A Game 1 stinker for the Sixers against the Knicks? It wasn’t ideal, but the Sixers have rebounded from such losses already in the postseason and, in defiance of how I’ve looked at this team for so long, I have confidence they will again. Before they have a chance to do so in Game 2, here’s a fresh “5 Sixers thoughts” column from me…
Let it rip, Tyrese
Tyrese Maxey was a godsend as a late-game closer in the Sixers’ series win over the Celtics, but, even in acknowledging the magnitude of that performance and that upset,
I wish he was more aggressive early in games. In that Game 1 shellacking at Madison Square Garden, Maxey attempted just one first-quarter shot. It was over at halftime.
In Game 7 against Boston, he had three first-quarter shots, tied for the fewest among the Sixers’ five starters.
I know all these guys, Maxey included, were likely gassed to start the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It’s why I’m cutting this group way more slack than I could’ve ever dreamed for a Sixers team that got run off the court in the playoffs like this, but I want to see Maxey not wait until the 11th hour to take over. Sixers fans everywhere know he has it in him.
Tiki Barber sounds like an absolute clown yet again
Tiki Barber, the former New York Giant who now works as a host at WFAN in New York, their equivalent of WIP, has a penchant for letting his mouth run. When former Giants running back Saquon Barkley signed with the Eagles during the 2024 NFL offseason, Barber stated, “He’s dead to us now.” Barkley responded by having perhaps the greatest running back season in football history while hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, something that Barber never did in his own career.
Anyway, Barber is at it again. After Joel Embiid took a shot from Mikal Bridges on a screen in Game 1, the big fella was dealing with some abdominal pain, certainly a concern as he recovers from appendicitis. After the game, Embiid remarked, “I just felt like it wasn’t necessary, but we move on. It’s playoff basketball. So, if that’s the reality of it, I guess we have to go out there and be physical, too, and do it, too.
On his radio show on Tuesday morning, Barber went after Embiid.
“If it was that bad, then don’t play,” Barber said about the Sixers center’s injuries. “It’s part of the risk of playing when you’re hurt,” Barber later said. “So, stop being a b***h.”
Barber, who fumbled the ball 35 times between the 2000 and 2003 seasons and whose Giants won the Super Bowl immediately after he retired, could have his comments come back to bite him. Embiid has proven what he can do on the court no matter his health. I would not be shocked to see him go off on a 35-point, near-triple-double tear in a Wednesday win after this.
The Adem Bona Experience
I love the energy Adem Bona has, but…
The backup center rotation behind Joel Embiid for nearly a decade continues to be, uh, something.
Shooting variance tells the tale of the modern NBA
That’s only a surface-level take, yes, but it was apparent during the Sixers’ seven-game battle with Boston and was once more in Game 1 against New York. The Knicks aren’t going to shoot 51 percent from three this whole series. Things will ebb and flow. I remain unbothered by how Monday night played out and am ready for the Sixers to fight back with a vengeance on Wednesday evening.
How is this guy still talking?
The Celtics were eliminated over the weekend. Please log off, Jaylen Brown.
