True to form, Doc Rivers’ team got schooled in their building.  The first signs of the Philadelphia unfaithful turning on the team were midway through the third quarter as they booed the embarrassment inflicted on their eyes. 

Embiid hit the ground more than a soldier trying to evade gunfire.   The Beard looked like he was planning his postgame affairs.  And Rivers’ bald head was the only bright spot for Philly in Game 6.

With 9:13 left before the end, ESPN’s cameras caught a peek into the 76ers’ huddle.  Doc pleaded to his group, “Fight for this! Come on, guys. Fight for this!”  But his group looked as deflated as the Hindenburg.

Jimmy Butler– the one who slipped through their fingers-  was merciless leading his outfit and attacking the interior on cuts and torching Philly’s drop coverage in the midrange. With a minute left, #22 waved goodbye to the crowd as Miami inched closer to its eighth conference finals trip since 2005.

As expected, one of the excuses cited by the 76ers at post Game 6 press was that this version of their team had not been together for much time. James Harden said, “We tried to build a championship contender so fast, which I still think we are, we’re just missing a few pieces, but other than that you try to go for it right away…”

Sure, by default, their second-best player was not integrated into the rotations during training camp and had to learn the playbook at an advanced pace.  It probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference because when matters went sideways, Harden showed who he is at those times, too small for the moment.

This was the 10th time in the Beard’s career that he’s had zero free throw attempts in a playoff game indicating that his abilities as an escape artist are on par with Harry Houdini.

 The 76ers are no closer to winning a title than when Embiid and Ben Simmons first started sharing the court in 2017. This futile effort by their big-man suiting up four games might do the trick in convincing supporters or even ownership of that reality.  But what can’t be unremembered is that Embiid is a super freak who was used up by his club.  His face was battered, his thumb on his shooting hand was compromised and he was finessed into thinking this was worthwhile.

Before the 76ers left Miami, I asked Embiid at post Game 5 press about how much a spiked ball to the face deterred his interest in bludgeoning the rim.  He said, “I don’t know.  I’m just trying my best, honestly.”

Responding to another reporter, Embiid said he’d be called soft if he didn’t play, or if he did, they say he performed poorly.  Some might knock him for worrying about the media, but he’s human and words can be sharper than a spear.  

Right on cue, Charles Barkley claimed Embiid was ineffective because he was distracted by not winning the MVP award.  For reasons I don’t understand, people listen to Barkley give his drivel on the game when all he does is dumb down the audience.  If only he had a clue into how much Embiid cares.  

 Joel’s honest answers further enlightened my understanding of him as a warrior.  It made me uncomfortable to watch him squirm on the ground in pain as he was attended by his team. Then he got up.  And he still languished in the second half of Game 5.

Rivers did not consider sitting his best man the rest of that night following the close call.  I know because I asked him and sternly said no.

In the second half of Philly’s downfall, the 76ers couldn’t stop Miami from getting two feet in the paint, where Miami made 15/21 baskets.  The home team was outscored 50-42 in the final 24 minutes.

The playoffs never fail to show the public which teams are for real and who thought they were.  Miami’s got next with the winner of the Boston-Milwaukee series that’s 3-2 in favor of the champs.  If only Philly could have had more to say about it. 

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The public was expecting a fierce second round matchup between Miami and Philadelphia, but 76ers coach Doc Rivers royally screwed his club this time.  

Joel Embiid’s orbital bone was fractured after taking a cheap elbow on a rip through by Pascal Siakam late in the fourth quarter Thursday in Toronto. Peculiarly, Embiid was still on the floor with less than five minutes left while his club was up 29 points when he took the smack.  A Raptors comeback wasn’t probable, but I imagine Rivers kept his crew on the floor from all the PTSD he’s felt being reminded of his historical blown leads.  

What’s up with that, Doc?  Embiid was already powering through a torn ligament in his thumb on his shooting hand and playing through pain.

