The 76ers had their hearts taken out in Game 4 in front of their own fans and now they’re on the brink of elimination heading into Madison Square Garden. In what was a physically demanding game, the 76ers looked like they ran out of juice towards the end failing to make a field goal in the last 5 minutes of play. Joel Embiid in particular shot just 36% from the field and 16% from downtown, head coach Nick Nurse should think twice before playing him 44 minutes in a game again. In elimination games Embiid is averaging just 22 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, with him at the helm the Sixers are just 3-6 SU in those games. This season alone Philly has just 1 victory in 4 visits to MSG, on Tuesday night they’ll be 4.5 point underdogs.
Jalen Brunson is arguably the best player of the postseason so far. He just broke the all-time Knicks record for points scored in a postseason game, finishing with 47 in the win on Sunday. It wasn’t just the scoring, Brunson also dished out 10 assists, so he played a part in 70 of the Knicks 97 points scored. The only question is how much energy does he have left after logging 44 minutes in that game? Closeout games are tough, the Knicks will have to get their reserves involved here. Aside from Miles McBride who had 13, nobody else made a field goal off the pine on Sunday. Bojan Bogdanovic twisted his ankle just seconds after coming into the game, a lack of depth could come back and haunt New York at some point.
