NEW YORK (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers looked just as they did in their series against Boston.
The beginning of it anyway, when they were run off the floor in Game 1.
The 76ers made a huge comeback after that blowout to win the series and they will have to play from behind again in the Eastern Conference semifinals after the New York Knicks routed them 137-98 on Monday night.
“Same as last series. They don’t get any extra points for going up big tonight,”
76ers veteran Paul George said. “We’ll be ready for Game 2.”
Joel Embiid and the 76ers appeared on fumes while playing just two nights after winning Game 7 in Boston to complete the NBA's 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit. Coach Nick Nurse said before the game he didn't know what effect the short turnaround would have, saying sometimes it's better when a team is winning to just keep on playing.
But it didn't take long to see that wasn't the case.
“You can’t make excuses, that’s for sure,” Nurse said. “We knew it might be difficult, but you’re never going to go into the game and say this is going to happen. You've got to see it play out.”
The 76ers narrowly avoided the worst playoff loss in their franchise history, when they fell 121-81 to Boston in 1982. They came back to win that series, so perhaps that's a good omen on a bad night.
This comeback against the Celtics looked improbable after the Sixers lost Game 1 by 32 points, then lost by 32 again in Game 4, when Embiid returned after a late-season appendectomy.
So they know they can dig themselves out of holes. And the Knicks didn't need long to throw them into one.
The Knicks led 74-51 at halftime after shooting 65.9% from the floor and the only good thing was the game was so out of hand that Nurse was able to give his overworked starters some extra rest.
“Coming from the series we had and the physicality we displayed, I would like to think that maybe guys were tired,” Embiid said. “But it’s not an excuse, though. On to Game 2.”
Embiid played only 24 minutes, shooting 3 for 11 for his 14 points. Tyrese Maxey, who averaged 26.9 points in the first round, didn't even have a basket until five minutes into the second quarter and finished with 13 points on 3-for-9 shooting.
Their diminished offensive production wasn't the only problem. The Knicks took advantage of Embiid's limited mobility to repeatedly find open shots and ran whenever they could, with a 16-3 advantage in fast-break points.
“Yeah, we had breakdowns tonight, but they also shot the (heck) out of the ball,” George said. “They were hot.”
George wouldn't use fatigue as an excuse, but acknowledged that the 76ers did face what he called a mental rollercoaster.
“You go from a Game 7 and then one day off and then you’re right back into a matchup,” he said. “There was some carryover of us trying to get up and get prepared for this next matchup, but we should have came out and did a better job.”
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