The Sixers Went Out Quietly in Game 4, It Was Years in the Making

PHILADELPHIA — Had the Sixers cared enough to punch back for a Game 4 victory, you could maybe have seen a world in which the environment in their home building prepared them for the daunting task of going back to New York for a Game 5.

The only difference would've been the logo on the court.

That's how well traveled the Knicks faithful were in this game. And, really, in Game 3, back when the Sixers had some pride left to play for. The Sixers were in enemy territory no matter where they played this series.

At roughly 1 p.m., Eastern time, on Sunday, as I pulled into the parking lot at Xfinity Mobile Arena, folks in dark blue and orange outnumbered folks in Sixers colors by what felt like five-to-one.

By game time, that was closer to eight-to-one.

An elated Joel Embiid begged Sixers fans to show up for this series in the minutes after Philadelphia's historic upset of the Boston Celtics. It's somewhat hard to believe that Philadelphia was floating on that euphoria just a week ago.

Embiid's cry for support reflected optimism about the team's chances, even perseverence in the wake of the best playoff series victory of his career.

It did not reflect reality.

The reality that even the Sixers' effort to ban ticket sales from New York and New Jersey meant very, very little. Even for the most unmoved consumer, it's fashionable and trendy to don Knicks colors and easy to cheer when they do something good. But there are passionate New Yorkers everywhere. If they're not in Jersey or New York, they're in Philadelphia. If they're not in Philadelphia, they're in Maryland. If they're not in Maryland, they're in Delaware.

It doesn't reflect the reality that going to Madison Square Garden for a Knicks game might as well be its own measure of New York's GDP. There is no event quite like going to a Knicks game, and the prices reflect as much. That also has to mean that the costs to go to most other arenas in the league look like significant discounts in the minds of New Yorkers.

So whether the Sixers win 45 games or 60 games, whether they are playing in the Conference Finals or just the first round, whether management lowers ticket prices to something that appears more affordable for locals or not, the Knicks fans will be there.

There's nothing that can be done about that.

But there is something that can be done about the product on the court, though.

Fans in attendance, the level of demonstrated support in the building, the atmosphere should not dictate effort. Those things are nice for adding some adrenaline when things are going well. These games are decided by talent, preparation and effort.

If the Sixers were truly the better team in this matchup, they would have been able to battle regardless of who was there watching.

"We need a standard," star guard Tyrese Maxey told reporters before preseason games were even played.

"Like, this is who we are every single day, no matter who plays. No matter who doesn't play. When you see 'Philadelphia 76ers', this is what you see. That team, every single night."

To be truthful, even if it only resulted in an OK regular season, Maxey's team lived up to that. These Sixers battled through adversity all season long, from Embiid's limited availability to Paul George's 25-game suspension and more. They can say they never fell below .500, a feat that is not particularly impressive in a vacuum but is an encouraging rebound after the disaster that was the 2024-25 season.

Maxey can only be accountable for his professionalism and play.

The same is true of Embiid.

The reality is that the people in charge of the Sixers, from Joshua Harris and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment to Daryl Morey's front office, set the culture and the standard.

The decisions, the willingness to spend, the attention to every detail down the roster set the tone.

Morey has said that he had permission to go into the luxury tax to improve the team at the trade deadline. Only he and his bosses know if that is true.

History questions the credibility of that claim.

In 2023, the Sixers battled for seeding near the top of the East's hierarchy with James Harden and Embiid putting together an MVP-winning season.

The Sixers' move at the deadline that year? Ushering out Matisse Thybulle and bringing in Jalen McDaniels. They said they viewed McDaniels as a piece of their future. He departed in free agency that summer.

The next deadline? Welcome, Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne. They both departed in free agency that summer.

To be fair, the prognosis of Embiid's meniscus injury was unknown, at least in the public eye. So it is somewhat understandable that Philadelphia wasn't aggressive at that deadline.

The next deadline? The team was on a fast track to the lottery. There was no move to make to make them a contender. At least they cleaned up the error that was a long-term commitment to Caleb Martin and got a younger, better-fitting Quentin Grimes back for a test run.

But this deadline was different.

There was no debilitating injury holding Embiid back. George was having a rebound second season in Philadelphia. Maxey was in the midst of an All-NBA season.

How did Sixers brass respond?

Two trades, but there is a catch.

One sent Eric Gordon on his merry way, clearing the Sixers of the luxury tax by itself. The one that occurred days before the deadline sent fan-favorite second-year guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

As I've articulated in writing several times, the sin wasn't pulling the plug on McCain. Maxey has earned his spot as a stakeholder of this franchise, now and in the future. A pair of offense-first guards who do not have the size to scale up in position makes their fit together questionable at best. Getting a first-round pick and some second-round draft capital back for a guy who had a capped ceiling in Philadelphia is fine business.

