All hope isn’t lost for the Sixers despite their 0-2 start to the series.

The Sixers head into Game 3 against the New York Knicks on Thursday night facing a 0-2 series deficit, in no small part thanks to some egregious officiating at the end of Game 2. Grievances aside, there’s nothing the Sixers can do about that now.

TYRESE MAXEY FROM DOWNTOWN!

He's got 35 PTS and the Sixers go up 4 with 1:09 left looking to tie the series up 1-1 on TNT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rjvqPXvqlF

— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2024

After the heartbreaking Game 2 loss, Joel Embiid expressed confidence in the Sixers’ chances moving forward.

“We should be (up) 2-0, so we’re good,” Embiid told reporters. “We’re gonna win this series. We’re gonna win this. We know what we’ve got to fix. We did a better job today, so we’re gonna fix it. But we’re the better team, and we’re gonna keep fighting.”

If you aren’t quite as confident as The Process himself, there are a few reasons to be optimistic heading into Game 3—and silver linings to take away from this series regardless of how it ends.

Tyrese Maxey is That Dude

To some extent, Tyrese Maxey’s breakout season was predictable. With James Harden out of the way, he’d have free reign as the No. 2 option behind Embiid and would serve as the primary ball-handler. How could he not put up big numbers?

But to anyone who says they expected him to reach this level this season… I’d like to see the preseason receipts, please. Because there is no way that you expected him to put up 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in a playoff game for which he got downgraded to questionable prior to tipoff because of an illness. You expected him to hit this shot, which sucked the air out of Madison Square Garden for the moment?

Maxey already earned his That Dude certification during the regular season, where he averaged a career-high 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 three-pointers per game across 70 appearances. He had three 50-point outings this year, putting him in a tie with Embiid and Devin Booker for the league lead, and he helped carry the Sixers as best he could throughout their Embiid-less second half of the season.

In case there was any concern about Maxey being an 82-game player—sidenote: there shouldn’t have been even before now—the first two games of this series should put those to rest. After a quiet first half in Game 1, Maxey finished with 33 points on 14-of-26 shooting, four assists, two rebounds and two blocks, and he was one rebound shy of a 35-point triple-double in Game 2. That is a megastar in the making.

If anything, these first two games have only confirmed what’s become increasingly obvious as the season went on: Maxey is the closest facsimile the Sixers have ever had to Allen Iverson.

Embiid’s underrated toughness

Heading into the playoffs, we knew Embiid would have to work off some rust in real time from the meniscus “procedure” he underwent in early February. What we didn’t know was that he also might be nursing a mysterious eye injury, as Liberty Ballers’ Erin Grugan has been digging into.

It’s unclear what (if anything) is afflicting Embiid in that regard, but it’s worth noting that he wore sunglasses both in the locker room after Game 1 and at shootaround ahead of Game 2. He also wouldn’t let reporters see his face in the locker room after Game 2, which naturally drew some ill-informed reaction. The Sixers and Embiid aren’t doing themselves any favors by not disclosing whatever is going on, but that’s now been a theme with them for a while.

It’s far more obvious that Embiid is still hampered by his knee, even if it’s structurally sound. He’s been limping up and down the floor for most of this series, although that hasn’t stopped him from averaging 31.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He’s nowhere near himself on either end of the court, but his presence alone has helped the Sixers maintain a hellacious half-court defense.

Embiid picked up the injury-prone label early in his career and hasn’t been able to shed it since, which perhaps explains why he and the Sixers are so shifty about his injuries. If they were more transparent, perhaps there’d be a greater appreciation of what he’s battling through just to be out there with his teammates.

If the Sixers proceed to lose in the first round, it will likely go down as yet another stain on Embiid’s playoff resume. But his toughness shouldn’t come into question again after seeing him hobble up and down the floor for this entire series.

Lessons about the supporting cast

Offensive rebounding was the story of Game 1, and the rigged as hell endgame missed calls were the story of Game 2. But the B plot of each game has been the difference in supporting casts. The Knicks’ rotation players are carrying Jalen Brunson through his shooting struggles, while the Sixers’ supporting cast has gone MIA offensively amidst Maxey and Embiid’s heroics.

First, the good news. Kyle Lowry might be 38 years old, but he still has that 16-game dawg in him. He had 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting (including 4-of-7 from deep) in Game 1, and he routinely comes up with smart, tough plays at critical moments, the Game 2 inbounds pass notwithstanding. The Sixers should do everything in their power to bring him back next season, ideally on a minimum contract.

Beyond that, it’s been a mixed bag. Tobias Harris was a disaster in Game 1, improved defensively in Game 2 but has only 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting across the two games. That somehow makes him the Sixers’ fourth-leading scorer, as Kelly Oubre Jr. (14 points), Nicolas Batum (nine), Paul Reed (six) and Buddy Hield (two) have done even less offensively during their respective minutes.

The Sixers might get De’Anthony Melton back in Game 3, which could be a sneaky big swing piece—provided he stays healthy. He could help defend Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Miles McBride while knocking down threes of his own on the other end. Beyond that, they’ll have to hope that the old adage holds true about role players faring better at home than they do on the road. Maybe Hart won’t be Steph Curry for a change?

The Sixers were a few plays in either game away from being 2-0 in this series. Both games have been hard-fought, closely contested battles that came down to the final minutes. The respective supporting casts have helped swing the series in the Knicks’ favor, which should be front of mind heading into Daryl Morey and the Sixers’ front office ahead of a critical offseason.

If anything, the Miami Heat’s 110-101 upset of the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night underscored how to approach team-building moving forward: The more players in your rotation that can shoot at a high level, the better. Reluctant, low-volume shooters like Harris have no place next to Embiid and Maxey moving forward. They need quick-trigger shooters like Batum or like Seth Curry and JJ Redick in years past.

Having that crystallized for them during the playoffs could help the Sixers hone their focus ahead of the summer.