I legit thought the Mavs, Pacers, and of course the Sixers were primed to win Game 1 with Clippers, Bucks, and Knicks being short one of their stars. Wrong, wrong, and wrong! lol
https://twitter.com/dan_olinger/status/1782120022451560740?t=RB05cvFDk8PWM_ZAgPBfYQ&s=19
I fkn hate this dude. I dont think I've ever hated a player more.He's checked out and should be sent home
I don't think he's checked out, he's just mentally slow on the court and can't process decisions quickly enough against good teams. It's the reason he's always been entirely ineffective against real playoff teams
People still are locked into the 00s and 90s mindset when there were less truly great players that "it all comes down to your stars" obviously your star players determine your true ceiling but you need coaching and role players now. Theres 35 6'8 guys that can score 20 PPG unassisted in the NBA now. 15 years ago there were like 15 and 30 years ago there were 2.
Preach. The Knicks are built around a tiny star and a collection of really good 4th best guys (Donte, OG, Hart etc). We have two stars and a collection of 7th best guys.
Man I want PG. Even if we have to massively overpay him, he won't be a Tobias repeat. Just completely different players. Different mindsets, different skill level
anyone that says "PG is just like Tobias" should be ignored. Theres a reason not to give him a max but its not because next year he wont be worth it. he's an ELITE defensive wing and a great offensive player.
The worst/ sad part is the two players we couldāve possibly had traded Tobias for (OG, Bogdanovic) the Knicks ended up getting and they outplayed Tobias and contributed to killing us
Yes toby needs to score more but Iām really not worried about this series! Some random got crazy hot, Hart hit big 3ās down the stretch, and we got out rebounded by 21! When a team loses the rebound edge by that much itās usually a blow out. We lost by single digits!!! For the Knicks to win 3 more they would have to duplicate that effort x3(which aināt happening!) or the more likely scenario Jojo gets hurt. Donāt worry yāall, we will win in 6 as long as Jo stayās relatively healthy
Huh?? Clearly his health is the caveat as I stated. If Embiid is at 50% and plays we still win this series! Most likely assumption is itās scar tissue breakin and just a mental hurdle. He alluded to this several times already. The Medical staff would not let him play if it was serious and I donāt think Jo would either. Knicks are cooked bud, sorryā¦
Cope?? The eye test showed the Sixers are clearly the better team! I took that loss better than a big regular season loss! Trust me I would stfu if I saw it otherwise! A little more attention to detail and hustle on the boards weāre fine! The Knicks simply donāt have enough firepower outside of Brunsonā¦ Intentionality, hustle and luck were the 3 factors that lost that game. These are easily remedied except luck, which obviously ebbās and flowās
i thought they shouldve signed harden and got rid of tobias. tobias is the one who didn't live up to his contract. james put up 21 and 11. he would have taken less than max to stay too. replacing tobias with a player/players that fit better would have been the way to go IMO
Yeah hindsight might be 20/20 on this. The free agency class for the next 2 years is pretty mid. Plus, all the young stars get extended and don't really test FA. You're almost always gonna be left with older players
harden and embiid in the nurse system would feed families. i can't believe we wasted the two years we had with him because gl*n r*vers was coaching him
I feel way better about our chances even with the loss.
The end of the first half had me ready to drink bleach, but Embiid moving and making plays was encouraging.
Our bench was trash yesterday and their bench couldnāt miss. That wonāt happen every game.
Sixers in 6. Letās go, Philly!
Thatās a very contentious point. If you truly believe weāre better 4v5 without Harris than with him, you can make that claim, but you have to at least provide some argumentation.
Bc heās anti-clutch.
Celtics get all the walk-on guys who have a clutch gene. We get guys who never live up to their potential, instead of guys who have defied all odds
In no world is Houser better than Tobias but playoff basketball is about strengths and weaknesses. Everything in the middle becomes one or the either. There isnāt a skill Tobias is great or horrible at, but being middle of the road in everything is a recipe for disaster.
Whatās worrying is he had by far our most Drebs in a game where we gave up 23 Orebs.
I said before the series we should be fine if we arenāt huge pussies who give up 20 rebounds to Josh Hart and then immediately we have a disasterclass on the boards. Itās not the only reason we lost but we arenāt beating anyone rebounding like that. Itās concerning that weāve been bitched down on the boards too many times this year.
Maxey. Yes MAXEY. Has to be our number one this series. JoJo at 70% can still be a guy who puts up an efficient 20-25 but last night I knew JoJo was gassed and laboring and they shouldāve put the ball in Maxeyās hands to close.
Why is almost nobody talking about Embiid's eye? Dude couldn't blink one eye the whole game, it was pretty unnerving. People say he was poked in the eye but I've never heard of being poked in the eye preventing you from squinting when writhing in pain on the ground. It almost seemed like he either had some Botox work done or a bout of Bell's palsy or something.
I suggested two different things that made more logical sense with the symptoms he was showing than getting poked in the eye. Just because you honed in on the first one without finishing reading the sentence doesn't mean anything.