Do you know what's not fine business?

Not finding a single way to upgrade a roster that had interesting upside in the time left before the deadline.

The reinforcement brought in some days later was...Mr. Payne, who had been playing overseas and was signed to a prorated contract for the league minimum.

So, regardless of the words coming out of the mouths of Philadelphia's management, the mathematic fact remains that their final roster each of the last four seasons has cost something all too close to the luxury tax line. Once or twice may be coincidence. Four times is not coincidence.

Harris' ownership group has forked out the funds to do the minimum, fielding rosters that are talented enough to exceed the salary cap. They do not do enough to prove that they're emotionally invested in the team's season-to-season outcomes.

It's not like this team had some late onset weaknesses that unearthed themselves when it was far too late. Philadelphia finished 27th in the league in offensive rebounding rate and 23rd in 3-point accuracy.

The issues were well documented all season long.

What did the Sixers do?

Trade away one of their most proficient 3-point shooters without replacing him, and do nothing to address the rebounding issue.

So you see a defense that gives up two minutes into a Game 4, down three games to none on their home court. You see a Maxey throwing lazy passes to try to beat double-teams, his teammates not sufficient enough to punish the extra attention headed his way. You see a George who takes just seven shots in a must-win game and goes a whopping 6-for-18 in Game 3.

Embiid at least showed some fight in Game 4. That's more than pretty much any of his teammates could say.

And yet, who were they playing for exactly?

What motivation was there to dig deep with four reliable rotation players at any given time?

When your fans aren't there—perhaps largely because the bosses didn't convey belief in you by upgrading the roster—you're left to play for nothing but yourselves.

And that can only take you as far as the roster can.

Life tip-toeing the edges of the luxury tax line means you're shuffling players in and out every offseason.

Continuity is thus impossible to achieve.

The only way to ensure continuity is to hit on picks in the later portions of the draft and knock your non-core free-agent decisions out of the park.

"It's more a mentality of developing the entire roster. Developing a system of play that can enhance the players that we have. So, we don't discriminate when it comes to developing a player...We get a new player and we're starting that process," Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault told me last season.

"We're just in that process with players for as long as we're coaching them. That's one part. And then also developing a system and developing an identity that everybody can plug into. Plug their strengths into. Hopefully can make the whole better than the sum of the parts. But those things are easier said than done, obviously. So that's a daily fight, trying to win the margins on that."

Winning the margins is where Nick Nurse takes some blame for the way this season ended. Maxey led the league in minutes played in the regular season. V.J. Edgecombe, a rookie, was tied for 10th.

Maxey probably would've been higher on the leaderboard in playoff minutes had the Sixers not lost four postseason games by at least 30 points each.

When you rely on a 6-foot-2 guard to that degree, you're going to exhaust him. When you rely on a rookie that much, you're going to wear him down.

Maxey's finger injury was a freak incident unrelated to fatigue. But his running out of moves on offense at times in this series has to be tied to getting such little in-game rest.

If Nurse had coached the regular season like it was the regular season and not Game 7 of the Finals, he might've learned more about the pieces he had on his bench. He might've lessened Maxey's workload. He might've trusted the pieces on his bench more in the playoffs, helping Maxey recharge a bit.

But at the end of the day, Nurse is a manager down the ladder.

His boss gives him the tools. His boss' boss hands down the constraints.

What's the guy supposed to do when the offseason additions are two rookies—one a lottery pick and the other unplayable—a pair of two-way contractors and a guy on a veteran minimum contract?

Despite an embarrassing blowout loss in Game 4 to stain the end of their season, the Sixers and their fans should feel optimistic about the future. If Edgecombe pops the way his teammates think he will, the backcourt of this team's present and future will string together 50-win seasons with ease.

Having the top-end talent is one part of the puzzle. Having continuity is another part of it. Continuity doesn't just help the players build together on the court. It helps the coaches build the program from one season to another.

"There are no new plays. There are no new coverages or schemes. There may be some times when you can put a wrinkle or a tweak on something or change it a little bit," Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson told On SI earlier this season.

"But obviously the organization that I've been with and I'm still with, that's a very big part of what we're trying to do in terms of continuing to connect the years with the foundation that's been laid and the principles that have been established and continue to evolve and modernize. Just like any other good organization or company. You have to change with the times and that's good."

Connecting the years is difficult when you operate the business near the luxury tax line.

So as excited as you should be about the future, as much as you do or don't trust Nurse, as much as you like or dislike Daryl Morey, none of that matters.

The ones who control the destiny are the ones who cut the checks.

Add us as a preferred source on Google