The 76ers lost to the Knicks three times during the regular season, being outscored by 71 points in the four meetings. In the only game featuring Joel Embiid, the Sixers fell to a 36-point loss, their worst of the season. Philly is a better team now and has Embiid back in action, but these are not reasons to take New York lightly.
“I think they’re real,” Nick Nurse said. “I think they’re really good. I think they’re fast. I think they can shoot. I think they hit the glass. I think they protect you. I think they earned that seed. They played really well and beat a lot of good teams. So we’ll have our work to do here over the next couple of days to prepare for them.
The Knicks are without All-Star forward Julius Randle, but they still have a deep team that excels on both ends of the court. OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo are experienced athletic wings who complement Jalen Brunson, one of the hardest players to guard in all of basketball. Isaiah Hartenstein, Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa provide the muscle from down low. New York has more depth with sharpshooters Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks and burgeoning backup point guard Miles McBride.