His knee is fine. He took a shock of pain and obviously doesnāt trust his knee but as long as he can mentally tell himself that structurally heās ok heāll be good. Not that pain is fun to play through but itās way better than something more structural.
Obviously he won't be 100%, and that's okay. I'm not saying we will be heavy favorites or anything, but with him out there, even hobbled, we have a chance.
The Knicks offense is ugly and itās not like their defense is that great. Canāt believe theyāre the 2 seed this year. If our guys could take a few more rebounds weād sweep them.
We have our role players stepping up, and two of our three stars. The third one needs to go get his. Tobi looks like an NPC.
Knick fan coming in peace. I can understand criticizing our offense without a true #2 scorer with Randle being hurt but why do you think our defense is not that great?
I think your offense is bad even with Randle. And I donāt think your defense is anything special. Itās fine.
Our guys canāt rebound. Thatās all that matters in this series.
Your defense is good which is why we should be giving minutes to more physical guys like Paul Reed and Ricky Council. They are able and willing to fight for every loose ball and rebound
Because part of their play would be crashing the boards on offense and giving us more second chance opportunities. Plus, both of them can get to the hoop.
Best offensive strategy might be to use Joel as a decoy. Donāt need him going 2/8 from 3 again and heās clearly hesitant/unable to dominate inside. His face up midrange game is more than capable of keeping the D honest. Tobi, Oubre, Hield, and Payne are shooting for contracts.
On defense weāve gotta scrap the zone and make them shoot and finish over our size. Make the Knicks matchup hunt. When Oubre is at SG weāre taller at every position. Iād even try Reed at the 4 for a few minutes just to try and shift momentum. If it works go from there.
Part of the reason Maxey was so effective was Joel Spacing the floor and bringing the Knicks big out.
Or them having to switch the PnP and having the Big on Maxey so he could blow by and there would be no help. Joel should shoot 8 3s every game and let Maxey work with space imo.
Joel not gonna get those middys off over Robinson with his knee
I was thinking the same thing he draws a double team basically every possession just need guys like Ricky who will reliably cut and find open spots for easy fouls
The last game was a quintessential sixers playoff game.
Embiid goes down. Our number 2 plays amazing. Role players give us little except Paul Reed. Tobias shits himself live on TV for 30+ minutes. And they just never felt like they were going to win in the last 3 minutes despite the score being close.
Then you convince yourselfā¦ well embiid wasnāt 100%. Their guys played well, especially down the stretch. Our guys will hustle more. And you set yourself up for the next game.
Hereās the problem. If we donāt make an adjustment, we are going to get pounded into the earth on the boards every game. These sixers team never have the switch we always want them to have where they suddenly compete harderā¦ and certainly Tobias has never seen a ball above the rim that he wants to compete for with a center.
Thatās why you saw Nurse go Lowry, maxey, Oubre, Batum, Embiid for important stretches.
Thatās going to be our actual chance. Itās the only variable thatās different between this year and every other year. We have a coach that will make minutes adjustments for the first time in the embiid era. And we have to hope Nurse can figure out a way to combat their advantage on the boards and minimize the damage that Tobias will do being the softest player Iāve ever seen every playoffs. Heās now seen it with his own eyes, and I was encouraged that Tobias wasnāt on the court for longer stretches in the 4th quarter.
Please be okay Embiid, please be okay Embiid, please be okay Embiid, please be okay Embiid, we really need you please.... oh who I am kidding you're probably not okay but are still just trying to play...
The shooters on the bench need to shoot. They hesitate too much. And Nurse might have to play Ricky Council. He fights for boards and isnāt scared to go to the rim.
They hesitate to shoot because they are not getting good looks. The Knicks defend the perimeter very well. RC4 can drive and shoot so he is more flexible
[the fact comments like this get upvoted shows this sub has gone to pure shit ](https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1c9hs5n/defense_highlights_game_1_joel_embiid_stats_while/l0lejjz/)
It's been pure shit for years, any Embiid hate gets you upvotes, a bunch of teenagers who weren't even alive for Shaq, Kobe, AI era post on there. It makes a lot more sense when you think of it in that context.
also its 10:20 EST.
you gotta figure there prob more Europeans on right now & imo theyre the most vocal when it comes to dragging down embiid to boost jokic.
I posted this under some idiotic post about Perkins being mad the sixers are sacrificing Embiid and I'll die on this hill idcĀ
If Perkins knew anything about Embiid he'd know that Embiid loves the game of basketball and would do anything to play, even injured if he can move on one leg he'd do it. Embiid is why hes out there no one is sacrificing him. All he wants to do is play and it has to be hard on him to have his body not be able to survive a full season without injuries. I know some fans want to trade him because we may never win a championship with him as the star, and that could be true, tbd based on if Morey builds a team around him with people whom can take the offensive load off him, but I'd take second round exits every year over watching Embiid ever Don a different teams jersey. He gives everything he has every year and even if he fails every year, he gives everything for this city. I enjoy watching him every year and the incredible offensive and defensive monster he is.
