Knicks 105, 76ers 91: Good riddance to roundball rubbish
Roses are red/the Knicks are our fave/let’s all take a moment/to dance on Philly’s grave
Including last night’s 105-91 win and last year’s playoffs, the New York Knicks have won 11 of 14 games against the Philadelphia 76ers. For a long stretch last decade, it was the other way around, with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons routinely toying with Knick teams led by the likes of Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox. That may sound like a slander of the ex-Knicks. It’s meant to spotlight what’s going on in Philadelphia, namely: what the @#$% is going on in Philadelphia?
You may recall Ntilikina was going to be the perfect follow-up to Kristaps Porziňģis, a defensive-oriented guard whose primary interests on offense were sharing the ball and being handsome while doing so. I used to write that he might end up New York’s Andre Iguodala. As for Knox, well, you know how the Finals MVP is now the Bill Russell Award, ‘cuz the league wants people to think that’s who people associate with Finals MVPs? They may as well have re-named the Summer League The Kevin Knox League, such was his dominance in that setting. And yet while Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau inherited both players, both top-10 lottery picks, neither saw much run or lasted very long at MSG after, once it was obvious the landscape had changed and the Knicks had a real team in place.
Which brings us to last night’s losers, and in one sense the league’s biggest losers the past decade – no worries; this isn’t another Process critique, though as long as Embiid is a 76er and they still harbor dreams of a championship there will always be that through line. You may have noticed a decided lack of Embiid on the court. And Paul George. And Tyrese Maxey. The only Sixers to play last night who were part of last year’s playoff series between these teams were Kyle Lowry and Ricky Council IV (not to be confused with Ricky Council I, II or III). Last night’s loss dropped Philadelphia 30 games below .500, where they haven’t been since they wrapped up the 2015-16 season at 10-72, before Ntilikina or Knox were names Knick fans had ever heard of.
Last night the Knicks won despite being without Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Some of that was due to OG Anunoby, who had another big scoring night (27 points) as well as the probable Knick dunk of the year.
Plenty to go around; have seconds.
The Knicks also won in large part due to the largest available Knick. In Mitchell Robinson’s second start since returning to the roster, he played his best game in 17 months with 14 points, 14 boards (7 offensive) and two blocks, all in just 20 minutes. Tonight and later this month the Knicks play the Cavaliers on the back-end of a back-to-back, meaning Mitch won’t play against them tonight and might not in the final meeting. Would love to see how the Knicks look fully-loaded against this year’s flavor of the month, but if they’re not able to bust out that lineup until the conference finals it’s allllll good. Robinson didn’t just look great, he looked joyful. Loose. Mitch is the longest-tenured Knick. His impact on the team is three-dimensional, if not more. Happy, hooping Mitch is an absolute vision to see in April.
The Knicks magic number to clinch the third spot is down to three, with they and the Pacers both having seven games left. When they host whomever their first-round foe is, New York will enjoy homecourt advantage for the fifth time in six series under Thibs. For all their losing and gamesmanship, all their clever duckiness, the Sixers have played a dozen playoff series since 2018, six with homecourt and six without. You may remember what the last one without sounded like.
While the 76ers have endured a year from hell – one fully deserved after co-signing Embiid’s attempted assault of Mitch last year followed by inexplicably giving Donte DiVincenzo shit afterwards. My whole life until last spring, I’ve always rooted for the Sixers. Charles Barkley was fun. Jeff Hornacek was a terrific player for them. Manute Bol. Charles Shackelford. Allen Iverson. Dikembe Mutombo. Iguodala. Young Jrue Holiday. Young Jimmy Butler. Even young Embiid and Simmons were exciting. But just like the Yankees lost me in 2000 when they defended Roger Clemens and victim-blamed Mike Piazza, Embiid’s lazy thuggery coupled with Nick Nurse’s Eric Cartman-like victim complex turned me off to them completely. Now when I see their struggles, I savor that ass-whupping.
And while the Knicks look toward another playoff run into May, the 76ers are left with the question voiced at the start of this piece – what the @#$% are they up to? Embiid and George are owed a combined $400 million the next three years. They’ve lost 26 of 30 games and still aren’t a lock to keep their top-six protected draft pick, which otherwise goes to Oklahoma City. Their biggest pleasant surprise of the season, rookie Jared McCain, had an early Rookie of the Year campaign cut short in mid-December after suffering a meniscus tear in his left knee, costing him the rest of the year. OAKAAKUYOAK Quentin Grimes has been a revelation in the city of Brotherly Love (and yet another reminder of how clueless the dolts running Dallas are, having traded him for the older, pricier Caleb Martin), scoring 22 a game on efficient shooting to go along with 4-5 rebounds and assists. Will the Sixers be able to retain the restricted free agent? Will another team be able to pay him more? What exactly is the plan?
Do they run it back next year, praying that somehow after another year of aging and injury Embiid and George are somehow miraculously healthier going forward? Tyrese Maxey already got his bag; how long does he give the front office to turn things around before he shows some wanderlust? Even if the front office wants to blow it all up and start over, build around Maxey – how do you do that when Embiid and George are likely to be two of the worst big contracts in the league the next 3-4 years?
Not my problem. Neither is the injury-depleted Sixers getting their asses handed to them yet again anoche. Many years ago, the Knicks had a plan. It didn’t work, so they made a new one, one that’s involved competing as honestly and consistently as possible. It’s earned them respect around the league and more playoff experience than the Cavs. It’s led players to look at what’s happening at 33rd and 8th and say “I wanna be a part of that.”
Many years ago, the Sixers had a plan: throw away five years of games. All these years later, the Knicks have a puncher’s chance while the Sixers, perchance, are chumps. They used to be New York’s tormentors; now they’re a free W on the schedule. Embiid hasn’t been played since just after the All-Star break. George has been out a month. Nick Nurse is still around, still a wretched sight on the sideline, looking like someone who voted for Donald Trump and is confused that under the Cognitive Decline in Chief, it’s not just “the right people” being made to suffer, but the Nick Nurses, too. Nurse had nothing but conspiracy theories and contempt for the Knicks beating his team last year. May flights of demons wing him to a wicked, tortured rest as he tries to figure out what wrong in 2025.
As for the Knicks, they visit the Cavs tonight. No Mitch and possibly no Towns, so despite all the hype the game will generate this might be another mostly irrelevant contest. Still, I’ll be there watching, rooting for a meaningless late-season win. Must be what being a Sixers fan feels like.
