As a follow on to my previous post about the Knicks getting 23 offensive rebounds against Philly yesterday causing me to rethink my feelings about the Cavs getting destroyed in the playoffs last year, Chris Fedor was saying the same thing on his post-game podcast.
He pointed out that Mitchell Robinson is one of the greatest offensive rebounders of all time, that Josh Hart is the best rebounder in the NBA under 6'5", and that Julius Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein are brutes on the glass.
"Not every team is going to have the personnel and the capability of beating up the Cavs the way the Knicks did...Was it the Cavs weren't tough enough, period? Or were they not tough enough against that opponent in that series? I think there is a breakdown in the reality of what happened in that series and it showed it here in Game 1...The Magic don't have Robinson, Hart, and Hartenstein. They don't have Jalen Brunson so some of the breakdowns guarding him that led to those offensive rebounds aren't going to happen in the same way. All the things the Knicks were able to prey on the Magic won't be able to do to the same extent."
I agree. The Sixers allowed an average of 11.5 offensive rebounds per game during the regular season. The Knicks got 23 last night. It's not that the Cavs are soft; it's that the Knicks are that good, especially when the opposing big has to help defend Brunson rather than boxing out his man.
The Knicks are now 21-3 with OG Anunoby on the floor. Embiid is gutting it out but not 100%. It looks like he's playing on one-and-a-half legs. The Knicks will win this series and then take out the winner of Milwaukee/Indiana and get to the EC Finals.