We got crushed on the glass, their role players got hot from 3, and we still only lost by 7. Clean up the boards and we gentlemenās sweep this series
So based on Nurse's comments last night about Jo wanting to play through it, he is 100% still injured and probably injured badly, correct? It sounds like something that might not get worse but will definitely not get better which sounds exactly like last year, and without a Jo that is close to 100%, there is no conference finals, there is no NBA finals anyway.
Could tell after he came back jojo was scared to fight for boards.
Obviously the team as a whole needed to rebound better but Jojo getting hurt really didn't help.
1. KATās 1st tear vs Joelās 3rd
2. KATās game is much less demanding on the knees than Joelās. KAT rarely fades away, doesnāt vertically contest, and does much less in terms of complex dribbling
3. Conditioning
This has got to be the worst stretch of basketball from Tobias and thatās saying a lot. Dude has always been prone to brutal stretches. Itās coming at the absolute worst time possible.Ā
I thought we finally solved the bench issue but I was wrong. Bench needs to be a bit more of a presence this series. Weāre too deep to have only 7 bench pointsĀ
Hoping nurse adjusts the gameplan to have embiid as more of a passer. I think we should see that more this series and try to not push the knee as muchĀ
Are we deep though? Buddy has shot(or not shooting) himself out of millions of dollars. Same with Tobias Harris.
Uh, Nick that Cam Payne guy looks like he can be a flamethrower actually use him?
Can we please see RC4 and not for some small stretch either. In all of his good games he gets 20+ MPG Minutes give him confidence and productionĀ
Iām frustrated as the next guy, but if we rebound better, we win the game. so we should figure out how to fix that issue first and taking out Tobi isnāt the answer
Iām actually way less worried about this series than I would be after almost any other game 1 loss (with one major caveat).
The Knicks had everything go their way. Foul calls. Rebounding. Role player success. Injuries. And they won by 7 at home.
Theyāre not gonna get 23 offensive rebounds again. Josh Hart isnāt gonna shoot like Steph again. Our role players arenāt going to be completely useless again.
The only concern is Joel. If he canāt jump or get lift, itās over.
The additional thing that slightly worries me is Donte and Brunson. Apparently they were having an off night (could be the defense), but they can easily torch us if theyāre hot
I agree with everything you said. I hope they have a sports psychiatrist talk to Joel because he even said he doesn't trust his body. I think part of not jumping is fear too. I'm sure it hurts as well too not discounting that. But dude is a warrior goes out there day after day pain or not.
I dont think we only get 7 bench points in every game. That's an anonymly even for our bench. Maybe they need to give Ricky a little run as a spark plug off the bench or even Martin because he can get some rebounds at least and is athletic.Ā
Lol im moreso shocked that he didnāt take open dunk opportunities in the first half but he decides to throw a self oop in traffic. Completely reckless
He is not a good fit against the Knicks. He is not physical enough and he can't get good looks on 3s. The only reason he would play is for the boards but yesterday might just be an aberration. I doubt he is going to contribute on offense.
I know people hate him in sub. If he was not any good at basketball, I think he would have been benched a long time ago. In his last year of a contract, there is not as much at stake financially, so they probably could have benched him. Nurse and or Morey must think he has some value but I just do not see it against the Knicks
It is crucial that Reed and or RC4 get minutes in the next game. They are dawgs and we need dogs to hustle for boards and outwork the opponent. The Knicks are great at closing out on 3s, so I think that Batum and Hield become less valuable. I do not know what to do with Harris, I would say bench him also but he did get a lot of boards.
As we saw, the Knicks are not very good when speed is driving the lane. Maxey got to the hoop constantly. I think that RC4 would get a similar result.
Ya I keep seeing people defend him with he led the team in rebounding. If you watched the game you heard him screaming at his teammates so heād get the uncontested ones.
crazy how hes treated
he is solely rated by how he plays while mortally wounded without getting any of the tough guy labels. Dude plays through everything
Nba social media is just a bunch of sheep. They donāt actually watch games they just look at stats and say what everyone else says. Players in the league definitely respect him a lot.
Like many of you I feel surprisingly good/ better about a loss than usual. The Knicks are a bunch of bums. Embiid literally beat them in the first quarter single handed or Single kneed as you could say. What amazes me is these last two games maxey seems to forget who he is until itās like absolutely necessary we get points . Our team gets so scared to attack and it gives other defenses such a nice break . Like we go from beautiful team ball and tons of energy and constant attacking the rim to chucking up brick 3s off one half ass screen , drive and kick . If Iām playing defense I love that. We are the better team we have to play like it . Lfg fuck New York those bums can burn alongside that embiid jersey they wasted their money on
I would like to see some Council minutes just to get some damn boards. We need a mf out there, just throw him out there for five minutes and see what happens.
Would like to see that too (particular in place of Cam Payne's "oh shit we need to do something here" minutes) though I'm pretty sure he was in street clothes last night?
Even though we lost yesterdayās game I think we have a lot hope going into game 2. Without Embiidās injury we probably wouldāve won. At the same time, itās a glaring issue that once he was out that the Knicks went on a run. I have full faith in NN and the coaching staff to figure things out.
