Nick Nurse singles out Tobias Harris after Sixers beat Knicks in Game 5

Nick Nurse singles out Tobias Harris after the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New York Knicks in Game 5 to stay alive.

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers received one phenomenal performance out of Tyrese Maxey as he came alive for a career playoff-high 46 points, but the Sixers got some big plays out of Tobias Harris down the stretch to earn a 112-106 overtime win over the New York Knicks in Game 5.

Harris pumped in 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and knocked down three triples to help the Sixers get the job done. Obviously, Maxey was the hero on Tuesday and he is going to get all the headlines and the flowers, but Harris was terrific.

“He was really good,” said coach Nick Nurse. “I thought he made the shot of the night to be honest with you. We were down five and spinning out of control and he came down and made a super tough, 17-foot turnaround to cut it back to three after the momentum, the place was going crazy, and that to me was the second-best shot of the night.”

Nurse isn’t wrong about Harris. The Knicks went up 82-77 on an OG Anunoby jumper with 5:45 left and Madison Square Garden was going crazy. Harris calmly hit a 17-footer and Philadelphia really needed it.

When Harris is going like he was on Tuesday, he changes things.

“It’s huge,” Joel Embiid added. “When Tobias plays well, I think we have a high chance to win any game. Like I’ve been saying all season long, for us to win, we have to be perfect. Everybody has to somehow play well and we all have to play well at the same time.”

As the Sixers head back to Philadelphia down 3-2, they will need more from Harris. He is going to be the big X-Factor for this group. If he plays well, Philadelphia will have a great chance to get it done.

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Joel Embiid, Sixers in awe of Tyrese Maxey after saving them vs. Knicks

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers were left in awe of Tyrese Maxey after he saved them against the New York Knicks.

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers looked dead in the water against the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. New York’s Miles McBride made a mid-range jumper to put the Knicks up 96-90 with 28.2 seconds left and it felt like that was the dagger.

The obituaries for the 2023-24 season were being written. The Sixers looked defeated and headed toward elimination.

In the blink of an eye, Tyrese Maxey changed that. He converted a ridiculous 4-point play to bring Philadelphia within 96-94 and then drilled a logo triple to tie it and force overtime. The Sixers went on to win 112-106 in overtime and stave off elimination.

“It went in our favor thanks to Tyrese Maxey,” said Joel Embiid who had a triple-double, but nine turnovers. “He was unbelievable. Hitting big shots after big shots. Especially, with everything going on. Tobias (Harris) was amazing throughout the whole game. I think all my teammates. They did their job. Yeah. We got the win.”

Maxey has always been a confident kid. He exuded it on Tuesday. To have the guts to take and make the shots he made down the stretch is impressive and he carried the Sixers to a win and to fight another day.

“I saw confidence,” added Kelly Oubre Jr. “A will to not lose. I saw a big time player make a big time shot and I would expect nothing less.”

In the moment, Maxey did what he had to do. He made sure he got that shot up quick enough for Philadelphia to make a move and to continue to push forward. Coach Nick Nurse was just happy he did what he was supposed to do in that moment.

“We had to get it up the floor quick and get a 3-ball up, right?” said Nurse. “I’m glad we didn’t try to mess around and try to keep working for something or whatever. We had a little play call that has a counter to it and one of the options is just him pulling up and I know that was a deep one, but he raced it up there and took his chance.”

All season long, Maxey has proven to be a star player. He is going to do what he has to do with the season on the line to make sure Philadelphia is in the best position to win basketball games. He has been doing that all season long. Just Maxey being Maxey.

“Tyrese being Tyrese, man,” smiled Paul Reed. “Great players make great plays. Tonight, he made some great plays down the stretch that really sealed the win for us. He was awesome.”

Game 6 is back in Philadelphia on Thursday.

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Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr. to play for Sixers vs. Knicks in Game 5

The Philadelphia 76ers will have Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. for their Game 5 contest with the New York Knicks.

As the Philadelphia 76ers look to stave off elimination in Game 5 against the New York Knicks on the road on Tuesday night, they will have their full complement of players for this win-or-go-home matchup.

Joel Embiid, who missed shootaround due to a migraine, went through his warm ups and will be listed in the starting lineup on Tuesday. He was listed as questionable due to left knee injury recovery and the migraine is a side effect of the Bell’s Palsy he is dealing with.

