Joel Embiid battled, Sixers rotation was exposed and more from a 144-114 dismantling to close the season

Joel Embiid’s status was in doubt before the 76ers’ season ended with a 144-114 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of their second-round series.

That has been the case since he missed the start of the franchise’s first-round series with an appendectomy and sat out of Game 2 against the Knicks with hip and ankle injuries.

Yet Embiid was one of the few Sixers players to show up for this closeout game against the Knicks. With his team’s season on the line, the big man had 24 points on 8-of-8 shooting, five rebounds and four assists. He added six makes at the free-throw line. Kelly Oubre Jr. played hard and produced 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

The Sixers were otherwise dismantled in Game 4. Paul George, VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey struggled from the field, combining to make 13 of 35 looks. The Sixers were also minus-35 in the minutes played by Maxey and George, which was the worst mark on the team.

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The Knicks put this game away as soon as it started with an opening run where they knocked down 10 of 11 three-pointers to start the game, with Miles McBride and Jalen Brunson leading the way. Former Sixer Landry Shamet also got in on the action again, backing up his breakout performance of 15 points in Game 3 that helped put this series out of reach. Shamet scored 12 points.

McBride finished the night with 25 points as an improbable leading scorer for a closeout game. Brunson continued his brilliance with 22 points, six assists and four rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart also had 17 each.

Here are a few other things we learned from the Sixers’ final game of the season.

Say what you will about Embiid, but these playoffs have provided yet another testament to his toughness and willingness to battle through ailment and injury. Embiid needed emergency surgery on April 6 and was away from the team for 17 days following an appendectomy. There were questions about whether he would appear in these playoffs in any form. But he showed up again and again.

He showed up after missing the first three games against the Boston Celtics and controlled the first-round series once he arrived. As Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, the series changed when Embiid came back. He averaged 28 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in four games — three of them wins — against the Celtics.

Embiid was spent as the series turned from Boston to New York on only one day rest. Embiid missed Game 2 after he suffered ankle and hip injuries and labored through an average performance in Game 3.

He was one of the few players who looked prepared to battle once more in Game 4. He was efficient from the field and got to the free-throw line early and often. But the big man didn’t have much help as he faced off against Towns and Mitchell Robinson. Embiid scored 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the first half and tried to get teammates involved in the third. He finished the game with a solid stat line but it was clear this one was over and he didn’t play in the fourth.

This series — and these playoffs in general — further exposed the Sixers’ issues at the margins of their roster. The Sixers couldn’t keep pace with this balanced Knicks team. When they slowed Brunson or Towns, Hart or Mikal Bridges stepped in. When the Knicks needed to go deeper down the well, McBride and Shamet were eager to leave their imprint on the playoffs.

The Sixers don’t have that. The Knicks led the NBA in postseason bench scoring heading into Game 4, while the Sixers ranked dead last of the 16 teams. The rotation was only seven players deep on most nights, with Quentin Grimes the lone player who was sure to get minutes. When Embiid was available, even Adem Bona and Andre Drummond faced nights where they didn’t leave the pine. That meant if Grimes had a tough series, they wouldn’t get any production off the bench.

Part of the problem was coach Nick Nurse’s insistence on playing his stars big minutes. Embiid played 34 minutes in his first game back from appendectomy surgery and averaged 36.5 despite the emergence of new injuries during the postseason. Maxey and Edgecombe were amongst the league leaders in minutes all season and were right there at the top of the heap in these playoffs as well.

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Another issue is the players who basketball operations Daryl Morey has allowed to walk over the years. Jared McCain went to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder for little more than cap space. Isaiah Joe was waived back in 2022 before he became a rotation player and champion for those same Thunder. And Julian Champagnie was let go one year after Joe. He’s since become a starter for a Spurs team with title aspirations.

This summer will be an interesting one for the Sixers, who clearly have a disjointed roster. There are rising stars in Maxey and Edgecombe and established — and potential fading — stars in Embiid and George.

Embiid is still one of the better players in the NBA when he’s available, but he simply wasn’t available enough this season. He played in 34 games and was in and out of this postseason for ailment and injury. George had moments, especially in Boston, but he faded away too often against the Knicks and wasn’t able to sustain hot starts in multiple games. He too missed plenty of time as he battled back from a knee injury and was suspended for 25 games for a banned substance.

For their part, Maxey and Edgecombe were the players who got the Sixers to the postseason. They were available and played big minutes all year. But as young players they still defer to their more experienced teammates and don’t play the same fierce brand of basketball they’re known for when Embiid and George are on the court.

The Sixers aren’t really in a position to change this dynamic much. Embiid has a new extension that hasn’t even kicked in yet and George is signed for two more seasons. The work will have to be done internally to improve how these four players gel on the court, and on the margins where the organization has struggled to pair solid reserves with their stars.