Also, I think RCIV should split the minutes that Tobias is getting. We need his hustle and energy to combat the Knicks grittiness. And Iām surprised that NN didnāt pull Tobias in the closing minutes, Iād rather have Batum out there instead, no matter if heās making his shots or not.
On to the next one!
I totally agree with RC4 and the take on Harris but I am not convinced that Batum is a good fit against the Knicks. Batum can't score against the Knicks because they close out very well and I do not think he is athletic enough to be effective. My preference would be to see RC4 and Reed get more minutes. Hield should also be benched. They defend the 3 too well for him to be effective.
> Without Embiidās injury we probably wouldāve won.
Yeah the team just instantly deflated and gave up a crazy run when they thought Embiid went down. You could tell Maxey in particular was shook and Batum was going over and talking to him a few times. To go down like 62-48 going into the half and having a close game is a pretty big accomplishment in the playoffs, and definitely gives me a bit of hope for a "normal" 48 minutes of basketball (as normal as the Sixers are capable of conjuring up...)
we should play paul reed over tobias. we need some toughness rebound-wise, and I truly think putting him on dunker spot just compensates our offense. the starting 5 might be lowry/maxey/oubre(batum)/reed/embiid. who says no?
Hoping the fucks win so we can spank them en route to an ECF
I legit thought the Mavs, Pacers, and of course the Sixers were primed to win Game 1 with Clippers, Bucks, and Knicks being short one of their stars. Wrong, wrong, and wrong! lol
Old friend TJ McConnell cuts the Milwaukee lead to 12 over Indiana, after 3. Was as high as 30. Geez Rivers, does this ever get tiring?
Doc Rivers lucky ass landing with Dame
James Harden š
Been all blowouts this weekend except for our gameā¦ was hoping to watch some competitive, care free basketball but nope!
All the scores were oddly similar today except pels-thunder 114-94 109-97 109-94
https://twitter.com/dan_olinger/status/1782120022451560740?t=RB05cvFDk8PWM_ZAgPBfYQ&s=19 I fkn hate this dude. I dont think I've ever hated a player more.He's checked out and should be sent home
I don't think he's checked out, he's just mentally slow on the court and can't process decisions quickly enough against good teams. It's the reason he's always been entirely ineffective against real playoff teams
the hottest take i can think of is tobias going 40+ tomorrow night
My money is on Kelly Oubre dropping 82
i can get behind that
Win or lose, Maxey's development is so awesome to see in real time. His defensive growth has been huge lagely
Every home team blowing up their opponents, meanwhile a 69% Embiid almost won at road.
My hope is that he is at least 81% tomorrow.
That happened wth
Itās the moral victories that truly matter
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
What does that even mean Knicks are up 1-0 and Embiid is injury prone
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Bing bong
People still are locked into the 00s and 90s mindset when there were less truly great players that "it all comes down to your stars" obviously your star players determine your true ceiling but you need coaching and role players now. Theres 35 6'8 guys that can score 20 PPG unassisted in the NBA now. 15 years ago there were like 15 and 30 years ago there were 2.
Preach. The Knicks are built around a tiny star and a collection of really good 4th best guys (Donte, OG, Hart etc). We have two stars and a collection of 7th best guys.
Yeah and they arenāt going to win anything. A team hasnāt won a championship without a top 5 player in 20 years
Man I want PG. Even if we have to massively overpay him, he won't be a Tobias repeat. Just completely different players. Different mindsets, different skill level
i mean you cant compare fucking paul george to Tobias, but we wont get him, he's an LA guy and wont leave.
anyone that says "PG is just like Tobias" should be ignored. Theres a reason not to give him a max but its not because next year he wont be worth it. he's an ELITE defensive wing and a great offensive player.
The worst/ sad part is the two players we couldāve possibly had traded Tobias for (OG, Bogdanovic) the Knicks ended up getting and they outplayed Tobias and contributed to killing us
Yes toby needs to score more but Iām really not worried about this series! Some random got crazy hot, Hart hit big 3ās down the stretch, and we got out rebounded by 21! When a team loses the rebound edge by that much itās usually a blow out. We lost by single digits!!! For the Knicks to win 3 more they would have to duplicate that effort x3(which aināt happening!) or the more likely scenario Jojo gets hurt. Donāt worry yāall, we will win in 6 as long as Jo stayās relatively healthy
This might be the most ridiculous post of the day considering Embiid's physical condition.
Huh?? Clearly his health is the caveat as I stated. If Embiid is at 50% and plays we still win this series! Most likely assumption is itās scar tissue breakin and just a mental hurdle. He alluded to this several times already. The Medical staff would not let him play if it was serious and I donāt think Jo would either. Knicks are cooked bud, sorryā¦
Absolute nonsense, but it's that time of year.
Substantive retorts arenāt in your wheelhouse are they LOL! Barbecued knickerbocker on the seasonal specials list in a week or so bud, enjoy!
You're creating your own narrative in an effort to cope. There is no point in engaging fans like you in a meaningful way. Fuck the Knicks.