Kelly Oubre Jr. also missed shootaround with an illness. He went through his warm ups as well and is listed in the starting lineup alongside Embiid, Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris.

The Sixers will be looking to stave off elimination and force this series back to Philadelphia for a Game 6 on Thursday. They will need Embiid and Maxey to be at their best and get some help from the likes of Oubre and Harris.

Tip off from Madison Square Garden is set for 7 p.m. EDT.

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Sixers’ Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr. miss shootaround before Game 5

The Philadelphia 76ers were missing Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. at shootaround on Tuesday morning before Game 5.

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers are getting set to take on the New York Knicks in an elimination game from Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The Sixers are down 3-1 in the series and are looking to live and fight for another day.

As the Sixers convened for shootaround on Tuesday morning, it was revealed that Joel Embiid and Kelly Oubre Jr. would not attend for Philadelphia. Embiid is dealing with a migraine and is resting while Oubre did not feel well so they both missed shootaround.

It does not change Embiid’s status for Tuesday. He is still questionable due to his left knee injury recovery.

As for Oubre, the Sixers just stated that he is not feeling well. One has to assume that he will do everything he can to ensure that he’s ready to go for Tuesday’s ginormous game.

Tip off is set for 7 p.m. EDT from New York City.

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Sixers address Joel Embiid scoring only 1 point in 4th quarter vs. Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers address Joel Embiid scoring only one point in the fourth quarter in the Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had to find a way to get Joel Embiid involved late against the New York Knicks in Game 4 on Sunday.

Just three days after scoring a playoff career-high 50 points in the Game 3 win, Embiid was held to a pedestrian — by his standards — 27 points in the Game 4 loss.

Even worse, Embiid had 13 points after halftime on 2-for-7 shooting. He had exactly one point in the fourth quarter on 0-for-5 shooting with the game in the balance.

The Knicks had Isaiah Hartenstein on the bench due to foul trouble and turned to former Nick Nurse disciples OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa. The two held Embiid in check.

“Well, he did a good job,” Nurse said of Anunoby defending Embiid. “OG can, obviously, guard him. It’s that and the scheme as well. When he got it, they were getting it out of his hands, and I think he made really great reads. You guys can see those plays just like I can in your head right now where we’re swinging around. We got Kelly (Oubre Jr.) on a back cut for a layup, we got swing around 3s, we got pass, pass, wide-open corner 3s. When you’re making the right reads, you gotta step up and make them.”

Embiid made the right reads. The Sixers missed shots. That caused the Knicks to ignore shooters and focus on the big fella. However, he’s the reigning league MVP.

Yes, he is dealing with the leg issue and Bell’s Palsy. Yes, he deserves every ounce of respect from everybody for playing through that, but he needs to demand the ball and take games over in the fourth.

Maybe he ran out of gas. That could have been a big factor given he played all 24 minutes after halftime due to the team’s struggles with him off the floor in the first half.

“It was difficult,” added Maxey on Embiidd’s lack of production in the fourth. “I mean, again, that’s on like me and KLow (Kyle Lowry) because they trapped him almost every single time he caught the ball. So that’s extremely hard to it’s hard to be aggressive when you get trapped. He made the right plays for the most part. I think, guys missed shots.”

Maxey shot 8-for-21 on the day. That doesn’t help Philadelphia, but for Embiid to score only one point in the fourth quarter in the biggest game of the season is a big issue.

“I missed a couple shots,” Maxey admitted. “I missed a couple layups that I normally make. We missed a couple of 3s, but I felt like Jo did a great job of reading the defense. They came and trapped him, he kicked it out, and we got some shots that just didn’t fall today.”

The Sixers need Embiid to be superhuman when they go back into Madison Square Garden on Tuesday looking to extend their season.

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Joel Embiid believes there’s no pressure on Sixers while down 3-1

Joel Embiid believes the Philadelphia 76ers have no pressure while being down 3-1 to the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — Heading into the 2023-24 season, the Philadelphia 76ers had championship aspirations. Coach Nick Nurse was brought in help get this team over the hump and past the second round for the first time since 2001.

Prospects were looking great for the Sixers until Joel Embiid suffered a left knee injury in late January that required surgery a week later and kept him sidelined for two months. During that time, Philadelphia tumbled down the standings.

