Draymond Green, who has already been excluded from the playoffs and podcasting, doesn’t believe in the Knicks.
“as [Sixers backup center] Paul Reed said, “We’re not fooling anyone, but we wanted the New York Knicks. They’re the easier team to beat.” Paul Reed said that, but I don’t say that,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show.”
“We know it’s real. The New York Knicks can win much easier than the Boston Celtics. In fact, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks. Because who’s going to stop Joel? [Embiid]? ”
Green, a four-time champion with the Warriors, was referring to Reid’s recent comments in which he said the Sixers preferred the “easy” Knicks as an opponent over the Celtics.
This isn’t necessarily a far-fetched view, since the Celtics have the best record in the NBA so far, but the Knicks needed to win Game 82 to earn the No. 2 seed. But it could still be bulletin board material for the first round of the Turnpike Series.
Josh Hart didn’t even think about Reed.
“I don’t care at all about what he said,” Hart said Friday. “I really couldn’t care less. I don’t care.”
The Knicks-Sixers series is a betting toss-up, according to DraftKings odds, despite the matchup against the No. 7 seed.
Green was willing to bet his money against the Knicks.
He also declared that they would “probably” lose to the Heat again in the playoffs.
“We definitely got Philadelphia,” Green said. “Nobody’s going to stop Joel.”
The Knicks had no issues on the injury report for Saturday’s Game 1 with the exception of Julius Randle as of Friday. [surgery] Meanwhile, the Sixers listed Embiid as “questionable” and De’Anthony Melton as “out.”
Embiid is working on his surgically repaired knee and was also listed as “questionable” before playing 38 minutes in Wednesday’s win over the Heat.
Melton will miss his second straight game with a back injury.
Defensive specialist guard Jalen Brunson is a big help for Philadelphia, but he played in just 38 games this season due to a back injury.
The league announced Friday that Brunson was among the top 15 sellers of jerseys in the NBA Store during the second half of the season.
The Knicks’ point guard, who wasn’t on the list earlier in the season, is now No. 15, just ahead of LaMelo Ball at No. 14, Nikola Jokic at No. 13 and Embiid at No. 12.
The top sellers of the jerseys were familiar names – Steph Curry in 1st place, LeBron James in 2nd place and Jayson Tatum in 3rd place.
Victor Wembaneyama (4th), Giannis Antetokounmpo (5th), Luka Doncic (6th), Devin Booker (7th), Kevin Durant (8th), Damian Lillard (9th), Tyrese – Maxey (10th), Ja Morant (11th) and others on the list.
The Knicks were seventh overall in second-half season merchandise.
They were behind the Lakers (1st), Celtics (2nd), Warriors (3rd), Bucks (4th), Bulls (5th) and Sixers (6th).
