Sixers-Knicks: Joel Embiid, Philly eliminated from the playoffs in Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center

Give the Knicks credit. They wanted it.

Not as much as the referees wanted it for them.

But they wanted it. They willed it. They got it: a 118-115 win in Game 6, a 4-2 win in an epic first-round series, a conference semifinals date with the Pacers.

The 76ers kept giving their fans hope.

Even after posting their worst regular-season winning percentage in seven seasons, there was belief the Sixers could make a deep postseason run. Joel Embiid’s return from knee surgery was supposed to make them tough to beat.

But in reality, while they might have been better with him, they just weren’t good enough to get out of the first round. On Thursday night, they suffered a 118-115 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center.

When it mattered the most, Jalen Brunson was the best player on the court in the fourth quarter of Game 6, leading the Knicks to a 118-115 victory, clinching the series at the Wells Fargo Center, 4-2.

Brunson burnt the Sixers for 41 points, including 14 in the final frame. He also added 12 assists.

The former Villanova guard shot 13 of 27 overall with 3 of 8 coming from behind the three-point line.

Joel Embiid hasn't been as dominant in the second half, but it isn't for lack of tracking.

The big fella is working hard on the block to get open, but his teammates have struggled to make proper entry passes.

So much so that he even picked up an offensive foul wrestling for position with Mitchell Robinson. On another possession he had Josh Hart on his back and Nicolas Batum lobbed up a limp pass that was knocked out of bounds.

One day the New York Knicks will teach Isaiah Hartenstein about the rule of verticality.

Joel Embiid has placed the serviceable center in a torture chamber this series, using an array of spins, post-ups, and fadeaways to dismantle his defense. But the most devastating thing Embiid has done to Hartenstein is invade his space and draw fouls.

Thus far Hartenstein has not learned how to handle this, holding his arms forward on every play and begging Embiid to raise up, gain contact, and draw a foul. And he has. Over and over, including the stretch of Game 4 where Embiid drew five fouls on Hartenstein in one quarter.

Tyrese Maxey is coming fresh off the best game of his career.

He scored 46 points and knocked down seven points in the final 25.4 seconds of regulation to force overtime and, ultimately, a Sixers overtime win in Game 5.

But the Knicks were keen on slowing him down in Game 6. With Embiid hobbled for much of Game 5, the Knicks keyed in on Maxey as part of their game plan Thursday. They hedged hard and guarded him at the hip through the games first 28 minutes, limiting Maxey to five points on 2 of 7 shooting.

Daryl Morey and Buddy Hield just had a bad, bad week. Hield was reluctant to shoot in Games 1-3 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs and didn’t play at all in Games 4 and 5. Morey acquired Hield at the trade deadline to add scoring, but had two points through five games.

So, lots of eyebrows raised when Hield entered for a random end-of-quarter in-bounds play as the first 12 minutes expired.

Those eyebrows raised further when he stayed in the game to start the second quarter.

Welcome to the playoffs, Buddy Hield.

Hield had fallen out of the Sixers’ rotation prior to Game 6 in his first ever playoff appearance. In the second quarter, Hield made his presence felt, hitting five three-point shots to help the Sixers close the massive gap the Knicks opened up in the first quarter.

Hield was just one part of a huge Sixers second-quarter 32-15 run, the polar opposite of their first quarter disaster, to take the lead late down the stretch.

The Sixers crowd was ready from the jump. 

If only the Sixers themselves could say the same. The Knicks jumped out to a huge early lead, and Joel Embiid was the only Sixer to get on the board for the first eight minutes of the game. Embiid exited the game with just under four minutes to play, and then the Sixers finally started to see some production from players like Tyrese Maxey, Cam Payne, and Nico Batum, going on a run late in the first to bring the Knicks’ lead down to 14.

Donte DiVincenzo went 3-for-4 from three-point range and Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with ten points – and secured free chicken nuggets for the crowd after two missed free throws.

This is the rare game where getting the starter in foul trouble is actually a bad thing.

Isaiah Hartenstein went to the bench with two fouls midway through the first quarter, but reserve Mitchell Robinson has defended Joel Embiid better than any Knicks player in the series.

Knicks forward OG Anunoby deserves credit for his defense on the Sixers center down the stretch of Game 5, but so does Embiid's bulky knee, Bell's palsy, and migraine.

