Draymond Green picked Joel Embiid & Co. ahead of the Sixers-NY Knicks playoff clash. In the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, the Golden State Warriors star dissected the components that will enable the Philadelphia 76ers an easy series to win. The Philly side, which had a massive slump after Embiid’s injury exit, has an entirely different heading into the postseason. And Green has already sealed the series to the City of Brotherly Love.

Green started his opinion by speaking about Embiid’s play-in game. The Cameroonian-American had an underwhelming night, dropping 23 points with 6-17 FG. The Dubs star defended it saying, “Joel is great, and he showed that down the stretch,” and he also added that Embiid amped up his performance at the end to seal the first round against the Knicks. DrayMagic even quoted Philly’s Paul Reed’s confident quote on beating Knicks.

Moreover, Draymond Green doubled down on Reed’s statement and said, “In fact, I got the Philadelphia 76ers beating the New York because who gonna stop Joel?” It’s not just Green, who has written off the Knicks, but following Reed’s statement, everyone expects a cakewalk. Reed said, “We ain’t ducking no smoke, but yeah, we wanted the Knicks matchup, of course. That’s the easier team, I guess.”

Green further opined why the Phillies needed to take the 7th seed instead of the 8th seed. Notably, the 8th seeding team will have to face the mighty Boston Celtics in the first round. He added, “We know the reality the New York Knicks are way easier to beat than the Boston Celtics.” Apart from that, he further trashed the Knicks, saying that the Heat can also beat them in the series.

The 34-year-old later went on to list two other reasons that will restrict the Knicks from winning the series. He revealed the kryptonite that will strangle Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ trusted guard.

Draymond Green predicts Knicks fall with two reasons

For the majority of the regular season, the Knicks relied on its 6 ‘1 guard Jalen Brunson to shoulder the team. The team’s big men, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby, missed a lot of games and it impacted the size advantage. Despite that, Brunson produced an MVP-ish performance, averaging 28.7 points with 6.7 assists per game.

Speaking of JB, Green stressed that Philly’s Tyrese Maxey would even out the Brunson danger. He added, ” Maxey and Jalen Brunson going to cancel each other out like they both going to have great series but they gonna cancel each other out.” The 23-year-old really stepped up in the absence of James Harden, and also in the absence of Embiid during his recovery. In this season, he improved his numbers drastically, bringing his average points from 20.3 points to 25.9 points per game this season.

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Secondly, the big man effect. Julius Randle suffered a shoulder injury and missed almost the entirety of the regular season. The team expected him to return for the playoffs, but the rehab wasn’t successful enough. So, the misery continues for the Big Apple side. Addressing that, Green said, “This is a playoff series now and you are missing an All-Star and that will now show because guys that may have been getting off it’s going to be a lot harder for them to get off.” 

Nevertheless, it’s too early to write off a team way before the series. The team does have shooting prowess from Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and a workhorse like Josh Hart. So fans can expect anything from the NY side. What’s your pick? Who do you think will win the first round between the Sixers and Knicks?