Embiid returned in early April, but the Sixers entered these playoffs as the No. 7 seed. After a Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon, the focus is to just keep playing one game at a time.

“One at a time,” Embiid said after the loss. “We know we’re good enough. Tonight, we didn’t make shots, so we just gotta keep trusting ourselves. We know the pace was not good in the fourth quarter so we gotta play faster, and like I said, keep trusting each other, and go out and play.”

To Embiid’s point, the Sixers shot 6-for-24 in the fourth quarter and 34.2% from the floor overall in the second half. New York overwhelmed the Sixers with its defense and offensive rebounding.

In terms of pressure? Embiid doesn’t believe the Sixers have it. It’s all on the Knicks to knock them out.

“We got no pressure,” said Embiid. “We’re the 7 seed, down 3-1, a lot of guys are hurt, I don’t know why we would feel the pressure. So we should just go out and play our best basketball. One at a time. Win one. Come back home. Win another one and then Game 7 over there so I’m looking forward to it. Yeah. No pressure.”

Embiid isn’t technically wrong. The Sixers are the seventh seed, but only due to him missing two months because of the injury. If he had stayed healthy, Philadelphia would likely have been the No. 2 seed in the East.

Either way, the Sixers have to focus on Game 5 on Tuesday. Those first two games in New York could have gone either way, and Philadelphia needs to focus on that as it prepares to fight for its life.

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Multiple Sixers give their take on rebounding struggles in loss to Knicks

Multiple members of the Philadelphia 76ers give their take on the rebounding struggles in the Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had their chances on Sunday against the New York Knicks. It was a Game 4 in their building down 2-1 in the series and the game was in the balance down the stretch.

A familiar issue popped up for the Sixers in this series: the inability to keep the Knicks off the glass.

New York grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter that led to 11 second-chance points. Joel Embiid grabbed one rebound in the final frame.

“I think part of it is, obviously, their best player that they trust and they don’t care if he takes 40 shots a game,” Embiid said after the loss. “I think most of the time when you’re in rotation or when you’re trying to load up to make sure he doesn’t get easy shots, that kinda gives them a lot of open lanes to just attack the offensive glass. It almost seems like they just know he’s gonna shoot it and they’re just getting ready to offensive rebound.”

Rebounding has been a key point in this series. Coach Nick Nurse has pointed it out to this group all series, and the Knicks were still able to do what they do down the stretch. OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa combined for five of the seven offensive rebounds.

“You know what’s crazy about that is Nurse kept saying, he’s going to show them film from Game 1,” added Tyrese Maxey. “Games 2 and 3, we did a great job of just boxing out and grabbing every single rebound for the most part, until the end of Game 2.”

Before Game 4, Nurse made it a point to show the Sixers the importance of crashing the glass.

“He said it, he kept saying it, he kept saying it before the game, ‘Guys, I promise you they are going to show them film, Thibs is going to show them film from Game 1 saying listen this is how we have to beat this team. We have to go in there, we have to go in there and grab every single rebound.’” Maxey added. “And for the most part, we did a decent job, it’s just the fourth quarter they got some extra possessions that cost us.”

Even with the rebounding struggles in the fourth quarter, there was a stretch in the third when it appeared the Sixers would pull away. Philadelphia was unable to do so, and it allowed the Knicks to stay in it.

“I thought in that second half, that third quarter stretch, we had too many possessions where we didn’t get a look up there,” added Tobias Harris. “Whether it was a turnover or just disorganization from us on the offensive end and then they were able to capitalize, but the name of the game was that stretch that we had there and also, on the offensive boards for them.”

At the end of the day, the Sixers needed to execute on the glass and were unable to do so.

“I think we had a lot of bad bounces,” added Embiid. “You look at the game, every single shot, it just felt like it kept falling in their hands. Sometimes, you can do the best job possible to try and box out, but if the ball doesn’t bounce your way, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Game 5 is Tuesday back in New York.

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Joel Embiid upset Knicks fans took over Sixers’ home arena

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was not happy that the fans of the New York Knicks took over the Wells Fargo Center.

PHILADELPHIA — Normally, the Philadelphia 76ers have one of the best home-court advantages in the NBA. The passionate fans of Philadelphia fill up the Wells Fargo Center on a nightly basis and show support for their team.

