What can the Sixers learn from these playoffs? Five takeaways to consider for next season.

The Indiana Pacers had the Boston Celtics on the ropes Tuesday night before a desperation corner three-pointer by Jaylen Brown sent Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals to overtime, where the Celtics prevailed.

The Sixers, meanwhile, remain at home awaiting a critical summer to build around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Their 2023-24 season has been over for more than two weeks, following a first-round loss to the New York Knicks in a highly competitive and entertaining series.

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Even with the status of Embiid’s knee and face during the playoffs, will this go down as another missed opportunity for the Sixers? Perhaps. At the very least, here are some takeaways from the postseason so far, and how they could be applied to the Sixers.

Staying healthy is always a significant factor in which teams advance in the playoffs, and ultimately win the title. That is why one cannot discredit the Pacers’ path to the conference finals. They beat the two opponents in front of them, four times apiece.

Yet that first-round opponent was the Milwaukee Bucks without two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, and All-Star guard Damian Lillard. In the second round, Indiana got a Knicks team that lost rotation player after rotation player to injury, capped by All-NBA contender Jalen Brunson’s broken hand. The Celtics, meanwhile, continue to play without standout big man Kristaps Porzingis, though reports have surfaced that there is optimism he will return sometime in this series.

Boston, meanwhile, faced the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler in the first round, then a Cleveland Cavaliers team that eventually lost Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen in the second round. And in the West, Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray’s calf injury clearly impacted his poor shooting in their second-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Los Angeles Clippers were also without Kawhi Leonard (again) for the bulk of their first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks, who then topped the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.

The Sixers, of course, were dealing with their own health issues. After a physically and mentally draining first round, how would Embiid have held up over the course of another series? Indiana does play a much different style, favoring high-paced offense over the Knicks’ focus on rebounding and defense.

One of the league’s young stars — Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, or Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards — is going to win his first NBA championship this year. Brunson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were in that pool, too, before falling in the second round.

Embiid, who is 30 years old and already has an MVP and two scoring titles, does not exactly fit into that category. But he is still searching for that dominant, lengthy playoff run. Perhaps the best comparison is the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns, a perennial All-Star and multiskilled big man who was regarded as a playoff underachiever until … he wasn’t. That’s how these narratives flow.

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Maxey, however, is absolutely in that grouping of young stars. Following his All-Star season and eye-popping first-round moments, The Ringer recently slotted Maxey sixth in its ranking of top players 25 years old or younger. Maxey’s next task? Prove he can propel his team consistently, like those who are still in the playoff field.

This most applies to the Mavericks, who grabbed P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford from the lowly Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards, respectively, at the trade deadline. Washington provides defensive versatility and amassed three 20-point games in the Mavs’ second-round series against the Thunder, while Gafford is a lob threat for Doncic.

Those February moves came after the Pacers and Knicks upgraded their rosters by acquiring All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and 3-and-D wing OG Anunoby, respectively, in separate in-season trades with the Toronto Raptors.

The Sixers, meanwhile, also reworked their personnel throughout the 2023-24 season. The early blockbuster James Harden trade brought back Nico Batum, among others. Kyle Lowry and Cameron Payne, who both joined in February, became rotation players.

But after calling sharpshooter Buddy Hield the most prominent player moved on deadline day, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey acknowledged after the season that his addition did not work as well as he hoped. Hield was benched in the middle of the Knicks series, before a breakout Game 6 performance.

This is unsurprising given the state of the modern NBA, and has been a roster deficiency for the Sixers for multiple seasons.

Kelly Oubre Jr. largely served that role this season, attacking off the dribble and being tasked with guarding Brunson in the first round. Ricky Council IV also flashed that in his more limited action this season. De’Anthony Melton could have been helpful as a perimeter defender, rebounder, and complementary ball handler if healthy. Batum is the definition of a sage veteran, but is now 35 years old.

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And they are not the caliber players such as Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels, an All-NBA defender with the occasional offensive pop. Or the complementary depth that Oklahoma City has around stars Gilgeous-Alexander and big man Chet Holmgren. Or Denver’s Aaron Gordon, who remains one of the best trade acquisitions in recent years.

This is a cliché because it is true.

The Nuggets ran out of gas in their Game 7 loss to Minnesota, surrendering a 20-point lead to squash the possibility of a repeat title. In fact, this is the fifth year in a row that the defending champion did not make it past the following season’s second round. Three of the four teams in the conference finals did not advance that far last year.

Should that inspire more or less confidence that the Sixers’ long overdue breakthrough is coming? That answer must wait until next year.