5 Sixers thoughts: From matchups to crowds, what to watch for in second-round series vs. Knicks

Two years ago, 18-year-old VJ Edgecombe went to Madison Square Garden to see playoff basketball in person. He might be better off not telling Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr. or Kyle Lowry what stands out from that experience.

"I definitely remember [Donte] DiVincenzo's game-winner," Edgecombe said after scoring 23 points in the Sixers' Game 7 road win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

That shot, of course, sunk the Sixers in a disastrous Game 2 loss to the New York Knicks in a heartbreaking series. It might be the loss that eats at Maxey more than any other in his career. He would love to avenge it, and now Maxey, Embiid and company will be back at Madison Square Garden looking for revenge, beginning on Monday night in Game 1 of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Edgecombe, instead of watching in the crowd, will be on the floor by their side.

Kicking off another crucial week with 5 Sixers thoughts, previewing what is to come against New York:

Joel Embiid's matchups on both ends of the floor

In a basketball world that has famously abandoned positional norms, one of the only remnants of tradition is that centers typically defend each other. But Embiid and his former nemesis Karl-Anthony Towns, now the starting five in New York, are not necessarily locks to be assigned traditional matchups.

Towns is an elite three-point shooter; he might be the best shooting big in the history of the NBA. That is a nightmarish matchup for the current version of Embiid, once again a stalwart protecting the rim but extremely limited from a mobility perspective. Asking Embiid to get out to the three-point line and contest Towns' above-the-break triples – let alone potentially switch against two-man actions between Towns and Knicks superstar point guard Jalen Brunson – would not be wise.

What, then, should the Sixers do with Embiid defensively? The obvious answer is one that many teams have used this season: putting their center on Josh Hart, allowing someone else to handle Towns. It gives Towns a physical advantage – he is much bigger than, say, Paul George – but it would give the Sixers a much better shot of defending the three-point line and switching screens.

In the regular season, Hart shot well over 40 percent from three-point range. When these teams faced off two years ago, that was a clear weakness of his, so the Sixers tried to get away with not guarding him and his shot-making swung the series. It might be even tougher to stomach completely leaving him open this time around. Hart only made five of his 23 long-range attempts in the Knicks' first-round series against the Hawks, and Atlanta was at its best when starting center Onyeka Okongwu defended Hart with their bigger wings battling against Towns.

The other option would be to place Embiid on OG Anunoby, considered a much better shooter than Hart in addition to having some off-the-dribble scoring chops that Hart does not have. Anunoby is an incredibly strong wing; putting Embiid on him would at least negate his ability to play off of bumps the way he is usually comfortable doing.

Anunoby is a more intriguing piece on the other end of the floor. In Game 4 of the last Sixers-Knicks series, New York swung the game by putting Anunoby on Embiid in the fourth quarter. He worked tirelessly to deny Embiid from in front and it sent the Sixers' offense into disarray. If New York is determined to double-team Embiid, they could do so with Anunoby as his primary defender and have Towns roam off of Kelly Oubre Jr., whose suspect shooting will be on Knicks head coach Mike Brown's radar.

Jalen Brunson's matchups on both ends of the floor

The primary argument against playing Anunoby on Embiid might be that, with Towns on Oubre as an ensuing matchup, there would be nowhere for the 6-foot-2 Brunson to hide. He will certainly not be guarding Maxey in this series. In the first round, Hawks guard CJ McCollum targeted and torched Brunson over and over, helping Atlanta earn a 2-1 series lead before the Knicks rattled off three wins.

In the first two regular-season games between the Knicks and Sixers, New York attempted to get away with Brunson defending Edgecombe. The rookie completely overwhelmed Brunson time and time again:

VJ Edgecombe once again rose to the occasion at Madison Square Garden in another Sixers road win over the Knicks.
All 10 of Edgecombe's baskets on Saturday night, plus his two blocked shots. Another two-way masterclass from the 20-year-old rookie: pic.twitter.com/dLTcNXHH0k

— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 4, 2026

Oubre can also beat Brunson with quick bursts to the rim, but the Sixers will be less likely to force-feed Oubre to hunt a mismatch than they would be with Edgecombe, who naturally possesses the ball quite often anyways and is encouraged to aggressively punch gaps as a ball-handler.

The guess here: Towns opens the series on Embiid, freeing up Anunoby, Hart and Mikal Bridges to defend Maxey, Edgecombe and George in whichever arrangement Brown deems fit – and enabling Brunson to defend Oubre, giving him the best chance of not being exploited.

Two years ago, Oubre had some tremendous moments and games defending Brunson; he was Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's primary option. This time around, it will either be Oubre or Edgecombe.

The 20-year-old rookie would certainly not be afraid of guarding Brunson – he is not afraid of any task on either end of the floor – and Edgecombe did have one outstanding performance against Brunson in his Madison Square Garden debut:

VJ Edgecombe's defense on Jalen Brunson on Friday was quite possibly the most impressive feat of his NBA career so far.
Brunson attempted 10 field goals against Edgecombe. He made the first one. Then he missed the last nine.
Every Brunson FGA vs. Edgecombe in the Sixers' win: pic.twitter.com/NUhEhduCIr

— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) December 20, 2025

Edgecombe will get cracks at Brunson throughout the series, but asking him to be the primary defender in that matchup is a whole lot to ask. That point leads to one in favor of Embiid defending Anunoby rather than the more obvious option in Hart: Edgecombe could take that assignment instead and be available to switch on two-man actions between Brunson and Hart. It may give Nurse's defensive alignment a bit more malleability from possession to possession.

