76ers big man gives Knicks bulletin-board material ahead of first-round matchup
Philadelphia 76ers big man Paul Reed provided the New York Knicks with bulletin board material on Thursday, two days before the team's first-round playoff series.
Reed appeared on FanDuel TV's "Run It Back" on Thursday and said that "of course" the Sixers wanted to face the second-seeded Knicks over the top-seeded Boston Celtics because New York was "the easier team."
Philadelphia advanced to the best-of-seven first-round set against Jalen Brunson and company thanks to its 105-104 victory vs. the Miami Heat in the play-in tournament on Wednesday.
"It's gonna be fun. We match up pretty well with [the Knicks]," Reed said. "They've got a great guard. We've got a great guard. We've also got Joel [Embiid] MVP. Like you said earlier, he's one of the most unstoppable guys in the league right now."
"BBall Paul's" argument that New York is an easier matchup (to which he added the words "I guess") isn't outlandish.
The Celtics finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA (64-18), seven games better than both the Denver Nuggets (57-25) and Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25) and a whopping 14 games ahead of the second-place Knicks. However, New York was red-hot at the end of the campaign, winning four in a row before its victory against the Heat and 13 of 18 overall.
During the regular season, the Sixers dropped three of four against the Celtics and Knicks.
If Embiid is fully healthy and his dominant self, Philadelphia could have a sizable advantage in the frontcourt and a chance at an upset.
It was announced in early April that Knicks All-Star power forward Julius Randle would undergo shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the season.
The Knicks-Sixers series begins at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
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