76ers’s Struggles Remain On The Boards
Check Out Our Knicks vs 76ers Preview For Game 3 of the First-Round Series
After a controversial Game 2, the New York Knicks are currently leading the Philadelphia 76ers, 2-0, in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Knicks finished off Game 2 with a 5-0 run in the final 13 seconds to escape the 76ers, who had initially looked like they’d be able to close out the game.
With a hobbled Joel Embiid and a somewhat sick Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers almost had the Knicks right where they wanted them. However, the final 20 seconds changed everything.
The Knicks were down 101-96 with 45 seconds remaining. Jalen Brunson nailed a three to cut the lead to two. From there, Tyrese Maxey lost the ball on an inbounds play, where New York’s Josh Hart picked it up. The Knicks eventually found Donte DiVincenzo for three, but he missed his first attempt. Isaiah Hartenstein wasn’t boxed out and grabbed the rebound.
Again, the Knicks passed it around until DiVincenzo was open for another attempt at a three, down two. He nailed that one with 13 seconds to go.
With time still on the clock, the 76ers drew up a play for Tyrese Maxey to get into the paint. But he was stuffed, and the Knicks essentially held on from there.
With that out of the way, the 76ers have a crucial Game 3 coming up on Thursday. Philadelphia will be home, looking to chop New York’s series lead in half.
Oddsmakers believe in Philadelphia, too. The 76ers are -4.5 (-108) against the spread, and the total is currently at 204 for Game 3.
Take a look at our in-depth Knicks vs 76ers preview for Game 3 of this series. <
Knicks vs 76ers 
Records: New York Knicks (50-32), Philadelphia 76ers (47-35)
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Day/Time:
Streaming: TNT
Knicks vs 76ers Preview & Trends<
The Knicks are 6-4 against the spread in their last ten games against the 76ers. Meanwhile, New York is 7-3 straight up against the 76ers.
On the other hand, the Under has hit in seven of the last ten games when the Knicks and 76ers are head-to-head.
Game 1 went Over the total, but Game 2 went Under it. Also, while the Knicks won both games to start the playoff series, the 76ers won against the spread in Game 2. Our Knicks vs 76ers preview for Game 3 begins below.
Tom Thibodeau Isn’t Liked In The NBA
The New York Knicks won 50 games this season, are second in the Eastern Conference, and have had an amazing run.
However, when NBA players were instructed to fill out a poll, most of them suggested that the coach they’d least want to play for was Tom Thibodeau, the head coach of the Knicks.
Thibodeau shrugged it off while one of his players, Josh Hart, called the players who voted on Thibodeau soft.
While he can be very aggressive in his coaching style, it’s clearly a strategy that has worked over time. The Knicks have become one of the best teams in the NBA, which hasn’t been a thing since the 1990s.
Joel Embiid Says Sixers Will Win The Series
The 76ers and Knicks are two very comparable teams. That’s why we’ve already gotten wire-to-wire finishes to start the series.
That said, the Knicks did their job. They escaped Madison Square Garden with two home victories before heading to Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The 76ers are under pressure to win their two games. If not, the Knicks could either win the series in Philadelphia or have a chance to clinch in Game 5 of the series at home.
After the game, when the media approached Joel Embiid, he spoke with his face down into his legs and told the press the 76ers would win the series.
It’s not looking very likely after the Sixers let two winnable games slip away to start their playoff basketball schedule.
The 76ers Can’t Rebound!
The Philadelphia 76ers have some of the best offensive players in the NBA. Joel Embiid has averaged 31.5 points in the playoffs despite his lower leg injury. Meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey has added 34 points per game in 44 minutes a night.
Those two can hang with the best of them. However, while the offense has been slightly above average, it hasn’t been elite. Just listen to these NBA team stats.
Even with Embiid back in the lineup, the 76ers haven’t scored more than 120.8 points per 100 possessions in ten consecutive games.
Philadelphia is typically good at keeping turnovers down. Thanks to Embiid, they’re also really good at getting to the foul line.
However, the 76ers don’t have a high effective field goal percentage. They’ve only shot above a 51.6% effective field goal percentage once in their last seven games. The offense relies heavily on getting to the foul line. They don’t even do that great of a job on the offensive glass.
That said, the 76ers came into the playoffs having played really good defense. However, the defense hasn’t been elite over the first two games of the series.
They’ve held the Knicks to a low effective field goal percentage and Jalen Brunson in check. Brunson has probably played his two worst games of the season to start the playoffs. But the issue is Philadelphia’s inability to rebound. The Knicks added 50.9% of offensive rebounds in Game 1 and brought down 32.1% of offensive rebounds in Game 2.
Hartenstein’s rebound off DiVincenzo’s miss late in the game gave the Knicks another chance. That’s when DiVincenzo nailed his next three and gave the Knicks the lead. Hartenstein wasn’t even boxed out. He had an easy route to the rim and got the rebound.
It doesn’t matter if you’re home or away. You won’t win games if you can’t box out and rebound on the defensive glass.
We’ll gladly take the Knicks at +4.5 (-112) against the spread in Game 3. That’ll be one of our top NBA picks on Thursday.
Knicks vs 76ers Betting Odds
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