The Sixers Got Destroyed in Game 1. The Series Doesn’t Start Until Wednesday.

The Sixers lost 137-98 to the Knicks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. To put the night into proper perspective, Adem Bona fouled out of this game in four minutes of playing time. Four minutes. That tells you everything about how this one went.

The Knicks took a 21-point lead into halftime and never looked back. New York shot 63 percent from the field and 51 percent from three. Those are video game numbers. The Sixers actually shot respectable percentages at 41 percent from the field and 37 percent from three, which in most games would be enough to keep you competitive.

Didn’t matter. When the other team is shooting like the ’96 Bulls in a pickup game, your solid shooting night becomes irrelevant.

Sixers get blasted in Game 1 in the Garden, lose to the Knicks 137-98 >>

Every Sixers starter finished below their season scoring average except Paul George, who matched his 17-point average. Maxey was ice cold from deep at 0-for-3, managed just 13 points compared to his 28.3 average, and was mostly limited to attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line where he went 7-for-7. Embiid had 14 points on 3-for-11 shooting, well under his 26.9 average. Across the board, the Sixers’ stars did not show up.

Brunson Wasn’t the Real Problem

Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 35 points on 72 percent shooting. That’s absurd and obviously the Sixers need to do a better job on him. But is stopping Brunson actually the key to winning this series? I’m not so sure.

On January 3rd, Brunson dropped 31 points and the Sixers still won 130-119. The difference between that game and Monday night wasn’t Brunson. It was everyone else. In the January win, the Knicks shot 43 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. In Game 1, OG Anunoby went 7-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep.

Mikal Bridges went 7-for-10 and 3-for-6. Karl-Anthony Towns went 7-for-11 and 3-for-5. The entire Knicks roster was cooking and the Sixers’ defensive effort had nothing to do with Brunson specifically. It was a collective failure across every matchup on the floor.

Mikal Bridges absolutely drilled Joel Embiid in the stomach and everyone knows it was intentional >>

The Sixers’ strategy should be to make Brunson work for his points while focusing on cutting off the efficiency from the rest of the roster. Let Brunson get his 30 if you have to but don’t let Anunoby, Bridges, and Towns combine to shoot 70 percent alongside him. That’s the formula that beat the Knicks in January and that’s the formula that can beat them in this series.

The Turnaround Absolutely Mattered

The Sixers played a Game 7 in Boston on Saturday night. Embiid logged heavy minutes on a surgically repaired body. Maxey played 45 minutes. George was sick. The entire roster was physically and emotionally drained from the most intense series any of them have ever played. Then they had one day off and flew to New York to play a Knicks team that hadn’t touched a basketball since Thursday.

You can call that an excuse if you want. I call it reality. The Sixers’ starters were playing 40-plus minutes in an elimination game 48 hours before tipoff on Monday. The Knicks were resting, game-planning, and shooting around in a gym with fresh legs. That disparity showed up in every facet of the game from the opening tip.

The Sixers looked heavy. The Knicks looked explosive. The scheduling played a role in that and it’s fair to question why Adam Silver’s office couldn’t give the Sixers an extra day when the Lakers played Friday and don’t have another game until Tuesday. There was room in the schedule to make this fair. They chose not to.

Stop Counting the Sixers Out

The Sixers lost by 32 in Game 1 against the Celtics. They lost by 32 again in Game 4 against the Celtics. They still won that series in seven games. Two 30-plus point blowout losses and they came back from 3-1 to advance. One bad game on tired legs with 24 hours of rest does not define what this series is going to look like moving forward.

The Sixers’ bench isn’t as deep as the Knicks. That’s undeniable. But the Sixers have three of the five best players in this matchup with Embiid, Maxey, and Edgecombe. When those three are rested, healthy, and locked in, they can outscore any combination the Knicks put on the floor. Monday night none of them were rested or locked in. Wednesday should be a very different story.

The series for the Sixers doesn’t really start until Game 2. That’s not spin. That’s the reality of the schedule they were handed. They had no chance to properly prepare for Monday night after the emotional and physical toll of the Boston series. Game 2 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. is the real Game 1 for the Sixers.

If the Knicks shoot 63 percent from the field and 51 percent from three again on Wednesday, then the Sixers have a real problem. But I can’t see that happening. Those numbers are unsustainable over a seven-game series and the law of averages is going to catch up to New York eventually. The Sixers need to be ready to capitalize when it does.

Game 2 Wednesday. 7 p.m. MSG. The real series starts now.

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