Philly was hellbent to start its opening round with Toronto and climbed to a 3-0 advantage following Embiid’s bullseye from the left wing to call game.  Yet, the Raptors extended the tango to six outings and revealed cracks in Philadelphia’s armor before succumbing to a second half scoring run of 70-36.

While Miami was resting and waiting for their next rival, Rivers was candid after he felt some pressure amid a scrum of reporters at practice.  On the topic of his chronicled failures, he characteristically threw some of his players under the bus, but this time it was those he shared a locker room with 19 years ago (2003).  

“My Orlando team was the eighth seed,” Rivers said.  “No one gives me credit for getting up against the Pistons who won the title… That was an eighth seed.  I want you to go back and look at that roster.  I dare you to go back and look at that roster and you would say what a hell of a coaching job.”

Aside from Rivers’ memory lapse (Pistons won the title the following season in 2004), his description of his Orlando team sounded a whole lot like “I had a bunch of scrubs under my wing.” It’s underhanded enough to demean former players after so much time away from them, but Rivers gassing himself up in the process like he’s some sort of basketball savant who minimizes his part in three straight losses is dishonorable.

Philly’s next matchup, Miami, took out Atlanta in five, in a closeout game without two starters.  Defensively, the Hawks were not as formidable as the Raptors, but the Heatles contained the league’s second rated offense, holding their leading scorer (Trae Young) to 13 points less than his average and dropping his shooting efficiency 14% from the field.

Miami is capable of guarding the perimeter with length, versatile enough to switch defenders when a man is beat and quick to help on cuts or traps. Defending James Harden will not be the responsibility of one man for the Heat, but they have enough scoring options to sic Jimmy Butler on him for a large chunk of minutes without having to rely on having fresh legs for the other end.   

Harden is having a rough postseason scoring from the field.  He’s dropping an unimpressive 19 points a night on a 40% shooting in part because his explosive first step is gone.  It could be his age, mileage, or that he’s not as slim as he used to be.  Maybe it’s all three factors but in Round 1, the Raptors guarded Harden by sending help on cuts from a man sagging off the perimeter or picking him up outside with a longer player and baiting him into deep shots.

Without Embiid on the floor, the Heat will have more opportunities to send doubles and ice the Beard.  With #21’s absence, Philly loses one of their best screeners who demands immediate attention on the roll and their best backline defender.  

The Heat finished the regular season with the best paint protection in the league and are second in that category in the playoffs behind Milwaukee, only allowing 34.8 points in the paint, forcing their matchup to attack mostly from the perimeter. If Harden is pressured into taking most of his field goal attempts from outside the square, Philly won’t win a game this series. 

The Heat’s coach Erik Spoelstra said after the Game 4 win in Atlanta that there isn’t a nine-man rotation, rather a “playoff rotation” with everyone on his mind.  In the closeout match on Tuesday in Miami, Victor Oladipo was inserted for Butler (right knee inflammation) and Gabe Vincent started his second straight night in place of Kyle Lowry (hamstring). 

‘Dipo looked like himself before his quad injury- an All-Star – dusting the opposition on the fastbreak and bursting into the interior in the half court.  Vincent was effective bothering Young, taking time off the clock through full court press.  Next round I expect to see the same coverage harassing Harden + sending blitzes his way on the perimeter.

Philadelphia is a talented team on paper when healthy but they need to build from the smackdown they laid on Toronto in the second half Thursday and take better care of the ball than they did in Games 4 & 5, somehow without their best player.  But I don’t find it likely.  The entire season Miami struck me as a contender and Philadelphia as a pretender even after they bartered for what’s left of the Beard.  

A quick prediction before the series:  Heat in Five.

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With a stroke of a pen, the eastern conference playoff picture will change. New York Mayor Eric Adams lifted the COVID-19 private-sector vaccine mandate on Thursday, just a week after he said he wasn’t concerned about one man rather than nine million.  