That was not the case in games 3 and 4 against the New York Knicks. Sure, there were likely more Sixers fans in both games, but the Knicks fans that  made the trip let their voices be heard. The arena felt like a neutral site game rather than a home-court game for Philadelphia.

“Disappointing,” said Joel Embiid after the Game 4 loss to the Knicks. “I love our fans. I think it’s unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing. Obviously, we got a lot of Knicks fans and they’re down the road, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve been here 10 years.”

The city of Philadelphia is a big sports town. The fans show up for the Sixers, Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and every other Philadelphia sports team–professional or college. The Knicks fans didn’t care about any of that.

“It kinda pisses me off,” Embiid finished. “Especially, because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up, and I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”

The Sixers are facing elimination and look to keep their season alive on Tuesday when they head back to New York for Game 5.

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Nick Nurse explains playing Joel Embiid entire 2nd half in Game 4 loss to Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse explains having Joel Embiid playing the entire second half in the Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers knew how important Game 4 was for them. They could not afford to go back to Madison Square Garden trailing the New York Knicks, 3-1. Therefore, coach Nick Nurse went all in.

Nurse played Joel Embiid, the most dominant player in this series, the entire second half and 44 minutes total in a 97-92 loss to the Knicks.

Embiid shot 2-for-7 in the second half and only had one point and one rebound in the fourth quarter. It was an overall tough effort for him: It appeared he ran out of gas.

“He was feeling good and wanted to go,” said Nurse afterward. “I think all these games are all must-wins, and we didn’t have a very good stretch when he was out in the first half so we were willing to continue on.”

Nurse isn’t wrong about the first-half stretch. Paul Reed played four minutes in the second quarter and New York went on an 8-2 run as it went right at Reed. Nurse saw the issues and reinserted Embiid quickly.

“It’s tough, especially playing all these minutes, but it’s unfortunate,” Embiid added. “You’re competitive nature is always gonna take over and I felt like that they always come back in the game in this series so I was like ‘I got nothing to lose’. I just gotta push myself. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way I wanted to, but like I said, it’s whatever it takes to win.”

Still, considering everything Embiid is dealing with, it is understandable that the big fella couldn’t be his dominant self. He admitted to not feeling great, but he’s doing everything he can to help the Sixers in this series.

“Not good, but like I said, I gotta keep pushing,” Embiid explained. “Whatever it takes to win.”

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NBA fans made Ben Simmons jokes when Joel Embiid passed up a crucial wide-open jumper

Somewhere, Ben Simmons was probably laughing.

In a hard-fought series against the New York Knicks, it feels like every mistake has cost the Philadelphia 76ers dearly. What happened at the end of Philadelphia’s loss on Sunday to give the Knicks a 3-1 series lead looked especially brutal.

With the 76ers trying to mount a late comeback, Joel Embiid found himself wide-open for a short mid-range jumper that would’ve made it a one-score game. Instead, he pump-faked, drove into the teeth of the Knicks’ defense for the lay-up, and missed altogether. It seemed eerily reminiscent of ex-76er Ben Simmons passing up an easy dunk in a Game 7 loss against the Atlanta Hawks a few years ago.

Check it out via a video from a Twitter user below:

Oof. That’s gotta sting for the 76ers, particularly now that they face a 3-1 series deficit and have no margin for error.

To be fair to Embiid, he was probably the only reason this was even a close game in the fourth quarter. The superstar stuffed the stat sheet with 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks. This happened while All-Star Tyrese Maxey teammate shot just 8-of-21 from the field, and other key contributors like Tobias Harris scored only 10 points.

However, Embiid is the 76ers’ engine. He still scored a single point in the fourth quarter after playing the entire second half of a game for the first time in his career. (Never mind that the Knicks won the fourth-quarter rebounding battle far and away without a true center on the floor.) 76ers head coach Nick Nurse defended the decision because Philadelphia really needed this win, but it’s hard not to think that getting some rest would’ve helped Embiid, especially with his clutch time decision-making.

Embiid’s brutal decision at the very end probably didn’t lose the 76ers this game by itself, but the optics will be impossible to escape. It’s only natural it reminded NBA fans of Simmons’ infamous blunder.