By Eddie Castro
This past Monday, the New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals after putting away the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5, 140-89. The 51-point win marked the largest playoff win margin in franchise history. New York proved their dominance and seemed to have found another gear winning the last three games of the series after being down 2-1.
With a few days off in between, the Knicks awaited the winner between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. Led by their Super Star player Joel Embiid, the Sixers were able to upset the No. 2-seeded Celtics in seven games, leading up to the first playoff meeting between the Sixers and Knicks since the first round of the playoffs back in 2024.
However, you slice and dice it, New York and Philadelphia will always be quite the head-to-head rivalry in many ways. Whether it be Giants vs Eagles in Football, Mets vs Phillies in football, or the Classic Bacon, Egg, and Cheese opposing the Philly Cheese Steak. You get where I am going with this? New York/Philly is one of the staple rivalries in all sports. The Sixers have already opened some eyes by defeating the Boston Celtics and have looked better than ever since the return of Embiid who missed the beginning of that series with an emergency Appendectomy surgery.
Since his return, Embiid has been working his way back into being one of the most dominant players in the league As he once was. Although many may think the Knicks matched up better against Boston, let us keep in mind that Embiid along with teammate, Tyrese Maxey, have had tremendous success in their careers against New York. Embiid alone in 22 regular-season games averages 25.5 points,10.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists all posting a 17-5 record in his career against New York, which includes a 50-point performance in April of 2024.
Embiid is surrounded with talent teammates such as Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., Paul George, and rookie V.J Edgecombe. The Knicks will counter that with Brunson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikail Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The two teams met four times this year, splitting their season series at two wins apiece.
Both the Knicks and the Sixers meet each other in the playoffs with both teams flourishing in the first round with timely scoring and suffocating defensive performances. After sealing the series against the Hawks, the Knicks are now the favorites to come out of the East and hope their consistent play continues against the 76ers. As for the Sixers, after the adjustments they were able to make during the first-round series versus Boston, the team discovered new life.
They know very well that the health of Embiid could determine just how good they are and how far they can really go in the playoffs as a No.7 seed. As we go to press, Game 1 was this past Monday and the Knicks were able to protect home court winning once again in blowout fashion by a score of 138-97. With Monday’s dominant win, the Knicks became the first team since 1986 to end a playoff series winning by 30-plus points and win the beginning of a new playoff series winning by 30-plus points. Despite the Knicks winning Game 1, Jalen Brunson and company know very well you cannot take your foot off the gas against this resilient Sixers team. It should be another intense, drama-filled playoff series, but then again, would you expect anything else for a classic New York/Philadelphia playoff series?
Sports Notes: (WNBA) The New York Liberty revamped their roster during the off-season signing three-time All-Star Satou Sabally to a Multi-year deal. New York was also able to retain their big three of Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart in hopes of bringing another World Championship back to the borough of Brooklyn. The team will kick off their 30th season at the Barclays Center against Brittney Griner and the Connecticut Sun tomorrow Night. (Baseball) The New York Yankees are 14-2 in their last 16 games and now have the best record in the American League.
The team will head to Milwaukee for a three-game set against the Brewers tomorrow night. The Mets have been the opposite of the Yankees as the team currently holds the worst record in baseball. The team will head to the desert to begin a three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks tomorrow night. Please be advised that this week’s Sport Talk With Eddie aired on Wednesday. Thank you guys for calling in and receiving the heads up on our recent schedule change. On behalf of myself and everyone here at Our Time Press, we would like to wish all the wonderful mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day!