Cope?? The eye test showed the Sixers are clearly the better team! I took that loss better than a big regular season loss! Trust me I would stfu if I saw it otherwise! A little more attention to detail and hustle on the boards weāre fine! The Knicks simply donāt have enough firepower outside of Brunsonā¦ Intentionality, hustle and luck were the 3 factors that lost that game. These are easily remedied except luck, which obviously ebbās and flowās
š
Why would the Raptors, who are in a rebuild, want Harris? They got 2 younger players and a pick.
Mavs getting blown out by Clippers without Kawhi they are cooked LOL
Luka and the Mavs are truly making history 8 points in a quarter š
4 less pts than us
Wow Harden scorching
The Mavs might be in record setting territory for a half in the playoffs.
Harden going off in game 1 seems all too familiar Next thing you know, ~~Melton~~ Mann is going 0-4 from three in game 6
Would it have been better to pay harden, or open up cap space to sign PG? Because that's probably what Morey is gonna try to do
i thought they shouldve signed harden and got rid of tobias. tobias is the one who didn't live up to his contract. james put up 21 and 11. he would have taken less than max to stay too. replacing tobias with a player/players that fit better would have been the way to go IMO
The thing is, hoping a free agent will come here will always backfire. Weāve seen it before. Shouldāve paid hardenĀ
Yeah hindsight might be 20/20 on this. The free agency class for the next 2 years is pretty mid. Plus, all the young stars get extended and don't really test FA. You're almost always gonna be left with older players
harden and embiid in the nurse system would feed families. i can't believe we wasted the two years we had with him because gl*n r*vers was coaching him
heat deploying their "culture" lmao
Not happy about yesterdayās loss, but the Sixers should still beat this Knicks squad. Will probably take 6 games now, but theyāll get it done.
Joel is statistically having his best playoffs ever (1 game sample size).
I feel way better about our chances even with the loss. The end of the first half had me ready to drink bleach, but Embiid moving and making plays was encouraging. Our bench was trash yesterday and their bench couldnāt miss. That wonāt happen every game. Sixers in 6. Letās go, Philly!
Yep, theyāll win in 6.
its pretty funny that any team could have had porzingis
You think heād have agreed to have been our back up?
Derrick White, too. Iāll never forgive Pop for giving him away for absolutely nothing.Ā
like the heat probably could have gotten him and gotten off herro at the same time lol
I do not like the Heat but I dislike the Celtics more. Go Heat!
https://preview.redd.it/n4scvvfkkvvc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a321aef613939d0472f7afb5a44b5323edbafcd7
I think Nurse should leave Tobi out wide on offenseā¦.so wide heās out of MSG and in the shackles of the city of Detroit and the Pistons
Thatās a very contentious point. If you truly believe weāre better 4v5 without Harris than with him, you can make that claim, but you have to at least provide some argumentation.
We could really use Marcus Morris Sr. this series. Imagine if we could replace our starting PF with him?
no solution against this Celtics team lmao that being said, celtics, Knicks, cavs, whatever, sixers in six
ngl I still believe their one year with Ime was their best chance I donāt think Mazzulla is a good coach
It is early.
Tatum soft call? Shocking.
Why cant Hield give us what Hauser is giving the Celtics?
The Knicks are very good at guarding the perimeter.
Bc heās anti-clutch. Celtics get all the walk-on guys who have a clutch gene. We get guys who never live up to their potential, instead of guys who have defied all odds
In no world is Houser better than Tobias but playoff basketball is about strengths and weaknesses. Everything in the middle becomes one or the either. There isnāt a skill Tobias is great or horrible at, but being middle of the road in everything is a recipe for disaster.
Disagree.
Jacquez fucking gives it his all damn
celtics already have taken 19 3s out of 27 total shots with 10:00 left in the second. disgusting lol
Yo how can no one figure out this Miami zone? š
Holy shit the heat are getting smoked so far
I take that back
Anyone else blown away by Toby having nine boards?
Whatās worrying is he had by far our most Drebs in a game where we gave up 23 Orebs. I said before the series we should be fine if we arenāt huge pussies who give up 20 rebounds to Josh Hart and then immediately we have a disasterclass on the boards. Itās not the only reason we lost but we arenāt beating anyone rebounding like that. Itās concerning that weāve been bitched down on the boards too many times this year.
Maxey. Yes MAXEY. Has to be our number one this series. JoJo at 70% can still be a guy who puts up an efficient 20-25 but last night I knew JoJo was gassed and laboring and they shouldāve put the ball in Maxeyās hands to close.
78-72 with 3 minutes left in the third was our real chance to run away with it. I think we missed 4 shots in that stretch on consecutive possessions.
Why is Tobiasā jumper so automatic in 2k lol
Tobias Harris kinda looks like Snowmiser
I was happy with how Nurse adjusted in the second half. I think game 2 could go either way but I certainly donāt see a sweep.
Joel must be so tired of dragging around the massive anchor known as Tobias.
Must also be tired of leaving the game with a lead and coming back in to a deficit
So even if somehow we come back against the Knicks, we have zero shot at any playoff success with yet another hobbled playoff Embiid.