Adams probably made his friends with the Yankees, Mets and Nets happy.  Politico pointed out that Mets owner Steve Cohen donated $1.5 million to a PAC supporting the mayor’s campaign last summer, while his team didn’t meet the 85% threshold of vaccinated players for relaxed protocols this upcoming MLB season.   Brooklyn also paid lobbyist Corey Johnson to persuade important figures at city hall on the matter.

Well, when there’s a will by the wealthy to throw money at a problem you can be sure someone somewhere will swallow their morals.

Concerning the NBA, positioning in the standings may not matter to the Brooklyn Nets.  They currently sit at eighth in the east and could make a cameo in the play-in tournament as they are three games out of sixth place.  If they survive the play-in, which would likely be the case, Brooklyn will see one of the two top-seeded groups, which could be any four between Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Boston in round one.  Fingers crossed for a Philadelphia and Brooklyn matchup so James Harden’s former teammates can show the Beard what he’s missing.

The legislation passed significantly helps the Nets by allowing Irving to play in home games. So far into the season, Brooklyn is three games below .500 at home (16-19), but has six more wins than losses on the road (22-16).  Of the seven teams with better records away than at home, only three are likely playoff teams: the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.

When evaluating the potential postseason landscape, it’s difficult to identify a more potent offensive duo than Kevin Durant and Irving.  Both of these juggernauts may occasionally become enamored with iso ball, but when they are moving the rock to exploit mismatches and are finding the man with space, Brooklyn could be as formidable an opponent as there is in the postseason.  

One of Brooklyn’s biggest concerns are its frontcourt’s defensive limitations.  With the exception of Simmons when he’s healthy, Brooklyn doesn’t have a versatile disruptor that can switch and cause havoc when rotating assignments between quicker guards or stronger forwards and big men.

Andre Drummond is still a fierce rebounder, but he struggles to stay in front of his man or to close out quick enough on opposing cuts.  Lamarcus Aldridge at 36 years old is not as laterally quick as he used to be and guarding was never his forte, although he was adequate.  And Blake Griffin at this stage in his career can get hunted down by an opponent forcing a switch, but he has solid instincts defending in transition. Evident by his 25 charges taken, which are tied for first with Miami’s Kyle Lowry.

As my colleague Ethan Skolnick has discussed on Five On The Floor, Drummond, Aldridge and Griffin were once franchise players that usually were not relied upon to be the glue guys that dive for loose balls, take charges, or crash the offensive glass.  That’s what their role is now and it takes a colossal amount of sacrifice for a former All-star to get comfortable exclusively performing a job that isn’t as glorious as dropping buckets en route to a W.  

The Nets inexplicably are optimistic that Ben Simmons will play, but he shouldn’t touch the court if his back has not completely recovered from his herniated disk.  If by some miracle Simmons does manage to suit up, the results may not be the desired outcome.  It’s complicated to incorporate a key player into a lineup past training camp, but in this case, there are nine games left for Broolyn.  He may not have enough time to learn Durant and Irving’s on-court tendencies and develop some chemistry with them.

But even without Simmons, now that Irving is getting his full-time gig back, the Nets become a larger headache for everyone in the east.  Brooklyn may be undermanned, but they still have enough ballers to win a round or two.  Durant and Irving have limitless range and can get to any spot because of their tight handles and elusive movements.  The last five times they’ve played together, Irving has averaged 38 and Durant 26 points per game.

An advantage that Brooklyn will have over every team is that Irving has fresh legs because he’s  only participated in 20 of Brooklyn’s 73 games played. An 82 game season is a marathon and players eventually hit a slump because of fatigue.  Irving probably will not have one.  He’s had extensive rest and he is so lethal that an opponent can study all of his tricks in the film room and it probably still won’t be enough to help stay in front of him.

Regardless of Irving’s position on the vaccine, I’m glad he’s back on the court as a full-time player.  At least for me, the east playoffs would not have been as exciting without one of the game’s greater players today.

