May 8, 2026, 3:12 p.m. ET
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers will look to get on the board in this Round 2 series with the New York Knicks on Friday when this series shifts to the Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Knicks did what they had to do by taking care of home court advantage and leading the series 2-0 at the moment.
This is a tough position the Sixers are in, but this is the same team that just rallied from a 3-1 deficit and eliminated the Boston Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs. This isn’t quite the same just yet, but 2-0 is still a tough deficit.
As the Sixers move forward, they will lean on their veterans to make sure they are focused on what has to be done. Somebody like Kyle Lowry, the 20-year veteran, has been through so many of these playoff battles and he has a lot of wisdom that he can pass down as the Sixers face another tough playoff moment as his leadership is important right now.
“Kyle has kinda just been everybody’s ear giving them confidence,” said Dominick Barlow at shootaround on Friday morning. “Tyrese (Maxey)–but I think everybody has a different role in terms of leadership.”
When asked to expand on Lowry, specifically, Barlow gushed. Everybody has a ton of respect for what Lowry brings to the locker room and Barlow explained it.
“Every day,” Barlow said of Lowry. “Every single time our group meets. Every day. Just super vocal, super smart, and he’s had that experience. So, he’s won a championship. He knows how difficult it is, but rewarding it is. He’s trying to keep us together.”
Lowry was the point guard for the 2019 champion Toronto Raptors. He and those Raptors teams had to battle through a lot of adversity of their own to get to the mountaintop. The Sixers will now have to do the same as they look to chase their first title since 1983.