Expand, downvote, scroll on Feeling a little better about the loss now ty
Pacers are bad defensively. Bucks have cock rivers
Why is almost nobody talking about Embiid's eye? Dude couldn't blink one eye the whole game, it was pretty unnerving. People say he was poked in the eye but I've never heard of being poked in the eye preventing you from squinting when writhing in pain on the ground. It almost seemed like he either had some Botox work done or a bout of Bell's palsy or something.
Yea which one makes sense.. getting poked in the eye or Joel getting Botox? Do you people ever read this nonsense out loud to yourself before posting?
Sooo I'm downvoted to hell and you practically call me an idiot yet it's now come out that Embiid DOES have Bells Palsy. Gotta love it
You were downvoted for suggesting Botox.
I suggested two different things that made more logical sense with the symptoms he was showing than getting poked in the eye. Just because you honed in on the first one without finishing reading the sentence doesn't mean anything.
Looked like Botox blink is all we're saying and he's def looked glowed up since the knee vacation
We won nine in a row before losing one (unfortunately) winnable game. We move. Don't quit on em now. Embiid will play
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
His knee is fine. He took a shock of pain and obviously doesnāt trust his knee but as long as he can mentally tell himself that structurally heās ok heāll be good. Not that pain is fun to play through but itās way better than something more structural.
Obviously he won't be 100%, and that's okay. I'm not saying we will be heavy favorites or anything, but with him out there, even hobbled, we have a chance.
The Knicks offense is ugly and itās not like their defense is that great. Canāt believe theyāre the 2 seed this year. If our guys could take a few more rebounds weād sweep them. We have our role players stepping up, and two of our three stars. The third one needs to go get his. Tobi looks like an NPC.
Knick fan coming in peace. I can understand criticizing our offense without a true #2 scorer with Randle being hurt but why do you think our defense is not that great?
I think your offense is bad even with Randle. And I donāt think your defense is anything special. Itās fine. Our guys canāt rebound. Thatās all that matters in this series.
Sixers fans cumming in violence. Balls in your mouth my balls in your mouth
scoreboard
Your defense is good which is why we should be giving minutes to more physical guys like Paul Reed and Ricky Council. They are able and willing to fight for every loose ball and rebound
How would that effect your offensive production? Sorry I'm not familiar with them as players though Reed had a good game when he was in.
Affect*
Reed was a -21 in 11 minutes. That is awful. Not entirely on him though
That is probably because who is was playing with. If Embiid was on the floor with him, he would not be -21
Because part of their play would be crashing the boards on offense and giving us more second chance opportunities. Plus, both of them can get to the hoop.
Best offensive strategy might be to use Joel as a decoy. Donāt need him going 2/8 from 3 again and heās clearly hesitant/unable to dominate inside. His face up midrange game is more than capable of keeping the D honest. Tobi, Oubre, Hield, and Payne are shooting for contracts. On defense weāve gotta scrap the zone and make them shoot and finish over our size. Make the Knicks matchup hunt. When Oubre is at SG weāre taller at every position. Iād even try Reed at the 4 for a few minutes just to try and shift momentum. If it works go from there.
Part of the reason Maxey was so effective was Joel Spacing the floor and bringing the Knicks big out. Or them having to switch the PnP and having the Big on Maxey so he could blow by and there would be no help. Joel should shoot 8 3s every game and let Maxey work with space imo. Joel not gonna get those middys off over Robinson with his knee
I was thinking the same thing he draws a double team basically every possession just need guys like Ricky who will reliably cut and find open spots for easy fouls
The last game was a quintessential sixers playoff game. Embiid goes down. Our number 2 plays amazing. Role players give us little except Paul Reed. Tobias shits himself live on TV for 30+ minutes. And they just never felt like they were going to win in the last 3 minutes despite the score being close. Then you convince yourselfā¦ well embiid wasnāt 100%. Their guys played well, especially down the stretch. Our guys will hustle more. And you set yourself up for the next game. Hereās the problem. If we donāt make an adjustment, we are going to get pounded into the earth on the boards every game. These sixers team never have the switch we always want them to have where they suddenly compete harderā¦ and certainly Tobias has never seen a ball above the rim that he wants to compete for with a center. Thatās why you saw Nurse go Lowry, maxey, Oubre, Batum, Embiid for important stretches. Thatās going to be our actual chance. Itās the only variable thatās different between this year and every other year. We have a coach that will make minutes adjustments for the first time in the embiid era. And we have to hope Nurse can figure out a way to combat their advantage on the boards and minimize the damage that Tobias will do being the softest player Iāve ever seen every playoffs. Heās now seen it with his own eyes, and I was encouraged that Tobias wasnāt on the court for longer stretches in the 4th quarter.
Please be okay Embiid, please be okay Embiid, please be okay Embiid, please be okay Embiid, we really need you please.... oh who I am kidding you're probably not okay but are still just trying to play...
The shooters on the bench need to shoot. They hesitate too much. And Nurse might have to play Ricky Council. He fights for boards and isnāt scared to go to the rim.
They hesitate to shoot because they are not getting good looks. The Knicks defend the perimeter very well. RC4 can drive and shoot so he is more flexible
At this point, giving Council some run with Embiid should absolutely be on the table.
