May 06, 2026
Brad Penner/Imagn Images
Can rookie VJ Edgecombe and the Sixers bounce back after another series-opening blowout loss?
NEW YORK – In the immediate aftermath of his team's second straight season-opening blowout loss, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse had not yet formulated his plans for Tuesday morning.
"I'll get together with the staff here shortly and decide what the plan is," Nurse said after the Sixers' horrid effort against the New York Knicks in Game 1 on Monday night, "but we'll certainly have to watch a bunch of film."
The glass-half-full perspective Nurse and his players tried to establish after the game: New York's 39-point margin of victory will not give them any sort of head start when Game 2 of this second-round series tips off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
Heading into Game 2, a batch of notes about the team's current thinking as it tries to shake off another rough Game 1:
Immediately after the game, there was one stretch that Nurse felt was particularly damaging to his team.
"I just thought towards the end of the first [quarter]," Nurse said, "that [stretch of] six straight mid pick-and-rolls were just too easy. It wasn't challenged. You've got to challenge one way or the other, as the rim or the three. Somebody's got to be running out there to challenge and we just couldn't get around them, back in front of them, we left them open for too many wide-open threes. We even gave up one or two dunks behind us. Got to clean all that stuff up."
Jalen Brunson is a superstar, and when teams face players of his caliber in the playoffs they talk about how they cannot be stopped or contained, but the goal is to make their life difficult. Brunson did not have to work all that hard for his 35 points, only needing 31 minutes and 18 shots to get there. He orchestrated this New York barrage to end the first quarter, setting up the blowout:
The Sixers allowed 10 baskets in the final 7:09 of the first quarter during their Game 1 loss to New York on Monday. Nick Nurse lamented the Sixers' pick-and-roll defense during this stretch: pic.twitter.com/f3e7VWSI16
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) May 5, 2026
After a long morning of watching film, where did the Sixers need to be better?
"On the ball initially," VJ Edgecombe, one of the primary defenders against Brunson, said after the Sixers' film session on Tuesday. "It starts on the ball. I think just guarding the ball, guarding your yard."
Nurse was not with the team on Tuesday morning for that film session; he traveled to his home state of Iowa for the funeral service of his brother, Steve, who unexpectedly passed away at 62 years old on the day in between Games 5 and 6 of the first round. Nurse's availability for Game 2 in New York does not appear to be in question.
MORE: Sixers-Knicks Game 1 instant observations
How did the Sixers stop that avalanche of Knicks baskets out of pick-and-rolls? The key was Justin Edwards, whose role has diminished in the playoffs but is one of two players not firmly in the mix right now with a decent chance of getting back into it. Edwards had a very specific job upon checking in: intentionally foul Knicks backup center Mitchell Robinson, a 40.8 percent shooter from the foul line this season. Edwards did it twice on as many possessions and Robinson missed four free throws.
"I thought it was a chance to stop their momentum a little bit," Nurse said after the game, and for a minute or two it did. But the Knicks got rolling again and there was nothing the Sixers could do to stop it.
Robinson, arguably the single best offensive rebounder in the NBA and a player whose incredible length has bothered Joel Embiid at times in the past, is New York's trump card in many respects. If Nurse can make it harder for Knicks head coach Mike Brown to feel comfortable using Robinson, the Sixers will be better off – especially if Embiid continues to force Karl-Anthony Towns into foul trouble.
Right before Robinson checked out of the game, Nurse appeared to be summoning Dalen Terry, a rarely-used bench wing, to the scorer's table. Terry took off his warmups after Edwards' second foul, but once New York third-string center Ariel Hukporti went to the scorer's table, Terry sat back down.
Moving forward, Nurse could have multiple players serve as his intentional fouler against Robinson to prevent any one player from picking up too many fouls.
MORE: What to watch for in Sixers-Knicks
A lively bench is typically a sign of a connected group, and in recent weeks the Sixers have had several animated moments on the bench. A group of players not part of Nurse's rotation – including Kyle Lowry, Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker, Terry and Johni Broome – has been proactive trying to find ways to make some sort of impact on the game.
After the team's Game 7 win in Boston on Saturday, Tyrese Maxey shouted out the "Bench Mob" and acknowledged its efforts to keep the group's spirits high.
"The first thing I said when I walked into the locker room was, 'Bench Mob, y'all were amazing.' Kyle, Trendon, Jabari, DT, Broome, all of them," Maxey said. "I'd go down the whole list. They were amazing this entire series. Talking coverages, picking guys up. We had this thing before tonight that we've got to get up 35 threes no matter what the case is. Trendon was tracking threes every single timeout. That's the thing that I think makes the group special. Trendon didn't play a second. Jabari, I don't know how much he played. But those guys are up, standing up, clapping, picking up teammates. That's the special part about it. We're going to need them to keep doing that. No matter who plays, we're going to need everybody."
Broome, who has mostly been inactive or injured during his rookie season, pointed to the 40-year-old Lowry as the leader who prompted the entire group of players firmly out of the rotation to become more vocal.
"I think it probably started with Kyle, just him being a coach on the bench," Broome told PhillyVoice before Game 1 in New York. "Obviously all of the young guys are trying to learn, especially myself, so just kind of following his lead. Obviously everybody says it takes everybody to win. Just because we're not playing [doesn't] mean we can't help win or [do] whatever it takes. So I think that's how the 'Bench Mob' became a thing, was just guys on the bench doing their part and talking things out for the guys on the court."
Broome said there has been a strong vibe on the bench all season, but that it has reached another level lately – for obvious reasons.
"Obviously, the playoffs kind of intensify things," Broome said. "When we got down 3-1 quick, I think we tried to do everything we could to kind of get a lift, a boost, especially on the road. Game 5, we're down 3-1, I feel like it was only people in the building who – that was all we had, was the people on the bench. So I think them hearing us kind of gave them that extra spark. And then we went to Game 6, and then in Game 7 it just carried on."
MORE: Mailbag reacting to Game 1 loss to Knicks, unpacking possible adjustments
