April 28, 2024
Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports
The Knicks are hoping Mitchell Robinson suits up in Game 4 as their best option for defending Joel Embiid.
After a frustrating Game 1 loss and a heartbreaking defeat in Game 2, the Sixers returned home Thursday night with their backs against the wall and the New York Knicks' rabid fanbase having invaded their home arena. They played a shaky and emotional first 24 minutes before Joel Embiid took over, pouring in a 50-point masterpiece that led his team to a much-needed Game 3 victory -- despite the reigning NBA MVP dealing with an ongoing knee injury and a diagnosis of Bell's palsy.
With Sunday afternoon's Game 4 tipping off in just a handful of hours, let's dive into the most pivotal storylines worth following as the Sixers attempt to even the series at 2-2 before it returns to Madison Square Garden.
Brunson, the Knicks' first-time All-Star point guard whose 28.7 points per game ranked fourth-best in the NBA in the 2023-24 regular season, was a shell of himself in the first two games of this series: the Sixers limited New York's blossoming superstar to a combined shooting line of 16-45 from the field, good for a 35.5 field goal percentage.
Then Game 3 came around, and while the Sixers were able to nab a win, it did not come without objection from Brunson, who posted 39 points and 13 assists, finally looking like the player who tormented opposing defenders and coaches in the regular season.
While Brunson's Game 3 performance was a deviation from how he looked in the first two games of the series, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was hardly surprised by it.
"He was really good. I just think he is really good," Nurse said. "And I don't think you're going to keep a guy that good down for a whole series."
Brunson was more successful as an offensive engine in Game 3 in just about every single respect. He was considerably more efficient as a two-point scorer, particularly in the mid-range and post areas where he is so effective. After making just one of his six three-point tries in each of the first two games of the series, he knocked down three of his seven attempts from beyond the arc on Thursday. Brunson shot a dozen free throw attempts in Game 3 -- he attempted six of them in Game 1 and nine in Game 2 -- and converted 10 of those into points.
One of the Sixers' strengths as a defense -- against Brunson, surely, but also in a general sense -- is their ability to throw multiple viable defenders at a player. Across the first two games of the series, Kelly Oubre Jr., Nic Batum, Tobias Harris and even Tyrese Maxey were all able to put together important strings of stops against New York's leading scorer.
Nurse has said before that despite his team's lack of a "shutdown" type of defender -- though Batum has been one at times -- they derive tremendous value from the optionality that comes with their depth as a perimeter defense. Nurse and co. hope that their collective approach on that end of the floor can help them prevent Brunson from erupting once again in Game 4.
One could argue that Robinson, the Knicks' starting center for multiple years prior to this one -- who is now New York's backup after missing more than three months due to ankle surgery -- swung the outcome of Game 1 of this series with his outstanding defense against Embiid. Particularly in the second half, Robinson used his height and length to bother Embiid, who made just two of his 12 field goal attempts after intermission. By the end of the game, Robinson had been on the receiving end of multiple standing ovations from the New York faithful.
Robinson was fine but less stellar in the Knicks' Game 2 win over the Sixers, still able to give Embiid fits at various points throughout the game. Heading into Game 3, he was listed as questionable for the first time in the series due to "injury recovery" with his ankle, but Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau indicated before the game that Robinson would be available with no limitations.
That did not turn out to be the case.
By the end of the second quarter, Robinson was hobbling to the bench after being torched by Embiid and barely being able to get up and down the floor. He eventually went to the locker room, later got ruled out for the remainder of the game and was eventually seen leaving the arena wearing a walking boot.
Robinson did not practice for the Knicks on Saturday, and given the unique physical gifts which make him a clear option defending Embiid, losing Robinson for even just Game 4 of this series would be a tough blow for the Thibodeau.
If Robinson is to miss any time during this series, the Knicks will call upon fourth-year, undersized and athletic center Precious Achiuwa -- drafted by the Miami Heat one pick before Maxey in the 2020 NBA Draft -- to fill in for him. Achiuwa logged 10 minutes of play after Robinson exited Game 4, and was quite effective. Achiuwa made both of his field goal attempts, got a stop one-on-one against Embiid and blocked a floater attempt from Maxey.
When I broke down New York's projected rotation for this series before it started, I felt inclined to include Achiuwa just in case he found his way into a role. Achiuwa is not yet a reliable NBA rotation player, but I had a hunch that he could give the Knicks quality production in a short stint, and that is exactly what happened. A few excepts from last Friday's story:
"It is unclear what Achiuwa's role will be in this series -- and if he will even have one, barring an injury...
While I remain a heavy skeptic of what his role can be on a consistent basis playing for a good team and contributing to winning basketball, he is one-of-a-kind for the Knicks in one way: he is the only player on New York's roster even theoretically capable of both defending Embiid and making a three-point shot.
...there is a world in which a tremendous athlete who is physically capable of taking and making a three-pointer in an NBA environment in 2024 could give Embiid fits, even if just for a few minutes before the reigning NBA MVP figured him out and picked him apart."
Well, those few minutes worth of fits courtesy of Achiuwa came and went, but the Knicks do not have a Game 3 victory to show for it. If Achiuwa is forced into action in Game 4, the part where Embiid goes right to work against him may be up next.
Embiid aside, the Sixers' star of Game 3 may have been Cam Payne, whose scoring and energy in a 16-minute bench cameo helped keep the Sixers afloat before their All-Star duo of Embiid and Maxey took over. Payne, who had seen just 154 seconds of game action in the series prior to hearing his name called, sent the Wells Fargo Center into a frenzy almost immediately upon checking in. It was a fitting reward for a teammate who has invested so much energy into his teammates since his arrival in Philadelphia in February.
"Energy costs nothing," Payne repeated after the game with a smile.
Buddy Hield has played in every single Sixers game since he was acquired from the Indiana Pacers at the trade deadline, just hours before Payne. Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, in a quote that is perhaps somewhat infamous now, argued that Hield was "the best player" who had been moved at the deadline. Through four games, he looked the part, thriving as a scorer and facilitator for a undermanned Sixers team. But things have gone downhill for Hield in Philadelphia ever since.
First, the sharpshooter was removed from the starting five, then his minutes began to steadily decline -- along with his performance. Hield's confidence has clearly looked shaken in recent weeks, and nothing illustrates that better than the fact that in 30 minutes across three games in this series, he has scored a total of two points on 1-7 shooting from the field (including 0-4 from beyond the arc, where he has been historically great over the course of his eight-year career).
Hield's struggles culminated in what might have been a first: he did not see the floor at all during the second half of Game 3, with his minutes instead being given to Payne. Payne -- who has quickly become a fan favorite in multiple recent stops in his career, Philadelphia now included -- made good on Nurse's show of faith, finishing the game with 11 points, three assists and (somehow) two blocked shots.
Payne figures to be a lock in Nurse's rotation heading into Game 4. Through four postseason games, Nurse has almost exclusively stuck to an eight-man rotation. If it is to be believed that Nurse will stick with that alignment, Hield could very well be on the outside looking in when Game 4 tips off Saturday.
Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice
