What to expect in Knicks-76ers series
Joel Embiid will test New York inside, while Philadelphia's perimeter defense must contain Jalen Brunson.What a difference three or four victories make. The Knicks won 50 games to jump into the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed over Milwaukee (49 wins), Cleveland (48) and three other teams that finished with 47 wins. One of those was Philadelphia, which had to battle Wednesday with Miami (46) in the SoFi Play-In Tournament to secure the No. 7 seed. Meanwhile, New York has been off since Sunday.
The Knicks won the season series 3-1, capitalizing on 76ers center Joel Embiid’s absence from three of the meetings. The Knicks’ victories came by margins of 36, 14, and 27 points. This will be the 10th playoff meeting of these franchises and the first since 1989.
Series schedule
Here’s how to watch the Knicks vs. 76ers series:
All times Eastern Daylight Time
Game 1: 76ers vs. Knicks, April 20 (6 p.m., ESPN)
Game 2: 76ers vs. Knicks, April 22 (7:30 p.m., TNT)
Game 3: Knicks vs. 76ers, April 25 (7:30 p.m., TNT)
Game 4: Knicks vs. 76ers, April 28 (1 p.m., ABC)
Game 5: 76ers vs. Knicks, April 30 (TBD, TBD)*
Game 6: Knicks vs. 76ers, May 2 (TBD, TBD)*
Game 7: 76ers vs. Knicks, May 4 (TBD, TNT)*
* = If necessary
Top storyline
The big man. It’s been said that the second-best team in the East this spring hasn’t been New York, Milwaukee or any of the other guaranteed seeds lined up behind Boston. The second-best team has been Philadelphia with Joel Embiid. That 76ers squad went 31-8 in the games he played.
Most of that came in the first half of Philadelphia’s schedule — it was 25-6 when he played, 3-7 when he didn’t. Then he missed two months due to his left knee injury. The Sixers sank in the standings and, despite Tyrese Maxey and others stepping up, knew their postseason fate would hang on the 7-footer’s availability.
He’s back now and, though he isn’t in peak condition, he did have six games to ramp up for this series. He’s still a load, and the leisurely pace of this series — nine days to play the first four games — will be the best thing short of a spa stay to ease his aches.
New York has its own big man back in Mitchell Robinson. He and Isaiah Hartenstein will do what they can to hold their ground. The Knicks’ best overall defender, OG Anunoby (6-foot-7, 235), will best help elsewhere. So what are they to? Defy the trend in the playoffs and rev up their play. Though New York ranked last in pace, pushing the ball is its best chance of wearing out Embiid. Forcing him to play defense also is key. Then win the minutes he sits.
Keep your eyes on
The swarm to slow Brunson. There is no “Jalen Brunson stopper” on Philadelphia’s roster (or on most other teams, frankly). But the 76ers have several players who can take turns in the tank against him, throwing different looks and fresher legs at the Knicks’ motor.
Perimeter guys aplenty — from Tyrese Maxey and Kyle Lowry to Kelly Oubre Jr., De’Anthony Melton and Nicolas Batum — can pester him and spread their fouls if all else fails. It’s unlikely they’ll shut him down, but even a little dip in production could throw New York’s offense out of whack.
Brunson averaged 28.7 points and shot 48% overall (and 40% from 3-point range) this season. Against Philadelphia, those numbers drooped to 22.3, 40% and 30%. He’s not on anyone’s Kia MVP ballot at that level.
1 more thing to watch for each team
For the Knicks: Josh Hart. The Hart the Knicks got against Philadelphia was the best Hart, the guy who averaged 12.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists while playing 39 minutes. He’ll be as essential in this series as in their four regular-season meetings. Get ready for a nosebleed from Hart’s on/off numbers: In the 156 minutes he was on the floor against the 76ers, New York had an 81.5 defensive rating. In the 36 he sat, it was 137.7. Hart’s net rating: 57.7.
For the 76ers: Tobias Harris vs. Nic Batum. Harris, the 76ers’ veteran forward, was at his best this season in the 22 games that Batum, an even more veteran wing, didn’t play: 20.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.8 assists. But Batum, wrapping up his first season in Philadelphia, helped the team go 36-24 when he played, compared to 11-11 otherwise. Batum also was more essential in Philadelphia’s Play-In victory – he scored a season-high 20 points, including 6-for-10 from behind the arc. Harris? Nine points on 4-for-10 shooting.
1 key number to know
24.5% — According to Second Spectrum tracking, the Knicks took 24.5% of their shots in the last six seconds of the shot clock this season. That was the league’s highest rate by a wide margin … with the Sixers ranking second at 22.6%. Over two series in last year’s playoffs, Philadelphia took an amazing 30.8% of its shots in the last six seconds of the shot clock.
Late-clock shots are, generally, not good shots. As a whole, the league had an effective field goal percentage of just 47.5% in the last six seconds of the shot clock, compared to 55.2% in the middle 12 and 60.8% in the first six.
But the playoffs are typically played at a slower pace than the regular season. In a way, these teams have been playing playoff-style basketball all year and should be comfortable playing late in the clock, though they were both a little below the league average regarding effective field goal percentage in late-clock situations.
