Tell me if you heard this before — the Philadelphia 76ers get eliminated again in the Eastern Conference semifinals. This time, it was at the hands of the New York Knicks, who swept the 76ers in four games.
The Sixers got demolished in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, losing 144-114. The Knicks made it clear from the opening tip that they were on a mission and made sure that Philadelphia would not punch back, making 11 three-pointers in the first quarter.
Sunday’s game looked a whole lot like the Knicks’ Game 6 win in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, where New York ripped them to shreds, 140-89. Sixers fans hoped that wouldn’t be the case on Mother’s Day, and that the team would show some pride and effort.
But as we’ve seen on past Mother’s Days with this team, it was the same old, same old. It did not matter that star center Joel Embiid had 24 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting from the field and five rebounds. Or that Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 17 points, came out aggressive in the first quarter.
The Sixers had no answers for what the Knicks did on both ends of the floor, and now they enter the offseason with more questions than answers.
Many Sixers fans want to know if this ugly loss will result in a change at head coach or in the front office.
The last time Philadelphia got swept in a playoff series, which was in 2020 in the bubble vs. the Boston Celtics in the first round, the team cut ties with head coach Brett Brown. The Sixers brought in Doc Rivers as head coach and Daryl Morey as president of basketball operations.
The Rivers era had its fair share of disappointments, including a Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the second round on Father’s Day in 2021. Then there was also the humiliating Game 7 loss to the Celtics in the second round in 2023, where Jayson Tatum went off for 51 points.
Sadly, the Nick Nurse era hasn’t been much better, as the Knicks have ended the Sixers’ playoff journey twice in the last three seasons. But one could say Nurse worked with what he had this season, based on what Morey left him for the stretch run.
Morey has drawn a lot of ire from Sixers fans, as he basically punted on making this team better with his trade deadline approach. In fact, many fans and media alike made a point to mention that this series against the Knicks was lost at the trade deadline.
The Sixers traded Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick and three second-round picks, which angered the fanbase and has come back to haunt the Sixers.
McCain has fit in nicely with the defending champs and looks like the player Sixers fans saw in his rookie season. Philadelphia didn’t find a replacement for McCain and instead made the conscious decision to put all its eggs in Quentin Grimes’ basket, which was a spectacular decision.
Grimes, who will be an unrestricted free agent, could not get it going on the offensive end in the playoffs, averaging 6.7 points per game on 39.7 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, McCain is averaging 6.4 points per game, but on 51.5 percent shooting from the field and 62.5 percent from deep with the Thunder in the playoffs, who are on the verge of going back to the Western Conference Finals.
In addition to not getting another shooter, the Sixers failed to address their backup center position, too. But hey, at least they sold high on McCain and ducked the tax right? This is something that Embiid didn’t want and called it out in January.
“Obviously, we’ve been ducking the tax past couple of years, so hopefully, we’ll keep the same team. I love all the guys that are here. I think we got a shot, Embiid said (h/t Paul Hudrick of Liberty Ballers).
“I don’t know what they’re gonna do, but I hope we get a chance to just go out and compete because we’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room. The vibes are great. Like I said, in the past we’ve been I guess ducking the tax, so hopefully we think about improving because I think we have a chance.”
This leads me to the next question: Will owner Josh Harris make a change with Morey? No one knows, but it seems like he’s pondering the idea. According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, Morey and Nick Nurse’s jobs will be evaluated following Philly’s playoff exit. Jones also reported that ownership will take several days to assess the landscape of the franchise before making any final decisions.
If fans had it their way, they would want to see Harris sell the team for a variety of reasons and move on from Morey, whose vision of roster building is played out.
In today’s NBA, you need quality depth to succeed and make it through an arduous playoff run. The Sixers failed to acquire that. Meanwhile, the other teams left in the playoffs have at least 3-4 guys to turn to, giving their starters a break. Instead, we had to watch Tyrese Maxey, who led the NBA in minutes per game in the regular season (38.0), play 39.7 minutes per game in the playoffs.
As for Harris, he treats this team like it’s another portfolio item in his sports rolodex. It doesn’t matter that his team got their doors blown off and had their arena taken over for two games; the monopoly money was still being printed.
And that leads me to the last question likely on the minds of Sixers fans. Where does this team’s roster go from here?
Embiid, who admirably came back from appendectomy surgery midway through the first round against Boston, showed signs of greatness and looked like a former MVP. However, we saw the wear and tear take its toll in the second round.
Defensively, Embiid might not be that guy anymore, which is hard to fathom as his three-year extension is set to kick in next season. For those who want the team to trade Embiid, it’s not happening. He’s going to finish the contract out, which will likely put a bow on his career.
Then there’s Paul George, who showed flashes throughout the playoffs of old PG-13, but it seemed as if Father Time caught up to him. He’ll be going into the third year of his four-year, $211.5 million contract, and just like with Embiid, it’s hard to see a team openly wanting to trade for him without the Sixers attaching multiple assets.
Lastly, we can’t forget about the dynamic duo of Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe. If there’s a glimmer of hope with this basketball club, it’s that this tandem showed a lot of growth this season, and one could argue that you can build around them.
Maxey proved that he was one of the best scorers in the league this season, averaging 28.3 points and 3.1 three-point field goal attempts per game (ninth-most in the Association). As for Edgecombe, he showed countless times that he wasn’t afraid of the moment and could be a three-level scorer and a good two-way player in the league. The sky is the limit for the young guard.
After another disappointing showing in the playoffs, the Sixers have a lot to figure out and questions that need to be answered, which they can’t just run away from. This fanbase deserves better and accountability from somebody.
[Photo courtesy of: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images]
