‘It looks exciting’: In defeat, Joel Embiid sees Sixers can shine with Tyrese Maxey (and without Tobias Harris)

Yes, the Sixers should have won the series. They should have beaten the Knicks in the first round. Not only should they be playing Game 7 on Saturday in New York, they should have finished off the Knicks in six.

The Knicks were a No. 2 seed, but partly because of Julius Randle, who is injured; the Sixers were a No. 7 seed, but mainly because Joel Embiid missed two months with a knee injury. The Sixers have more talent.

Yes, the Sixers have now gone the 12 years since they first traded Andre Iguodala, then Jrue Holiday, without advancing past the second round of the playoffs.

And yes, Embiid, the face (and co-opted name) of “The Process,” could have been fitter and healthier and more effective; he averaged 5.8 points and shot 23.1% in this series’ fourth quarters.

Yes, the Sixers should have played harder in Game 1, when they allowed 23 offensive rebounds. They should have gotten the late calls in Game 2. They should have defended Jalen Brunson better in Game 6 on Thursday, when he scored 14 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 118-115 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.

» READ MORE: The Sixers landed on wrong side, but they fought against the Knicks — and officials — in an epic Game 6

And yet.

At no point in the 11-year debacle since The Process began have the Sixers looked more promising. They have the best coach they’ve had yet, in Nick Nurse. They have a matured superstar in Embiid. They have a maturing superstar in Tyrese Maxey. They have draft picks and cap space and a fan base that kind of loves them again.

“It kind of looks exciting,” Embiid said.

Here’s why.

Before this season Embiid would have been laid up in bed with an ice pack on his knee and a hot water bottle on his face. This year, on a bad knee and with Bell’s palsy, he scored a playoff career-high 50 points in Game 3. This year, in a closeout game, he scored 39 points, the most in his 11 closeout games, and pulled down 13 rebounds, the second-most.

He learned that great players don’t play through hindrances; they play with them.

“Never give up,” Embiid said. “Gotta keep on going. Can’t feel sorry for myself. Not as long as I can play, and jump even a little bit. I feel like my presence is enough, even if I can’t jump and move the way I want to.”

After Maxey dropped 46 points in an overtime win Tuesday, the Knicks made a point of hammering him every time he went to the rim. The refs let them: He shot four free throws. So what. Maxey never adjusted; he never went to his midrange game, he never set up three-pointers. Simply put, he faded. He scored 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting. It was a typical drop-off.

“He’s got to understand he’s not anywhere near where he could be,” Nurse said. “He’s an ‘A’ player. … But you gotta do it most nights.”

Cam Payne played with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and with Devin Booker and Chris Paul in Phoenix. He knows quality postseason talent when he sees it, and he sees it in Embiid and Maxey.

“They’re going to be a real team to deal with the next few years,” Payne said.

Kyle Lowry, 38, won a title with Toronto in 2019 and, on the way, he beat Embiid and the most talented Sixers team in years in the second round. Lowry signed with the Sixers in February to play with Batman and Batman.

“That was part of the reason I came here — the be a part of the growth of Tyrese and the growth of Joel, to watch them, to try to help them as much as I can with the maturation process,” Lowry said. “The things that these guys have done — as a guy who’s been in the league a long time, I was so happy I got to play with these guys.”

» READ MORE: Sixers’ season ends in 118-115 Game 6 loss to Knicks despite Joel Embiid’s 39 points

Nurse’s chief lament after Game 6 concerned the instability of his roster in his first season. Injuries to Embiid, Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, and Robert Covington, among others, never allowed Nurse and his staff to implement a steady system. That meant ragged offensive sets, blown defensive assignments, clumsy plays out of timeouts — all facets that, on good teams, happen as second nature.

However, he now knows what to expect from his cornerstones: “Joel and Tyrese is a hell of a combo to start with.”

Tobias Harris scored zero points in what likely was his last game as a Sixer. He was durable, professional, and accountable, but he never quite fit alongside Embiid and any of Embiid’s sidekicks — Ben Simmons, James Harden, or Maxey.

He made $180 million in the last five years. God bless and godspeed.