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Sixers' season ...

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Third Quarter

Offensively, the Sixers kept rolling to start the second half with Embiid knocking down a pair of threes. Some tough shotmaking on th
e other side though, mainly from Brunson, made it difficult to get any sort of breathing room.

The Sixers did a good job of taking advantage of transition opportunities the Knicks gave them, but they were a bit sloppy in the halfcourt. Embiid did a good job to make sure everyone slowed down and get himself a turnaround hook after the Knicks strung together a few baskets.

New York was able to answer everything the Sixers threw at them in the quarter. After Maxey missed a floater he wasn’t able to draw a foul on, OG Anunoby knocked down a corner three to knot things up at 83 heading into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

Nurse decided that giving Embiid some rest was the lesser of two evils, as Paul Reed was out there to start the quarter. Generating shots was once again a nightmare, but they came away with a couple impressive offensive rebounds which led to an Oubre three which prevented the Knicks from getting out to a sizeable lead.

The Sixers were able to erase that deficit that was created during the Reed minutes with Brunson on the bench, but when he checked back in he immediately knocked down two threes to push the lead back up to six. Philly just had too many lapses in their defense that left guys wide open.

As Brunson continued to light them up, the Sixers couldn’t take advantage of the breaks they did get that. Batum split a pair of free throws. Anunoby missed a wide-open three, but it caromed all the way back out to the Knicks for another Brunson bucket.

Once again when it looked like they were dead, the Sixers had another run in them. They even overcame a silly foul on Brunson to tie the game up with 34 seconds left. Fittingly, Josh Hart responded on the other end with a three. They got a quick layup to get it back down to two, but Embiid had to use his sixth foul to put the Knicks back at the line. DiVincenzo sunk two, and this time, the Knicks did foul up three. Buddy Hield wasn’t able to hit the buzzer beater, though Philly’s chances without Embiid in overtime would have been grim.

Well, as crazy as it was, we are once again at the end of the road. Thank you so much for everyone who’s followed along with our coverage at any point this season — you guys are quite literally the reason we can do this. Stay tuned for our offseason content with the draft and free agency right around the corner!

The Sixers season is over after losing Game 6 to the New York Knicks 118-115 — a game they trailed by as many as 22 and led by as many as 10.

Joel Embiid went down swinging, going for 39 points on 12-of-25 shooting with 13 rebounds before fouling out intentionally fouling Donte DiVincenzo with 11 seconds left.

Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 41 points along with 12 assists. Tyrese Maxey finished with 17 points on 18 shots.

Here are some thoughts from the Center.

First Quarter

Despite the arena being considerably less invaded, it was not the start the Sixers wanted to get off to, as the Knicks made six of their first eight shots of the night to quickly grab a double-digit lead. Donte DiVincenzo, who had been cold from deep the last two games, knocked down his first two shots from beyond the arc.

Silly mistakes made it harder for the Sixers to climb out of that early hole they had dug. They’ve done a poor job of not fouling jump shooters, and that continued when Maxey fouled Brunson taking a three right out of a timeout. Kelly Oubre Jr. gave Brunson an and-1 just moments after dropping an alley-oop on the other end. On top of everything else that went wrong, the Sixers got crushed on the glass again — they gave up nine offensive rebounds (Nine times!) in the first.

Philly’s offense looked just as bad, and it didn’t take long for them to start taking desperate shots as the deficit grew. New York doubled as hard as they could to take the ball out of Maxey’s hands and it worked — he wasn’t able to get anything resembling a clean look.

It took over eight minutes for someone not named Embiid to score, and that was likely because he checked out of the game. They did get some momentum towards the end of the quarter when Cam Payne and Nico Batum knocked down some threes, but the Sixers still trailed by 14 after.

Second Quarter

It looked like Nick Nurse was looking for shooting wherever he could get it. Buddy Hield checked in at the end of the first for the first time in this series since Game 3. He stayed in to start the second and dropped the first pass that came his way, then turned it over trying to turn the play into a dribble-handoff with Embiid, but he was ready the next time the ball swung to him. Hield went on to make five three-pointers in the second.

The Sixers’ defense was much improved to start the second quarter as well, and they started the quarter on a 14-5 run as a result. Big credit goes to the crowd too, who could have easily been taken out of the game by that start and weren’t.

Hield getting hot really opened up the Sixers’ offense, but Embiid continued to cook as well. He got several one-on-one opportunities down low against Hartenstein and was able to take advantage and, somehow, the Sixers led by three at the half.