10 76ers stats guaranteed to make you feel even worse than you already do

It doesn’t get much worse than this.

Well, it did once. Almost half a century ago. We’ll get to that.

This wasn’t quite as much fun as winning Game 7 in Boston, but we’ve got a job to do and the stats won’t wait. So here we go with our 10 worst 76ers stats off one of the ugliest losses in franchise history.

SECOND-WORST LOSS EVER: The 76ers lost 137-98 to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series, and just like that all the good vibes from their Game 7 win in Boston two nights earlier evaporated. The 76ers came up one point short of the worst playoff loss in franchise history, a 40-point loss to the Celtics (121-81) in Game of their 1982 Eastern Conference Finals series at Boston Garden. It’s the 9^th-worst Game 1 loss in any series in NBA history. It was the Knicks’ 2^nd-biggest playoff win ever. They beat the Hawks 140-89 on Thursday. 

ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES A DISASTER: After losing Game 1 and Game 4 of the Celtics series both by 32 points, the 76ers are now only the second team in NBA history to lose three playoff games by 30 or more points in the same season. It happened just last year, when the Nuggets lost a game to the Lakers by 34 but won the series and then lost games to Oklahoma City by 43 and 32 points in that series. The 76ers have lost 10 playoff games in franchise history by at least 30 points – three of them in the last 16 days. 

THAT’S PROBABLY TOO MANY POINTS: The Knicks’ 139 points are the 2^nd-most the 76ers have ever allowed in a playoff game. They lost 156-120 to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks in 1970 in Game 3 of their Eastern Division series at the Spectrum. The 137 points are the 2^nd-most the Knicks have ever scored in the postseason, behind only those 140 against the Hawks 2 ½ weeks ago.

THE MINUS FIVE: For the first time in franchise history, five 76ers were minus-20 or worse in a playoff game. Tyrese Maxey was minus-28, Paul George minus-26, Kelly Oubre minus-25 and Joel Embiid and Quentin Grimes were both mimus-24.       

THIS OUGHT TO BE IMPOSIBLE: Adem Bona played just four minutes but picked up five personal fouls. That ties the “record” for fewest minutes played in the postseason by a player who committed five fouls. In 2022, Dewayne Dedmon of the Heat had five fouls in four minutes in a game against the 76ers in Miami.

A FIRST FOR JOEL: Joel Embiid finished with 14 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. Embiid has played 64 career playoff games and this was the first time he’s ever played a postseason game with fewer than 15 points and fewer than five rebounds. It was only his 10^th such game including the regular season and third when he played at least 20 minutes. Last time he didn’t have 15 or 5 and played 25 minutes was in the 2024 regular season against the Knicks at MSG, when he had 13 and three in 26 minutes. 

AT LEAST HE WENT TO ‘NOVA: Jalen Brunson scored 35 points on 12-for-18 shooting from the field and 3-for-6 from 3. He’s the first player in 26 years to score 35 points against the 76ers in a playoff game while shooting at least 67 percent from the field an 50 percent from 3. The only other player to do that was Jalen Rose with the Pacers in 2000, with 40 points on 16-for-23 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3.

THIRD TIME IN OVER 50 YEARS: The 39-point loss was the 76ers’ 5^th-worst ever to the Knicks, including the regular season. But it wasn’t their worst in 2026. They lost by 49 points at home in February (138-89). But in the last 50 years they’ve only lost one other game to the Knicks by 39 or more points and that was a 48-point loss (130-82) at the Garden in 1994. 

THEY HAD 74 POINTS AT HALFTIME: The Knicks’ 74 points at halftime are the 2^nd-most the 76ers have ever allowed in the first half of a playoff game. In 1970, they allowed 77 in that 156-120 loss to the Bucks. It was the Knicks’ 2^nd-biggest first half ever in the postseason behind an 83-point half in Atlanta last week.

WHERE DID THE DEFENSE GO? The Knicks made 19 of 37 shots from 3 for 51 percent. That’s the highest 3-point shooting percentage vs. the 76ers in a playoff game in 18 years, since the Pistons were 9-for-16 for 56 percent in a 100-77 win at the Wachovia Center in Game 6 of their 2008 Eastern Conference First-Round series. Their 51 percent shooting from 3 was the Knicks’ 4^th-highest ever in a game when they attempted at least 20.