NBA games of the week: The Sixers are peaking

Wed. Mar. 28: New York at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m. ET

Sadly, we won’t get another iteration of Embiid versus Kristaps Porzingis.

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek is likely out at the end of the season. Mark Jackson is rumored to be the favorite to land the spot. Trey Burke has been a bright spot for the Knicks, and I’m happy he’s found a place in the league. But, as Zach Lowe detailed a couple weeks back, he’s in the 100th percentile of long midrange shots.

If Hornacek is gone, then it behooves the Knicks to give Frank Ntilikina about 40 minutes and the starting spot. The 19-year-old played 37 minutes on Friday and should play about that many the rest of the way. Even if Frankie Smokes isn’t the young player GM Scott Perry chose in the draft, the Knicks have to see at least what they have. Who better to throw him in front of than Ben Simmons, who, along with Donovan Mitchell, has sparked a divisive Rookie of the Year debate? (Remember, you can’t like one if you like the other.)

Simmons notched his 10th triple-double on Saturday against the Wolves. I wonder where Simmons will rank on the all-time triple-double list where points are the last stat to reach 10. He’s such a playmaker and mismatch that 10 rebounds and 10 assists seem to come so much faster than 10 points, despite the fact he’s shooting 54 percent from the field. Granted, he can get to the rim at will, so he can turn it on whenever he wants.

The trouble for the Sixers is when Simmons sits. The Sixers reserves can’t stave off enough of the inevitable drop when a star sits, nor should they be expected to. But the path is clear: Markelle Fultz will fill a huge need for this team if he can put his game together. A bench mob at the end of games with a penetrating and dangerous guard like Fultz could go a long way to maintaining the Sixers’ multilayered offense when the Australien sits.