Knickstape is dead. Everyday it gets clearer, what New York did last year was an outlier in their machine of everlasting mediocrity. As always, there’s not that many fingers to blame, but this time, the head coach is responsible for most of the friction.

For all of the Knicks personnel, it’s a good thing the All-Star break rolled around because now all the important figures can take this time to recalibrate and possibly look in the mirror.  Tensions must be high.  The last 11 days before their early spring break featured three losses after being up at least 20 points.  

The first meltdown came after New York had a 21-point advantage on Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena.  A week later in Portland, the Knicks took a loss, getting blitzed in the last 17 minutes of the game, dropping their 23-point lead in a 56-24 scoring run.  Then on Wednesday, the Knicks started their vacation early, giving up a difference of 28 points to the Nets in a defeat. 

That’s some coaching.  Judging by the body language of some of the players, it wouldn’t be a surprise if their instructor’s style and schemes were falling on deaf ears.  

By the looks of it, Thibs is not an easy dude to be around.  For those that haven’t seen him on the sidelines, whenever you inflict pain on your eyes catching Knicks ball, look for the guy pacing back and forth in front of the New York bench trying to break the record for most profanity spewed in 48 minutes.  It usually comes after a defensive breakdown or what Thibs perceives as a missed call by the refs. 

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Maybe the angry drill sergeant approach works when a club is winning at a high volume (other reasons for success should still be identified with this approach), but it sure doesn’t for this Knicks team.  Some could say it was successful for Thibs in his first season with the group (2021), but I would point back to that being a deviation from the norm in part because of how the roster is assembled.  

Thibodeau’s approach to coaching often involves yelling at his players in front of a packed house or demonstrably showing his displeasure by flailing his arms.  For example, late in the loss to the Nets on Wednesday, the Knicks left Seth Curry unattended in the right corner and failed to close out on his shot that converted in front of the Knicks bench.  Thibs could be seen waving his arms and verbally lashing out, close enough for his troops to hear as Curry slowly retreated.

Getting yelled at is verbally abusive and humiliating.  Thibs’ methods of verbal feedback are antiquated and likely a reason the Knicks look no different than what they did before they hired him.

Aside from being a grouch, ten years gone and still Thibs hasn’t learned from mistakes he made what seems like a lifetime ago.  It’ll be a decade this April since Derrick Rose blew out his knee in a game that was decided.  Then, when the current Knickerbockers (Thibs, Rose) repped the Bulls, Chicago was up 12 with 1:24 left in the game.  

If I’m not mistaken, in 2012, Rose didn’t play in 17 of the last 25 regular season games because he was nursing a groin injury. The last few nights the windy city assassin suited up for before missing almost a month, he was averaging 38 minutes.  

When Rose came back, it was for a game against the Knicks at MSG.  Thibs wasted no time scrapping a minutes restriction and played his reigning MVP just shy of 39 minutes in a one-point loss.

Twenty days later, in Game 1 of round 1 of Philadelphia-Chicago, Rose tore his ACL.  I’m not pretending to be a physician, or intending to say that heavy minutes caused the injury.  But I will say, it’s Thibs’ fault it happened.   Keeping a pivotal player on the floor during garbage time is sinful.  Rose paid the price for his coach and never got to where his career should have taken him.  

Then on Feb. 8, history repeated itself under Thibs’ watch in Denver.  With less than a minute to go in a match the Knicks had no chance of winning, RJ Barrett hurt his ankle stepping on Davon Reed’s foot.  Barrett limped off the court and missed the next four games.  He’s expected to be back after the week-long All-Star break, but his injury is another strike on Thibs’ rap sheet.

Life in the NBA comes at you fast.  Awards like coach of the year don’t guarantee job security.  The only thing that does temporarily is a consistent winning record.  So far, past the midway point of his second season in New York, Thibs’ record sits at 67-69.  Unless he wants to end up in the graveyard of the 12 other instructors the Knicks have had since canning Jeff Van Gundy, his outfit will at least have to make the play-in tournament.