Embiid vs. Towns at the Garden: Opening Night Against the Team That Swept Philly

0:04The host: Joel Embiid gave the Knicks 38 games to beat last season, and they swept him in May anyway. A second-round sweep, and Daryl Morey lost his job over it. Tonight is the first real game since, same building, with Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and LeBron James finally on one floor.

0:23The analyst: Slow down. The 38 is the number, not the sweep. He gave 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in those 38. Whether he's on the floor in April matters more than whether he remembers May.

0:35The host: Fair. But New York didn't change. Mike Brown has the whole group back, and their side of the injury report is blank. Brunson, Anunoby, Bridges, Towns, Hart, McBride, nobody out. Four days of rest to our three.

0:52The analyst: Blank report and the better team on paper. New York was plus 6.4 in net rating last season, 118.7 offense, 112.3 defense. Philadelphia was minus 0.1, sixteenth on both ends, eighteenth in net. That's not a rivalry on paper. That's a gap.

1:10The host: We beat them 120-97 on October 5.

1:13The analyst: With Embiid, Brown and LeBron watching. We said that night it proved nothing. Still nothing.

1:19The host: So where is tonight decided?

1:21The analyst: Karl-Anthony Towns against Embiid. Towns pulled 11.9 rebounds a game last season, Embiid 7.7. If Embiid has to chase Towns to the three-point line, Nick Nurse's whole defense stretches. If he stays home and Towns settles for jumpers, Philadelphia lives with that.

1:39The host: I'd say pace. New York played at 97.7 last season, Philadelphia at 100.4. Maxey wants to run. Brunson wants to walk it up and pick his spot.

1:51The analyst: Same fight, two names. If Maxey turns it into a sprint, the Towns problem shrinks. If Brunson drags it down to 97.7, Embiid guards in space all night, and Brunson's 6.8 assists a game last season came out of exactly that half court.

2:10The host: Injury report. Who do we actually have?

2:13The analyst: All four stars cleared, Edgecombe and Caldwell-Pope with them. Then it thins. Dominick Barlow went to Out yesterday, back, estimated return November 2. Tacko Fall to Out, hip, estimated the 22nd. Hukporti stays out until next October.

2:27The host: And the three with tonight written next to them.

2:30The analyst: Dean Wade, ankle. Anfernee Simons, hamstring. Adem Bona, foot. All three list today as the estimated return, none has been cleared. Bona has carried that foot since September 17, Simons the hamstring tag since October 12. Uncertain until the lineup is posted.

2:49The host: That's the forward spots. Barlow gave us 71 games and 23.8 minutes last season. Wade is paid $9.0 million to be that body. If both sit, it's Jabari Walker and Justin Edwards behind a 41-year-old LeBron.

3:06The analyst: And Simons is the bench shooter. 38.5% from three last season. Without him, the second unit's spacing is Caleb Love and a prayer.

3:15The host: Number of the day.

3:17The analyst: 6.4. New York's net rating last season. Philadelphia's was minus 0.1 with Paul George. That's the off-season in one line: two firsts, two seconds and the tax to close a gap of that size.

3:28The host: And what it doesn't prove.

3:31The analyst: Tonight. Net rating is a full season of last year's rosters. Brown and LeBron weren't here. One opener on four days' rest against three is a baseline, not a forecast.

3:41The host: My worry is the 16th. Boston, 120-125, at home, Embiid 27, Maxey 22, and we still lost. Third straight preseason loss after 108-114 in Brooklyn and 106-144 in Boston.

4:02The analyst: Ten days ago we said this team stays unknown until the stars play real minutes together without a crash. They did on the 16th and gave up 125 at home. The question moved from "can they play together" to "can they stop anyone." Not closed. Sharper.

4:17The host: Tip-off tonight at the Garden on NBC and Peacock. Then home: Cleveland on the 22nd on ESPN, Milwaukee the 24th on NBA TV, Detroit the 25th. Four games this week, one back-to-back.

4:33The analyst: That 24th-and-25th back-to-back is the LeBron test, not tonight. Three days of rest coming in, two days off before Cleveland. Whatever he gives you tonight, don't extrapolate it to the weekend.

4:45The host: So, Philly, who guards Towns when Embiid sits, Wade on a bad ankle or Walker? Watch Embiid's first three trips against Towns tonight, they tell you which game this is. Full breakdown tonight in the 76ers section on Hoops Nightly.