The Philadelphia Seventy Sixers vS. The New York Knickerbocker Wildcats

MAGSportsSixers

Apr 19

The Sixers should win this series

And They Should do so in less than seven games

If Joel Embiid is 90% of the player he is capable of being and the rest of the squad shows up, the Sixers are a superior team. Combine a stellar Embiid series with the newfound sharpshooting surrounding him and the Knicks shouldn’t be able to hang for 7 games. And we haven’t even touched on Tyrese Maxey. He won’t beat Brunson defensively but if he’s able to cancel him out or even win that +/- battle and I think it’s really a wrap in 6.

The Knicks are not bad. They’re not as bad a two seed as people like to make them out to be and they play their own brand of basketball, which is of the utmost importance come playoff time. Look at what the Heat have done in years past. The Nuggets. The Spurs of old. They all owned their game, executed, and made it difficult on the opposition to score. That’s what the Knicks do very well.

So yeah, this Knicks team aint nothing to sneeze at. The X factor being Embiid’s ability to dominate the game and Isaiah “Mr. Brightskin” Hartenstein will play a pivotal role for the Knicks in limiting Embiid’s superhuman abilities (which tend to wither away in big playoff games). He’s had the rest. He’s beaten the injury bug. Here’s to hoping he got the injury out of the way this year and we get to see a healthy, aggressive, and efficient Joel Embiid in the 2024 NBA playoffs. The world wants to see that, not just Philadelphia.

Stealing Game 1 is crucial. Having a nerve-wracking playoff game already under their belt should help the cause.

Jalen Brunson / Shake Milton

VS. Tyrese Maxey / Cam Payne

—> KNICKS by one of Brunson’s dreads

Donte DiVincenzo / Alec Burks

VS. Kyle Lowry / Buddy Hield

—> SIXERS by a cheek

Josh Hart / Bojan Bogdanovic VS. Kelly Oubre / Nic Batum

—> SIXERS by the length of Batum’s long ass arms

OG Anunoby / Precious Achiuwa

VS. Tobias Harris / Paul Reed

—> KNICKS by a Tobi brick

Isaiah Hartenstein / Mitchell Robinson

VS. Joel Embiid / Mo Bamba

—> SIXERS by a Rolling Loud crowd chanting MOOOOOOOOO BAAAAMMMBAAA

EXTRA MOTIVATION FOR NEW YORK NOVACATS

The Villanova Wildcats that bolster the Knicks starting lineup were all passed on by the Sixers —> for Markelle Fultz, Zhaire Smith, and Landry Shamet. Fultz being the No. 1 pick makes it less of a pass but weighing in the Bridges trade for Zhaire Smith I’m counting it.

There’s no doubt the New York NovaCats are using every bit of motivation they can muster to advance to the next round of the playoffs as this Knicks season has been a resurgence for Knickerbocker basketball that the big apple has been craving since the Melo/JKidd days.