We can expect a lot more of those in this series, and the winner could be the team that executes best with little time to spare.
The pick
Knicks in seven. The casual analysis of New York is that, like every Tom Thibodeau-coached team before this one, it plays harder during the regular season than many opponents. That edge fades when those rivals dial up to playoff intensity and Thibs’ groups seem to lack an extra gear. But with Anunoby to put out fires – they were 20-3 when he played – and Brunson as the little engine that does, the Knicks should be glad they outworked their way to the high seed. Home-court advantage at MSG could make the difference in a series ripe to go the max.
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What to expect in Nuggets-Lakers series
The defending champs come into the playoffs on a roll, and its experienced core could be too much for L.A.A rematch of the 2023 Western Conference Finals awaits. If Denver’s 3-0 regular season against the Los Angeles Lakers serves as any indication, we should expect another 4-0 Nuggets sweep over the Lakers in this year’s opening round.
Los Angeles hasn’t tasted victory against the Nuggets since December 2022. Although the defending champs lumbered into the postseason in 2023, losing five of their last seven games to close the season, this year’s squad enters the playoffs having won six of their last eight.
Series schedule
Here’s how to watch the Nuggets vs. Lakers series:
All times Eastern Standard Time
- Game 1: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Saturday, April 20 (8:30 p.m., ABC)
- Game 2: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Monday, April 22 (10 p.m., TNT)
- Game 3: Nuggets vs. Lakers; Thursday, April 25 (10 p.m., TNT)
- Game 4: Nuggets vs. Lakers; Saturday, April 27 (8:30 p.m., ABC)
- Game 5: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Monday, April 29 (TBD, TBD)*
- Game 6: Nuggets vs. Lakers; Thursday, May 2 (TBD, TBD)*
- Game 7: Lakers vs. Nuggets; Saturday, May 4 (TBD, TNT)*
Top storyline
It’s Lakers-Nuggets Part II in the playoffs. So, we get another postseason series featuring stellar bigs in two-time Kia MVP Nikola Jokic going head-to-head against Anthony Davis, as well as other stars such as LeBron James and Jamal Murray.
The matchup between these teams in last season’s Western Conference Finals was widely viewed as highly competitive. Ultimately, we all watched a clean sweep. Denver’s largest margin of victory in that series was just eight points, and the Lakers fell by two points in the decisive Game 4.
Luckily for Los Angeles, its Play-In Tournament victory Tuesday over New Orleans bought it some needed time off ahead of Game 1 to face a Denver team coming off nearly a week of rest.
Keep your eyes on
Jamal Murray: In case you forgot, Murray averaged 32.5 points and nearly three steals, dropping 30 of 37 points in the opening half of Game 3 for Denver’s largest margin of victory in last year’s series.
It marked one of the most efficient postseason series in league history, considering Murray shot 52.7% from the field, 40.5% from deep and 95% from the free-throw line. Murray’s 50-40-90 line registered as just the 11th in a playoff series for a player averaging 30 points or more. What’s more is Murray has now done that twice – remember the 2020 bubble?
1 more thing to watch for each team
For Lakers: D’Angelo Russell recently said: “Public humiliation has done nothing but mold me into the killer that you see today.” Game 1 of last year’s series certainly met the threshold for humiliation. Denver played Russell off the floor in Game 1. He shot 4-for-11 for eight points and played just 8:45 in the second half. The Lakers can’t afford another slow start from him.
For Nuggets: Denver is missing veteran glue guys in Jeff Green and Bruce Brown, who were key contributors to last season’s championship run. So, youngsters such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson will be counted upon to step into those roles. The Nuggets expected as much and groomed them during the season for more responsibility. The postseason is a different animal though.
1 key number to know
18-15 – This is the series for which 3-pointers will mean the least. The Nuggets were the only team that had a winning record (18-15) in games in which they were outscored from 3-point range this season. The Lakers, meanwhile, had the most wins (23-29) when being outscored from deep. Denver (35.2%) and L.A. (35.8%) ranked 30th and 28th, respectively in the percentage of their shots that came from 3-point range, and those rates were even lower (32.9% and 31.0%) over the three regular-season meetings.
Shots from beyond the arc won’t be meaningless, of course. The Lakers won their Play-In game by four points, outscoring the Pelicans by 15 (42-27) from 3-point range. And a big reason they had the league’s third-ranked offense over the last half of the season is that they went from shooting 35.7% (20th) from beyond the arc over their first 41 games to shooting 39.5% (second) over their last 41. The Nuggets, however, swept the season series, with their point differential from 3-point range (plus-27) almost matching the overall mark (plus-30).
Perimeter shots matter, but more than any other, this series will be determined inside the arc.
The pick
Nuggets in four. Jokic averaged a triple-double against Davis last year in the playoffs, and there’s no reason to expect a dropoff this time. Los Angeles lacks depth and the firepower in the starting group to keep up with Denver’s experienced core. The Nuggets finished the 2022-23 regular season in a slump. They enter this postseason rolling. This won’t be close.
NBA.COM
These guys made it look easy from behind the arc! Check out some of the best 3 point shots of the season!
Good luck 
Play ball
Fla strong out of the hate
Sit tight
Everyone makes a run
Everyone makes a run
Congrats Miami.
