, his toughness and desire to win simply cannot be questioned at this point.

Does Embiid have it in him to be the guy who leads the Sixers to a championship? Time will tell. But he is ready, willing, and able to die trying.

Lowry gives the Sixers a major lift in the third quarter

The Knicks boasted a 14-point lead fewer than 90 seconds into the third quarter. It felt like the Sixers may already be on the ropes, even with Embiid back on the floor. Then the 38-year old Lowry left his stamp on the game in a major way. 

First, Lowry knocked down a corner triple. Then he picked off an errant Knicks pass, went down the court and converted an and-one, before knocking down another triple. All of this happened in under 200 seconds of game time.

Just a few moments later, Lowry drew a three-point shooting foul on Hartenstein and knocked down all three free throws. About five minutes after trailing by 14, the Sixers had come all the way back to tie the game, and their massive run was largely powered by the veteran guard they acquired on the buyout market.

The Sixers ultimately outscored the Knicks 36-21 in the third quarter, by far their best 12-minute stretch of the night.

Sixers fall short after fourth-quarter offensive struggles

The Sixers' first quarter in this game was excellent and in the third quarter, they were even better. But their second-quarter performance was horrific, and they needed to account for that in the fourth quarter. They did not.

Nearly every play the Sixers ran on offense down the stretch of this game was an Embiid post-up. But between Embiid's hobbled nature and tremendous defense from Robinson, their offense stalled in a major way, while the Knicks' offense was able to get things done thanks to a clutch three from Anunoby and multiple from Hart. 

The Sixers have a decent amount of positive signs they can take away from this one. But despite two monstrous quarters, Embiid apparently avoiding significant injury, and a weak 8-26 shooting performance from Brunson, they find themselves trailing in this series, 1-0.

Game 2 is Monday night back at MSG.