Complete 2024 NBA Playoff Bracket Predictions and Key Player Matchups | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

This could be the best series of the entire first round.

The 76ers are 31-8 with a healthy Joel Embiid this season. The Knicks were 20-3 with OG Anunoby in the lineup. Something will have to give.

The health of Embiid may have the biggest impact on this series. Although he returned a few weeks ago following a meniscus injury, Embiid doesn't resemble his MVP self quite yet. A 6-of-17 shooting performance for 23 points in the opening play-in game against the Miami Heat proved that. The center combination of Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson should do a good job of contesting Embiid as well.

New York has been trying to build chemistry on the fly this season with Julius Randle out due to shoulder surgery and the trade additions of Anunoby, Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks. Embiid is still adjusting to new teammates (Buddy Hield, Kyle Lowry) in his return to the lineup, too.

Key Matchup: Jalen Brunson vs. Tyrese Maxey

Embiid is the biggest individual player to watch here, but the Brunson-Maxey duel could decide the series.

Any questions about whether Brunson can be the alpha of a championship-level team should have been answered by now. The All-Star guard averaged 37.8 points and 8.3 assists over his final 10 games of the regular season with New York winning six of its last seven contests.

Maxey will have to be the guy for Philly some nights in this series if Embiid looks like he did against the Heat and doesn't have De'Anthony Melton's defense to help take the pressure off on the other end. If he can outscore Brunson in the series (or at least keep it close), the 76ers will have a strong chance.

Prediction: Knicks in 7

The Sixers' new starting five of Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre Jr., Tobias Harris and Embiid played just 35 total possessions together during the regular season. Asking this freshly assembled group to win a playoff series is a lot, even if Embiid and Maxey look like All-Stars.

Brunson is going to win a close game or two in this series with his fearlessness and shot-making down the stretch. He's becoming one of the NBA's elite closers and averaged 27.8 points in the playoffs last year.