The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks returned to the Wells Fargo Center for Game 6 of their first-round series. After preventing a gentleman’s sweep, the Sixers overcame a miserable start but still took the loss, 118-115.

Let’s break down a wild Game 6, the final game of the Sixers' 2023-24 season.

76ers player notes:

Joel Embiid: 39 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 12-25 FG shooting

Embiid did not look like someone who trusted his knee. It didn’t matter enough for him to not control this game. Although the assists don’t show it, his playmaking (which opened up from the threat of scoring) was outstanding. He scored with ruthless consistency and eventually got more comfortable attacking off the dribble. And the workload didn’t get in the way of what he needed to do on defense and on the glass.

Although he ran out of gas by the end and fouled out, he went out swinging.

Tyrese Maxey: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 6-18 FG shooting

Maxey still deserves praise for his heroic Game 5 but he was a mess in this game. He should have gotten a trip to the foul line on some of his drives but he nonetheless was worryingly inefficient. Although he was able to drive and kick to get points on the board, his poor shooting from the field did him in.

Buddy Hield: 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6-10 FG shooting

When Daryl Morey said that Hield puts the fear of God into teams with how he shot the ball, he had visions of what the second quarter of this game looked like. Hield, after not playing the last two games, drained five threes in that period to power Philly's comeback.

Knicks player notes:

Jalen Brunson: 41 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists, 13-27 FG shooting

Brunson wasn’t shooting from deep very well but he continued to score at will and fuel the Knicks offense. He worked his way to the charity stripe often, sealing defenders with his hip and drawing the contact. With all of NY's starters in double figures, Brunson led the way with yet another huge performance.

Game recap:

The 76ers' stunning win in Game 5 extended their season and gave them a shot to force a winner-take-all game with the Knicks on their heels. Team ownership took steps to ensure that The Center was rocking and filled with more Philly fans than in Games 3 and 4. The measures seemed to have worked, though New Yorkers still made their presence felt. In a game with a tip-off time way too late for everyone's liking, the Knicks tried to take care of business while the Sixers fought to play them one more time.

Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdanovic and Robert Covington were all out.

1st half

The Knicks tried Donte DiVincenzo on Maxey to start the game off, his third different game-opening matchup. New York hit four of its five shots, ripping the nets from deep and dropping the ball into Isaiah Hartenstein for push shots. Embiid appeared to be laboring on his knee more, getting around the court with way less explosiveness. He still made his first two shots, a jumper and a putback layup that he hardly left the ground for.

New York sold out to make sure Maxey couldn’t get going, sending extra defenders his way. Brunson, meanwhile, led the Knicks offense on a furious charge up the scoreboard, scoring eight in the first six minutes as his team scored 20. Philly had only seven by that point with no one else but Embiid scoring. The big man was trying to carve out enough space to get his shot off rather than trying to get serious rim pressure. The shots fell (and Hartenstein picked up a pair of fouls) but they did not come easy.

The Sixers got no offense out of anyone besides Embiid through the first eight minutes. Maxey even airmailed an open three-pointer. He did finally get on the board on a tough layup after a timeout, showing the minimum amount of life as Embiid took a rest. But the Knicks didn’t relent. They pushed the pace, hunted mismatches, got offensive rebounds and simply hit their shots. They led by as much as 22.

Philly threw a punch back to get back into it, raining down threes and pumping the crowd up, which allowed them to survive the Embiid-less minutes. Cam Payne once again brought the energy off the bench as the Sixers ended their quarter from the underworld down by 14.

Buddy Hield, whose pep talk with Maxey made him impactful off the bench in Game 5, made it back into the rotation as the Sixers searched for shooting and fresh(er) legs. He hit his first two shots of the night, though his on-ball defense was rough. Still, he stepped up in a huge way. Nico Batum was Philly's MVRP (role player) through the first 16 minutes and Payne wasn’t far behind him. Their efforts made it a single-digit game again. Embiid was there to facilitate the ball, defend the interior, rebound and stick Mitchell Robinson with his second foul. Philly cut its massive deficit down to five.

The Sixers again posted Embiid up on the right block and cleared out, forcing rotations that opened up shots. But he picked up his second foul on a charge, sending Paul Reed back in for a brief moment. Embiid kept igniting ball movement that led to open shots, forcing the Knicks to stay with him on an island. He took advantage with a layup. Philly somehow took the lead, bringing the game into the back-and-forth this series has been full of.

At halftime, the Sixers LED 54-51.

2nd half

Embiid got the half started with a pair of triples from straight ahead, bringing him up to 23 points on the night. For as much momentum as the Sixers grabbed with their unreal run in the second quarter, it still just brought the game to a ping-pong match. Josh Hart attacked the rim to score five quick points (including a free throw) that brought the game to a single point.

More great defense from the Sixers fueled fast breaks that gave them a double-digit lead. Embiid dominated the paint and the guys on the perimeter forced takeaways. He also brought out the “too small” motion after scoring a layup through Hartenstein's chest. The Knicks center got him back with an endless stream of push shots that kept New York afloat. Embiid sent him to the bench by making him commit his fourth foul.

The Knicks resorted to single coverage against Embiid in the hopes of preventing another three-point bonanza. That was the result but it came at the cost of Embiid doing his own damage. Embiid has, even still, gotten flustered in the face of aggressive defense. Tonight was not one of those nights. A big third quarter from Brunson (11 points, six assists) brought the game to a tie at 83 as the fourth quarter began.

Reed and Hield started the fourth quarter. Nick Nurse risked not having Embiid on defense to cover up for him or have him set up easy shots for him. But Hield still held it down, throwing an offensive rebound back out to Oubre for a game-tying triple. Maxey tried to get it going by squeezing layups past the defense, one of which was blocked and turned into points on the other end.

Embiid returned with just under nine minutes left facing a four-point disadvantage. Batum shook the building with a putback slam and Embiid tied the game up with another over-the-shoulder layup over Hartenstein. Brunson, though, was having none of it, draining a pair of triples.

Maxey flexed his shoulders on his first drawn foul of the game as the 76ers tried to snatch the lead back. They were still put in a precarious spot when Embiid picked up his fourth foul. Nurse's challenge to overturn it was unsuccessful. The Knicks pushed their lead to eight points as Brunson remained undeterred (save for the best defensive sequence of Hield's life where he kept him in check, though DiVincenzo scored anyway).

OG Anunoby atoned for a missed dunk at the end of the first half by yamming a dunk on Embiid, sticking him with his fifth foul. The big fella was working extra hard on defense, blitzing Brunson way up top by halfcourt. The Sixers made it a one-point game in the final minute before Brunson concocted another and-one. Maxey responded with a goaltend layup and foul shot on the other end. Tie game.

The Sixers played off of Hart to double Brunson, leaving Hart open as he tried to get the ball back to Brunson. But he took the three-point shot and drained it with 24 seconds left. Embiid took the easy two points but had to commit the intentional foul, sending him out of the game. DiVincenzo hit the free throws and the Knicks made sure to foul Maxey before he could hoist another miracle shot. He hit them both before another intentional foul on Brunson, who made both, too.

And that was it. The 76ers' season was over.

Assorted observations:

  • Brunson has the honor of being the first payer to ever record a Bricken for Chicken in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center. It's a historic achievement right up there with his national championships.
  • Tobias Harris' potential final game as a Sixer: 0 points on 0-2 shooting, four rebounds, three assists.

The 76ers now head into an offseason with lots of cap space, assets and urgency to put a fortified, legitimate core around Embiid and Maxey. The Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers in the next round.