Who’s Most to Blame for Philadelphia 76ers’ NBA Playoff Series Loss to NY Knicks?

Who’s Most to Blame for Philadelphia 76ers’ NBA Playoff Series Loss to NY Knicks?0 of 5

Joel EmbiidTim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Joel Embiid was drafted in 2014. Since then, the Philadelphia 76ers have had three coaches, seven playoff appearances and zero trips to beyond the second round.

After being eliminated in Game 6 of their playoff-opening series against the New York Knicks on Thursday, they’re headed home prior to the conference finals for the 23rd straight season.

They haven’t been past the second round since Allen Iverson led them to the Finals in 2001, and now it’s time to assign some blame for the latest failure.

There’s plenty to go around.

5. James Harden and the Front Office1 of 5

Nicolas Batum and James HardenJesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

This season couldn’t have gotten off to a much weirder start.

After James Harden publicly called Philadelphia team president Daryl Morey a liar during the offseason, his holdout lasted beyond training camp and into November.

Eventually, the Sixers had to take what they could from the Los Angeles Clippers. And while that package included some future first-round picks that could help down the line, it didn’t provide a ton of short-term help.

The players who came over in that deal were Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris and KJ Martin, who combined for just 0.8 wins over replacement player (value over replacement player times 2.7) for Philly this season.

By this series against the Knicks, Batum was the only one getting minutes. Meanwhile, Harden is averaging 22.2 points and 7.0 assists, while shooting 43.9 percent from deep this postseason.

Of course, the situation was likely only going to get uglier had the 76ers waited any longer to move him. And Harden’s absence was certainly part of the ascension of Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey.

But that trade, and the midseason additions of Kyle Lowry and Buddy Hield obviously weren’t enough to take advantage of one of the few prime years Embiid has left.

4. Injuries2 of 5

Joel EmbiidElsa/Getty Images

Of course, deep playoff runs almost always require luck, and the 76ers had a lot of the opposite.

Embiid had surgery for a meniscus injury in February, and was limited to just 39 appearances in the regular season. It would’ve been impossible for him to be in playoff shape after that long of a layoff, and then he got hit with a case of Bell’s Palsy in the middle of the postseason that essentially paralyzed the left side of his face.

He had a lot to play through, and there’s actually a pretty obvious and positive take about his willingness to play through his maladies.

But that wasn’t all. De’Anthony Melton has been a starter for most of his two seasons with Philadelphia, but he only played seven minutes in this series against the Knicks.

This regular season, thanks in part to his outside shooting and perimeter defense, the Sixers were plus-9.6 points per 100 possessions with Melton on the floor and plus-0.6 when he was off.

That kind of impact certainly would’ve come in handy against New York, especially since Philadelphia often looked hopeless trying to slow down Jalen Brunson.

3. Tobias Harris3 of 5

Tobias HarrisJesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The amount of blame Tobias Harris has gotten from around the internet is probably a little unfair. He’s the third best player on a team with two ball-dominant scorers in Embiid and Maxey.

But with a $39.3 million salary, he’s also the team’s second highest-paid player behind Embiid. And getting 9.0 points on 43.1 percent shooting (including 33.3 percent from deep), 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists just isn’t enough from someone making that kind of money.

In theory, Harris is the kind of forward who can switch all over the floor on defense and provide spacing for the two-man game of Embiid and Maxey.

In reality, he only looked like that for limited stretches against the Knicks. More often than not, he became invisible, including for most of Game 6.

In what proved to be the last game of the series, Harris played 29 minutes, scored zero points on 0-of-2 shooting and was a minus-10.

In the playoffs, especially against a second seed, you need more than two consistent, high-end difference-makers.

2. Jalen Brunson4 of 5

Jalen BrunsonTim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Let’s not entirely lay the outcome of this series at the feet of the Sixers.

The Knicks finished second in the East for a reason. And a number of players (including Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein) had big moments in this series. The general toughness of this team overwhelmed Philadelphia in multiple key spots, including down the stretch of Game 6.

But no Knick deserves as much credit for this win as Brunson.

After struggling with the length of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Batum in Game 1 (when he scored 22 points on 26 shots), Brunson eclipsed 40 in each of the last three games of the series. He finished with averages of 35.5 points and 9.0 assists.

This was a superstar stretch from someone who’s rapidly becoming one of the best point guards in the league.

1. Joel Embiid5 of 5

Joel EmbiidTim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Yes, it’s fine to bring up the injuries Embiid’s dealt with throughout this series. It’s absolutely part of the story.

But he was also healthy enough to drop 50 points in Game 3. His turnovers were a problem in Game 5, but he had a triple-double and multiple key defensive plays in overtime of that win.

He averaged 41.4 minutes, 33.0 points and 13.0 free-throw attempts for the series.

But in the game’s most important moments, Embiid repeatedly shrunk. In six fourth quarters, he averaged 5.8 points while shooting 23.1 percent from the field and 11.1 percent from deep.

Elsewhere in the series, he grabbed the ankles of an airborne Robinson, kicked Robinson in the groin and hit Hartenstein with a swim move-elbow drop combo. Frustration seemed to get to him on more than one occasion, and that lack of poise was a stark contrast to Brunson and the Knicks.

Again, we’re now a full decade into Embiid’s career. He’s repeatedly broken down physically by April and May, and his playoff production has long lagged way behind his regular-season numbers.

Over the years, most of the blame has been directed at Brett Brown, Ben Simmons, the departure of Jimmy Butler, Harden, Harris and Doc Rivers.

At a certain point, it’s probably fair to assign some to Embiid.