76ers at Knicks
The New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers will both watch the playoffs from home again this spring, but at least one team is feeling good about its future. The 76ers will try to snap a seven-game slide when they visit the Knicks in the regular season finale on Wednesday.
Philadelphia will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season but looked at times like a team on the rise with promising rookies Joel Embiid and Dario Saric flashing signs of stardom and the prospect of No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons joining the team next fall. "You feel the fans, you want to acknowledge them," 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters after the home finale on Monday. "We believe that there were things that went on this year that I hope they too are excited about." Knicks fans found fewer things about which to be excited this season and will miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive spring. New York will likely hold stars Carmelo Anthony (knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (back) on the bench for the finale.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (28-53): Philadelphia continued to get promising performances from its young players even after Embiid (knee) was shut down for the season and Saric (heel) was put on a minutes restriction. Power forward Richaun Holmes and shooting guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot emerged over the last few weeks, and Brown was happy to give the pair the experience. "It’s priceless," Brown told the team's website of the experience gained by the two. "What I think it does for those guys, led by me, there needs to be an appropriate fear of, ‘OK, what’s going to happen with free agents? Who are they going to go get for that? Who are they going to draft? How does that affect me?’ That’s real."
ABOUT THE KNICKS (30-51): New York's offseason promises to be dominated by the same discussion that surrounded the team for most of the 2016-17 campaign: whether or not to trade Anthony. The 32-year-old star averaged 22.5 points on 43.3 percent shooting in 73 games and holds a no-trade clause. "I think it's all his choice still, isn't it, with his contract? We'll go into the summer -- I think every year until guys are gone, coaches, we all assume we have the same team," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters in regard to Anthony's status. "That's how you prepare. When something changes you deal with it."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks rookie C Willy Hernangomez recorded a double-double in each of the last two games.
2. 76ers rookie SF Alex Poythress went 5-of-7 from 3-point range on Monday after going 1-of-9 in the first four games.
3. Philadelphia took two of the first three meetings this season, with the lone loss coming in New York 110-109 on Feb. 25.