Evan: Knicks fans may be 'disrespecting' 76ers: 'Not easy to beat'
Evan respects what the Knicks have done this season, and the likely hard-fought series they will put up against the 76ers starting on Saturday night.
But he warns Knicks fans that they might be underestimating the seventh-seeded Sixers heading into the first round, even if Joel Embiid looked compromised in Wednesday's Play-In Tournament game against the Heat.
"I think you're disrespecting the Philadelphia 76ers," Evan said. "You look at them because you watched them last night, and they looked like crap last night…but they not only responded. They won an essential playoff game with their two best players doing nothing for 90 percent of the game. They needed Nicholas Batum to save their asses."
Embiid was largely a non-factor until the fourth quarter on Wednesday, and Batum saved the day with 20 points, his highest mark of the season. Evan says both Embiid and Maxey can't be counted on to be non-factors for an entire series like they were on Wednesday, and while the Knicks may still win the series, it will be a lot harder than many Knicks fans seem to believe.
"Tyrese Maxey is going to play better," Evan said. "The biggest thing that probably gives you hope or confidence that Joel Embiid grabs at his knee five minutes into game one, and you never see him again…if he's off the court and not available, I think the Knicks will smoke them. But as long as the reigning MVP is on the floor, and as long as Tyrese Maxey doesn't turn into a pumpkin, the Philadelphia 76ers are not easy to beat.
"I think Knicks fans are disrespecting who they're playing in the first round."
