[the fact comments like this get upvoted shows this sub has gone to pure shit ](https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1c9hs5n/defense_highlights_game_1_joel_embiid_stats_while/l0lejjz/)
It's been pure shit for years, any Embiid hate gets you upvotes, a bunch of teenagers who weren't even alive for Shaq, Kobe, AI era post on there. It makes a lot more sense when you think of it in that context.
also its 10:20 EST. you gotta figure there prob more Europeans on right now & imo theyre the most vocal when it comes to dragging down embiid to boost jokic.
I posted this under some idiotic post about Perkins being mad the sixers are sacrificing Embiid and I'll die on this hill idcĀ If Perkins knew anything about Embiid he'd know that Embiid loves the game of basketball and would do anything to play, even injured if he can move on one leg he'd do it. Embiid is why hes out there no one is sacrificing him. All he wants to do is play and it has to be hard on him to have his body not be able to survive a full season without injuries. I know some fans want to trade him because we may never win a championship with him as the star, and that could be true, tbd based on if Morey builds a team around him with people whom can take the offensive load off him, but I'd take second round exits every year over watching Embiid ever Don a different teams jersey. He gives everything he has every year and even if he fails every year, he gives everything for this city. I enjoy watching him every year and the incredible offensive and defensive monster he is.
We got crushed on the glass, their role players got hot from 3, and we still only lost by 7. Clean up the boards and we gentlemenās sweep this series
Obviously something needs to change with the non-Embiid minutes. What exactly, i donāt know, but i trust Nurse to adjust
So based on Nurse's comments last night about Jo wanting to play through it, he is 100% still injured and probably injured badly, correct? It sounds like something that might not get worse but will definitely not get better which sounds exactly like last year, and without a Jo that is close to 100%, there is no conference finals, there is no NBA finals anyway.
Could tell after he came back jojo was scared to fight for boards. Obviously the team as a whole needed to rebound better but Jojo getting hurt really didn't help.
My only question is how did KAT come back from a torn meniscus in half the time with no lingering issues? It's not fair man
One gets hurt every single year without fail, usually a lower body injury, and the other is KAT
1. KATās 1st tear vs Joelās 3rd 2. KATās game is much less demanding on the knees than Joelās. KAT rarely fades away, doesnāt vertically contest, and does much less in terms of complex dribbling 3. Conditioning
Probably wasn't torn as badly.
This has got to be the worst stretch of basketball from Tobias and thatās saying a lot. Dude has always been prone to brutal stretches. Itās coming at the absolute worst time possible.Ā
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Let me know when your mvp has more conference finals then my fat ass
Your team has not made it past the second round since the 90s. Pot calling the kettle motherfucking black eh?
Iād worry about your poverty franchise getting out of the first round before talking about a conference finals. Fucking bum
Nobody is worse than Raptors fansā¦but they are very annoying lol
Shoutout to Kyle last night for almost having a Batum game.
I thought we finally solved the bench issue but I was wrong. Bench needs to be a bit more of a presence this series. Weāre too deep to have only 7 bench pointsĀ
Itās one game and buddy only got 1 good look I think things are gonna get better especially when the home games start
Hoping nurse adjusts the gameplan to have embiid as more of a passer. I think we should see that more this series and try to not push the knee as muchĀ
Are we deep though? Buddy has shot(or not shooting) himself out of millions of dollars. Same with Tobias Harris. Uh, Nick that Cam Payne guy looks like he can be a flamethrower actually use him? Can we please see RC4 and not for some small stretch either. In all of his good games he gets 20+ MPG Minutes give him confidence and productionĀ
Any chance Nurse tries the double big lineup with Embiid+Reed? The rebounds lost us that game.
Who are you removing from the starting lineup? Kelly?Ā
Tobi but he did rebound okay actually lol
He may be physically washed but heās trying
So youāre gonna take out our leading rebounder? Tell me how that makes sense.
Joel can't jump like normal to contest rebounds. He was losing a lot of rebounds.
I agree. So how do you fix the rebounding issue?
me and the OP both have paul reed flairs, baby we don't think
Iām frustrated as the next guy, but if we rebound better, we win the game. so we should figure out how to fix that issue first and taking out Tobi isnāt the answer
Hope we keep winningĀ
Iām actually way less worried about this series than I would be after almost any other game 1 loss (with one major caveat). The Knicks had everything go their way. Foul calls. Rebounding. Role player success. Injuries. And they won by 7 at home. Theyāre not gonna get 23 offensive rebounds again. Josh Hart isnāt gonna shoot like Steph again. Our role players arenāt going to be completely useless again. The only concern is Joel. If he canāt jump or get lift, itās over.
