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Perhaps Jaylen Brown put it best the day after the stunning trade that sent him from Boston to Philadelphia: “Philly #throwtheballup let’s get it,” he tweeted, along with a message for the city he was departing.
Well, today’s the day he, LeBron James, and the Sixers finally do that.
They will watch the New York Knicks receive their championship rings and hang their title banner from the rafters of Madison Square Garden.
Or, at least some of the Sixers will.
“No, I don’t really feel like watching that whole ceremony,” Joel Embiid told reporters after Friday’s preseason game against the Boston Celtics. “Guess I’ll be in the locker room, but it’s time to go.”
Time to go, indeed.
I, for one, am skeptical that this Knicks team has the goods to do what it did last season. The loss of Mitchell Robinson, in my eyes, is absolutely enormous for them. But reigning champions usually win on ring night.
The Sixers cannot do much to change how people view them on a Tuesday in October. Philadelphia can play spoiler, raining on a rival’s celebration with a road victory to kick off the season.
In order for that to happen, here are a few things I’m looking for.
How do they crash the glass?
Why do I insist that losing Robinson is no small deal?
New York was a very good halfcourt offense last season. But their halfcourt offense was amplified by a murderous attack on the offensive glass. They ranked fourth in points per miss in the regular season, according to Cleaning The Glass. In the postseason, they ranked first in that category amongst teams that actually played beyond the Play-In tournament.
Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns are still above-average offensive rebounders. But Robinson was the best offensive-rebounding big in the entire NBA last season.
It is no stretch to say that New York’s halfcourt offense was partially predicated on Robinson’s size and motor supplying the Knicks with enough chances that they eventually scored even if the first shot was a miss.
Andre Drummond is an adequate replacement for Mitchell’s lost offensive rebounding. But he cannot guard in space the way Robinson could. So the Knicks are going to have to give something up, whether it’s air-tight defense in space or some offensive rebounding prowess.
While we did not get a ton of footage of the fully-imagined Sixers in the preseason, the tape we do have suggests they want to crash three guys on the defensive glass most of the time.
Will that be enough to neutralize the rebounding game, or will the Sixers spend the whole night burning energy that could be used to spark the offense trying to put out fires on defense?
How do they guard Towns?
Mike Brown positioning Towns atop the floor catapulted the Knicks’ offense into a juggernaut late last season. It opened cutting and driving lanes and spaced the floor. Towns’ shooting is one thing. It’s the pitching the ball back to him just as the defense has stretched in help so that Towns can get you off balance with the shot fake and then drive. It creates a blender for the defense.
The Sixers will likely want Embiid deployed in drop coverage. If I had to guess, the Sixers will have him guard Hart, treating the Knicks’ wing as a non-shooter so that he can guard the rim and be in position to rebound.
So, who guards Towns? It will likely vary within the flow of the game, but the Sixers probably don’t want guards settling into possessions as Towns’ primary assignment. I also like Jaylen Brown matching up with OG Anunoby; fight mass with mass (and maybe live with some off-ball cuts for dunks). So does that mean James is the guy guarding KAT?
I don’t love putting a 41-year-old forward on Jalen Brunson, and giving him Mikal Bridges duties feels like a waste of his own mass. By contrast, I do like trusting James’ IQ to be in mutual position away from the ball so that he can recover if the swing pass to Towns is made.
Still, résumé and legend can’t help you when it’s a 7-footer matching up with 6-foot-9.
Do they make Brunson guard?
This is as big a season for Nick Nurse as it is for anyone on the roster. He can get off to a strong start with a simple game plan. Are you going to attack the guy with Inspector Gadget arms? Are you going to attack the bulky, All-Defensive teamer? Or are you going to find ways to make the Knicks’ best offensive player use his 6-foot-3 frame to guard?
One of my biggest critiques of myself as an analyst of this game is that I love to make it complicated. This one is rather simple. Make the smallest dude actively defend the ball.
Injury reports
The hosting Knicks will roll into opening night with a fully healthy roster.
The Sixers will have their full compliment of regular starters, but they may be a little beaten down.
Player | Injury | Game Status |
|---|---|---|
Low back stress reaction | Out | |
Left quadriceps strain | Out | |
Right achilles tear | Out | |
Left foot sprain | Questionable | |
Left hamstring tightness | Questionable | |
Left ankle sprain | Questionable |
*Imaging revealed that Barlow suffered a lumbar spine bone stress response, the Sixers announced on Monday evening. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
**Hukporti is obviously out for the season. I’m not going to include him on these injury reports beyond this.
Coverage around Sixer world
So, if Bona and Wade are out against the Knicks, who’s getting the backup center minutes? Sunday’s practice notebook has reporting on that.
Brendan Quinn of The Athletic had this outstanding story on Nick Nurse’s phone call that convinced LeBron to sign with Philadelphia, and how it’s intertwined with the golf course the Sixers’ head coach owns in Iowa.
Sixers Adam’s customary five thoughts: “The Sixers' challenge – Brown referred to it as their "responsibility" on Friday – is to maximize that transition aggression without going overboard. The Sixers had major turnover issues in the preseason, which multiple players chalked up to oversharing the ball. Yes, faster pace and more possessions will equal more turnovers, but the Sixers have a lot of work to do to clean up what has been a bit of a mess so far.”
Paul Hudrick on Tacko Fall’s soul-searching return to the NBA: “While there’s been intrigue about Fall and his unique size dating back to his days at UCF, it also came with questions about his mobility and ability to deal with elite athletes. Those were doubts Fall let creep into his own mind at times.”
Gina Mizell and Chris Hine gave a season outlook and detailed storylines for each player. A good crash course for those who are catching up last minute.
Noah Levick on the Sixers' exercising the third-year rookie scale option on VJ Edgecombe.
You’ve made it. Just a few more hours away from tip-off.