Bench production

Nurse has very few reserves he can trust. In reality, there might only be one: former Knicks first-round pick Quentin Grimes, whose first two-plus NBA seasons and doses of playoff intensity came with New York.

"I would say the best playoff atmosphere in the league," Grimes told PhillyVoice in the visitor's locker room after the Sixers' Game 7 win in Boston. "Jalen's a great player, tough shot-maker, tough shot-taker, so you've got to be prepared for that. It'll be, probably, a super fun and electric series from the jump."

Grimes should get some chances to defend his former teammate Brunson, and his ability to guard up against wings might be useful in this series, too. He is much less strong than Anunoby, but is a great matchup for Bridges. And at some point, the Sixers will need secondary scoring lifts beyond their four best players in order to win another round. Perhaps Oubre could give them something working against Brunson, but Grimes finding his groove from three-point range like he did in Game 5 against Boston would be a major difference-maker.

Elsewhere, it should be Andre Drummond beginning the series as Embiid's backup, not Adem Bona, as it will clearly take a whole lot for Nurse to toggle back from the veteran to the youngster. Drummond will help on the glass – more on that momentarily – but the Sixers will also have to make sure he does not get stranded on the perimeter defensively. Towns is a brutal matchup for him, and Bona actually could be a much better fit. Do not be surprised if Bona plays his way into this series at some point – the question is whether Nurse will weigh matchup quality or feel more heavily.

Expect Nurse to give Justin Edwards and Dominick Barlow small rotation cameos at various points in the series to help move the clock along; if either one impresses early they could earn a full-blown eighth rotation spot.

On New York's side, this series presents Deuce McBride the opportunity to miss a three-point shot against the Sixers for the first time in his NBA career. In all seriousness, McBride looms very large in this series as New York's highest-quality point-of-attack defender against Maxey. If he holds his own in that matchup and continues to shoot at a tremendous level, McBride could end up being a far more important piece of this than Bridges for the Knicks.

The Knicks bring Mitchell Robinson off the bench for short stints of tremendous energy, length and rebounding. His put-back and alley-oop dunks will torture the Sixers, who will struggle to deal with his absurd catch radius. By the end of the first round, New York's remaining bench mix was spark plug and defensive pest Jose Alvarado and veteran guard Jordan Clarkson. Initially, former Sixers first-round pick Landry Shamet was part of that mix. By the end of the series, he will probably get another chance, but for now he looks like the first player on the outside looking in.

MORE: Plays and sequences Sixers needed to win Game 7

Battle on the boards

The last week of Sixers basketball has not merely been shocking in terms of results, but also because of the process that led the Sixers to three consecutive wins over the Celtics. They were not just winning, they were winning in a fashion that made them completely unrecognizable from the team that had been up and down for six straight months.

One example: after being dominated on the defensive glass early in the series by Boston – and just about every team they faced before that – the Sixers nearly turned the water off entirely on the Celtics' second-chance scoring. Their team-wide commitment to securing defensive rebounds became palpable after so many games that included plays like this:

The Sixers are still not boxing out. Watch how all four Sixers near the basket merely look at the rim after this shot goes up: pic.twitter.com/gLKwUjrTfj

— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 27, 2026

New York is in the same realm as Boston in terms of prowess on the offensive glass, thanks in large part to Robinson. As Sixers fans know all too well, though, Hart and Anunoby are both capable of sneaking through and reviving a possession at any time. Towns is not thought of as a gritty player, but he has long been one of the best rebounders in the league.

For much of the Boston series – even in losses – the Sixers' half-court defense was consistently strong. Another way this team looks vastly different now: its over-helping off of three-point shooters has disappeared and its one-on-one perimeter defense has reached an absurd caliber. But they could not actually end the possession by getting a rebound.

This will be a very slow and methodical series; transition offense will be infrequent. The Sixers being able to set their defense early and often will be helpful. But even if their execution on that end of the floor continues to exceed expectations and Nurse's matchup decisions work out, the Sixers need to secure defensive boards at all costs.

MORE: Embiid on Game 7 win, rematch vs. Knicks, health and more

Home-court advantages… or lack thereof

Last time these two teams squared off in the playoffs, the Knicks enjoyed a tremendous home-court advantage – in both arenas. New York fans completely took over South Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4, with the Sixers eventually utilizing celebrity campaigns to help muster a more partisan crowd in Game 6.

Now, the Sixers are pulling out all the stops early on:

The Sixers are officially trying to keep Knicks fans out: “Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of Greater Philadelphia area. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside area will be canceled without notice and refunds given” pic.twitter.com/U9sMacS0xF

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 3, 2026

Embiid made a point to highlight the importance of the Sixers maintaining a home-court advantage on Saturday night in Boston.

"I just have a message for our fans: last time we played the Knicks, it felt like [our arena] was Madison Square Garden East, so we're going to need your support. Don't sell your tickets," Embiid said. "This is bigger than you. We need you guys. The atmosphere that we've had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7, we need all of it. I don't care if it's 70/30. Knicks fans, they travel, they're going to buy tickets and there's going to be some people that needed money that are probably going to sell tickets. But don't do it. We need you guys. We've got a pretty good chance. We're going to need your support. We're going to need them to be extremely loud. And if you need money, I got you."

MORE: Embiid & Maxey, Sixers team with a bond that 'feels pretty different' wins Game 7

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