The 76ers and New York Knicks know their first-round series will be won on the margins. And in the rebounding battle.

"Keep them off the boards, try our best to play with pace, try to limit them to one shot," Cam Payne said when discussing priorities for Game 6. "That's really the main key, man. Try to limit them to one shot. They do a hell of a job on the rebounding end. Honestly, we take care of that I think we have a good chance."

Payne couldn't be more correct. In each game of the series, the winner has held an advantage on the boards.

There are a few overarching trends in the Sixers’ first-round series vs. the Knicks — rebounding, Joel Embiid’s injury, Jalen Brunson’s play — but ahead of Game 5, Nico Batum said the series was about “details.”

Now, heading into Game 6, coach Nick Nurse doesn’t know what to think of a series this close.

"Nothing matters," Nurse said prior to Game 6. "They kill us on the glass, it goes down to the buzzer. We kill them on the glass, it goes down to the buzzer. Joel [Embiid] scores 50, it goes down the buzzer. [Jalen] Brunson scores 47, it goes down to the buzzer. You tell me what matters…

Joel Embiid has attempted 65 free throw attempts this series. That’s already tied for 20th all-time in a first-round series. At 13 attempts per game, he is within striking distance of Dwight Howard’s all-time (first-round) record of 88 in the 2010-11 playoffs. He needs 17 makes to tie DeMar DeRozan for most all-time in a first-round series.

Nick Nurse thinks there is even more meat on that bone.

"It’s certainly physical and it seems to be a little bit harder when the guy is a lot bigger, for whatever reason," Nurse said prior to Game 6. "Fighting for position, moving down the floor, just trying to make a cut. You guys have seen it. This isn’t the first year, the first series. He’s used to it. He just has to play through it. I think there’s more opportunities for him to get fouled. I really do. Shooting fouls, get to the free throw line."

The 76ers traded for Buddy Hield with the expectation that he would play a major roll shooting the ball and freeing space for Joel Embiid.

Three months removed from the deadline-day deal, that has not exactly come to fruition for Hield, who has played well in fits and starts and been removed from the playoff rotation. But rather than sulk, Hield offered encouragement for Maxey before he made two game-changing shots to secure overtime and, ultimately, a Game 5 win.

"[Hield] said, 'You know what you can do,'" Maxey said. "'Go out there and make up for it.' I really do appreciate Buddy for that. I know it’s going to go unnoticed. But it was a big time for him.”

Though the Sixers’ must-win Game 6 is tonight, the aftermath of Tyrese Maxey’s miracle, season-saving shots at The Garden still lingered Thursday morning.

When asked where that stacks up in teammate playoff performances, reserve guard Cameron Payne replied with, "Ohhh, that’s No. 1, in my eyes."

Payne brings valuable perspective on this particular topic.

Often cited as the most passionate fans in sports, Philly folks have never been mistaken for a fickle bunch.

That changed after the Sixers' 97-92 Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks. Fans came under scrutiny after New Yorkers neutralized the Sixers' homecourt advantage and ran rampant in the Wells Fargo Center. They chanted, they cheered, they put a Knicks jersey on Wilt Chamberlain's statue.

After the game, Joel Embiid called Sixers fans to the carpet, stating that he was "disappointed" and it "[ticked] him off" that Knicks fans invaded The Center.

The Sixers held their morning shootaround an hour later than normal Thursday, an adjustment for a rare 9 p.m. tipoff for Game 6.

The unusual start time is because both of Thursday’s playoff games are in the Eastern time zone, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff in Indianapolis between the Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday that he “absolutely [loves]” the late tip, a subtle reference to an NBA Finals games in Toronto that started at that time when he was coaching the Raptors to their 2019 championship. Yet veteran guard Cameron Payne said following shootaround that this is the first time he can remember playing so late.

According to the Last Two Minute Report released by the NBA on Wednesday, officials missed several calls during the New York Knicks and Sixers’ wild Game 5 finish, including one on Tyrese Maxey’s four-point play that sparked a late rally, scoring seven points over a 17-second span.

The report stated that Maxey, who scored a game-high 46 points in the 112-106 win, traveled on the play that pulled the Sixers within two points with 25.1 seconds remaining. Officials say Maxey “gathers the ball on his left foot, takes two legal steps, and then moves his right foot again just before he is fouled on his shot.”

After Josh Hart missed one of two free throws on the ensuing Knicks possession, Maxey fired a 34-foot three-pointer to tie the game at 97 with 8.1 seconds left that sent the game to overtime.

The vibe inside the 76ers practice facility was loose at the conclusion of Thursday morning’s shootaround.

Head coach Nick Nurse chatted with two assistants in the middle of the court. Meanwhile players were in a good mood while working on their three-point shots as music blared from the speakers nine hours before a must-win Game 6 against the Knicks.

“Gotta be, gotta be loose,” Cam Payne said of the vibe. “We can’t be tight. We got a game tonight. Must win. I feel like the looser you are, the better chances you have to win. The more tight, you might not make the shots. You may be worried about your shots. But coach got a very loose mentality. Come out here and play your game. Do what you are going to do. Take your shots that you normally take.”

Nico Batum has been an X-factor for the 76ers against the New York Knicks in their first-round playoff series.

His play in Tuesday’s 112-106 Game 5 overtime victory is a major reason why the Sixers extended the series and have a chance to do so again on Thursday night. Batum is averaging 4.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in 28.4 minutes while providing solid defense.

In Game 5, the reserve forward blocked Jalen Brunson’s potential game-winning layup in the closing seconds of regulation. Then, he forced Brunson to pass up a shot in mid-air which led to a crucial turnover with less than 30 seconds remaining in overtime.

NBA official Scott Foster, who is best known for his personal feud with Warriors star Chris Paul, will be the crew chief for the Sixers' Game 6 matchup against the New York Knicks. Foster was also part of the officiating crew for Game 1, a 111-104 home win for the Knicks.

With the Sixers hoping to stave off elimination at home, Foster's assignment started conversations about the NBA's hopes of extending the series.

And based on the numbers, there appears to be a good reason that Foster's reputation as the "series extender" precedes him.

Knicks fans took over the Wells Fargo Center during Game 4 against the Sixers — to the chagrin and embarrassment of many in Philadelphia. Now, it seems like every high-profile former Sixer or Sixers fan is hopping in to ensure that never happens again.

Even before Wednesday’s announcement from Sixers ownership that they’ll buy 2,000 tickets to distribute to local Philadelphia first responders and community groups, famous fans like Dawn Staley and Lil Dicky were on X, formerly Twitter, encouraging fans not to sell their tickets. Coach Nick Nurse also urged fans to support the team on Thursday night.

“I’d say we all can do better, right?” Nurse told reporters Wednesday. “I think we deserve better. … We need everybody’s support, man. For sure. I think the team’s playing its guts out.”

The question for the Sixers isn’t whether they showed guts Tuesday night in staving off elimination. (They did.) It’s whether they can summon that same effort, or an effort close to it, on Thursday night for Game 6.

And the answer to that question is … uncertain at best.

Mostly, the Sixers won Game 5 because of Tyrese Maxey. More than mostly, actually. If he hadn’t scored seven points in less time than it takes to soften a stick of butter in a microwave, he and his teammates would have been crammed into the visitors’ locker room at Madison Square Garden, giving their what-might-have-been, see-ya-in-the-fall interviews to the media.

The leaders of the 76ers’ ownership group, Josh Harris, David Blitzer, and David Adelman, will join with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin to buy and distribute more than 2,000 tickets to Sixers fans for Thursday’s Game 6 playoff matchup against the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center.

A team spokesperson said the tickets will be distributed to first responders, health-care professionals, community groups, and other Philly-based organizations to “harness the intensity and excitement” for a crucial matchup at the South Philly arena.

The owners’ actions come after Knicks fans took over the arena in Games 3 and 4.

The Sixers are back in Philadelphia tonight looking to avoid elimination against the New York Knicks, but fans will have to stay up a bit later to see if Philly can force a Game 7.

Tonight's game will air on NBC Sports Philadelphia beginning at 9 p.m., with Kate Scott and Alaa Abdelnaby on the call.

Sixers Pregame Live will air at 8:30 p.m., featuring Amy Fadool, Jim Lynam, and Marc Jackson. Sixers Postgame Live will air immediately following the game.