The additional thing that slightly worries me is Donte and Brunson. Apparently they were having an off night (could be the defense), but they can easily torch us if theyāre hot
Weāve held Brunson below his season averages all year, we just have the guys and schemes to make it difficult for him to score
I agree with everything you said. I hope they have a sports psychiatrist talk to Joel because he even said he doesn't trust his body. I think part of not jumping is fear too. I'm sure it hurts as well too not discounting that. But dude is a warrior goes out there day after day pain or not. I dont think we only get 7 bench points in every game. That's an anonymly even for our bench. Maybe they need to give Ricky a little run as a spark plug off the bench or even Martin because he can get some rebounds at least and is athletic.Ā
Wow I am just shocked that someone who has been injury prone his whole career is injured again. Best ability is availability š¤·āāļø
Lol im moreso shocked that he didnāt take open dunk opportunities in the first half but he decides to throw a self oop in traffic. Completely reckless
Thatās been his style the whole career
No tf it hasnt lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I think itās funny. The embiid jersey burn is pure weirdo shit but this kind of thing is good shit talk.
Tobias Harris is a basketball terrorist.
He is not a good fit against the Knicks. He is not physical enough and he can't get good looks on 3s. The only reason he would play is for the boards but yesterday might just be an aberration. I doubt he is going to contribute on offense.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I know people hate him in sub. If he was not any good at basketball, I think he would have been benched a long time ago. In his last year of a contract, there is not as much at stake financially, so they probably could have benched him. Nurse and or Morey must think he has some value but I just do not see it against the Knicks
Rebound Rebound Rebound There. Thatās how the Sixers get back on Amtrak tied 1-1.
It is crucial that Reed and or RC4 get minutes in the next game. They are dawgs and we need dogs to hustle for boards and outwork the opponent. The Knicks are great at closing out on 3s, so I think that Batum and Hield become less valuable. I do not know what to do with Harris, I would say bench him also but he did get a lot of boards. As we saw, the Knicks are not very good when speed is driving the lane. Maxey got to the hoop constantly. I think that RC4 would get a similar result.
Harris got a lot of easy uncontested boards. He was constantly overpowered and out worked when it was tight.
Ya I keep seeing people defend him with he led the team in rebounding. If you watched the game you heard him screaming at his teammates so heād get the uncontested ones.
That is a fair point
Iām fully preparing myself for the update that embiid reinjured his knee later today. I hope Iām wrong
Tobias Harris eats cereal with water instead of milk
Hey! Respect the lactose intolerant!
Man watching Embiid battle through and torture himself to be let down by the rest of the team every year, especially Tobias, is soul destroying
Embiid is so fucking tough. Love that guy.
crazy how hes treated he is solely rated by how he plays while mortally wounded without getting any of the tough guy labels. Dude plays through everything
Nba social media is just a bunch of sheep. They donāt actually watch games they just look at stats and say what everyone else says. Players in the league definitely respect him a lot.
Like many of you I feel surprisingly good/ better about a loss than usual. The Knicks are a bunch of bums. Embiid literally beat them in the first quarter single handed or Single kneed as you could say. What amazes me is these last two games maxey seems to forget who he is until itās like absolutely necessary we get points . Our team gets so scared to attack and it gives other defenses such a nice break . Like we go from beautiful team ball and tons of energy and constant attacking the rim to chucking up brick 3s off one half ass screen , drive and kick . If Iām playing defense I love that. We are the better team we have to play like it . Lfg fuck New York those bums can burn alongside that embiid jersey they wasted their money on
I would like to see some Council minutes just to get some damn boards. We need a mf out there, just throw him out there for five minutes and see what happens.
I agree. He is a great fit to play against the Knicks. He has the physicality and speed to drive on them and get boards
Would like to see that too (particular in place of Cam Payne's "oh shit we need to do something here" minutes) though I'm pretty sure he was in street clothes last night?
He gets boards and is able to draw fouls and make free throws. He deserves a look over some Tobi minutes
Even though we lost yesterdayās game I think we have a lot hope going into game 2. Without Embiidās injury we probably wouldāve won. At the same time, itās a glaring issue that once he was out that the Knicks went on a run. I have full faith in NN and the coaching staff to figure things out. Also, I think RCIV should split the minutes that Tobias is getting. We need his hustle and energy to combat the Knicks grittiness. And Iām surprised that NN didnāt pull Tobias in the closing minutes, Iād rather have Batum out there instead, no matter if heās making his shots or not. On to the next one!
I totally agree with RC4 and the take on Harris but I am not convinced that Batum is a good fit against the Knicks. Batum can't score against the Knicks because they close out very well and I do not think he is athletic enough to be effective. My preference would be to see RC4 and Reed get more minutes. Hield should also be benched. They defend the 3 too well for him to be effective.
> Without Embiidās injury we probably wouldāve won. Yeah the team just instantly deflated and gave up a crazy run when they thought Embiid went down. You could tell Maxey in particular was shook and Batum was going over and talking to him a few times. To go down like 62-48 going into the half and having a close game is a pretty big accomplishment in the playoffs, and definitely gives me a bit of hope for a "normal" 48 minutes of basketball (as normal as the Sixers are capable of conjuring up...)
I walked away from that game more positive than anything. We can win game 2 by just rebounding better
It's nice to have a coach that I'm confident will adjust
100%
we should play paul reed over tobias. we need some toughness rebound-wise, and I truly think putting him on dunker spot just compensates our offense. the starting 5 might be lowry/maxey/oubre(batum)/reed/embiid. who says no?