| While Joel Embiid may be the 76er that Knicks fans love to hate, it was Tyrese Maxey who did the most damage against them again in the Knicks' 112-106 Game 5 overtime loss Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
And although most of the Garden vitriol has been saved for the hobbled Embiid, Maxey has made enough of an impression to get some boos from Knicks' fans, as well.
The lightning-quick guard is putting on a star-making display against the Knicks reminiscent of the one Atlanta's Trae Young did three years ago.
Back in 2021, Young became Public Enemy No. 1 at MSG, putting up point totals of 32, 30, 21, 27 and 36 in Atlanta's first-round showdown with the Knicks, won by the Hawks in five games.
During that series, the chant of "F–ck Trae Young" was common at MSG, but the taunts did nothing to slow Young down.
This time around, it's Maxey, in his fourth season with Philadelphia out of Kentucky, who's doing much of the damage with Embiid playing through a balky knee.
 Tyrese Maxey's scoring exploits in Game 5 overshadowed a brilliant 40-point effort by Jalen Brunson.
AP
He has a similar fearlessness and ability to make clutch shots that Young also displayed in that series.
In the first five games of this series, Maxey has scored 33, 35, 25, 23 and 46 points against the Knicks.
The Sixers needed all of them Tuesday night to outlast the Knicks and Jalen Brunson.
Maxey hit three long 3-pointers (including a momentum-shifting four-point play) to help Philadelphia overcome a pair of six-point deficits in the last 4:33 of the fourth quarter and then delivered another 3-pointer to get them back in the game after Brunson scored the first five points of overtime.
He then sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
It was the kind of performance that will be talked about for a long time — in both New York and Philadelphia — but only if the Sixers somehow win the next two games.
What seemed like a burgeoning rivalry with Young and the Hawks has fizzled with the Knicks, since the teams haven't met in the playoffs again since that series.
 When Trae Young torched the Knicks in the 2021 playoffs while leading his Hawks to a series win, he earned a regular dose of vitriol from the MSG crowd.
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And Atlanta missed the postseason altogether this year, which has led to speculation that the team's core could be broken up.
In the meantime, the Knicks have another young guard, just over six-feet-tall, who's running all over them.
Maxey will undoubtedly have even more work cut out for him Thursday to keep the series going — and extend his time against the Knicks — with Embiid not playing at his typical MVP-caliber level.
Will it result in a stunning collapse by the Knicks, who still lead the series 3-2, or just a footnote in what could be a memorable Knicks' playoff run?
Today's backpage  New York Post
What a difference a year makes A year ago today, the Yankees fell to the bottom of the AL East for the first time in 2023.
They were a .500 team at the time, so it was partially a product of being in a strong division.
The team then had its best month of the season in May before slowly sliding toward irrelevance, spending much of the second half in the basement before ending the year in fourth place, 19 games out of first.
 Juan Soto's solo homer vs. the Orioles wasn't enough to get the Yankees a win Tuesday night, but it should keep the Yankees in contention for the AL East this season.
AP
Now, they appear poised to compete with the Orioles at the top of the division throughout the year, with this week's series in Baltimore the first battle between the two division foes.
So while the Yankees followed their blistering 12-3 start in their first 15 games this year by going 7-8 over their next 15 heading into Tuesday's 4-2 loss at Camden Yards, they are significantly better positioned than at this point last season.
Part of that remains the presence of Juan Soto, although he has cooled a bit after his incredible first three weeks as a Yankee, when he had a 1.077 OPS in 21 games.
In his next nine, Soto had an OPS of just .762.
The other major force behind the Yankees' early season success, Anthony Volpe, has come back to earth with something more of a thud. Over that first 15-game stretch, the second-year shortstop was 21-for-55 (.382), with six extra-base hits, 10 walks and nine strikeouts in 66 plate appearances.
 Anthony Volpe's sizzling start at the plate helped the Yankees get off to a 12-3 start that has allowed them to remain in early contention in the AL East.
USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Since then, Volpe, who just turned 23, was 11-for-63 (.175), with just two extra-base hits, four walks and 18 strikeouts, in 70 plate appearances.
The Yankees know what they're getting out of Soto, but still need Volpe to find some more consistency.
Still, the solid start both players got off to certainly helped them make the first month of the season considerably better than April 2023.
And with Aaron Judge starting to heat up and Gerrit Cole getting closer to a return, the Yankees should be in good shape to avoid a repeat of last year's disaster.
No 1994 replay  A chance to face the Rangers again in the playoffs will have to wait for the Islanders, who were sent home after losing to the Hurricanes in Game 5 Tuesday night.
AP
The Knicks and Rangers are doing their part to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of their runs to their respective league finals, with both teams still alive.
But the Rangers' path to the Stanley Cup title that season involved getting by the Islanders. That won't happen this year, after the Isles were eliminated in a 6-3 Game 5 loss Tuesday night by the Carolina Hurricanes, so the Rangers will face Carolina in the next round. The Rangers-Islanders grudge match will have to wait at least another year before the two possibly meet again in the postseason for the first time since '94.
Home sweet home? Luis Severino's wasted gem on Monday was indicative of a common problem for the Mets: their offense often disappears at Citi Field. Through Tuesday, the Mets were 8-9 at home, compared to 7-5 on the road.
The biggest reason for the disparity is the fact that only five teams have a worse home OPS than the Mets. Oddly, they have the fifth-best OPS on the road.
 Francisco Lindor's offensive struggles at home have contributed to the Mets' inability to take advantage of the solid pitching numbers they are getting at Citi Field this season.
AP
The main culprits are a pair of their most important players, with Francisco Lindor's .490 OPS at home noticeably lower than his .833 mark on the road.
Brandon Nimmo's numbers are similarly pronounced, with a .561 OPS in Queens, compared to .955 away from home.
Each found some relief Tuesday with a hit apiece in the Mets' 4-2 win over the Cubs at Citi Field.
The offensive struggles at home aren't new, as baseballsavant.com ranks Citi Field as the second-worst ballpark for offensive players since 2022, ahead of only Seattle's T-Mobile Park.
Fittingly, the Mets have the best home ERA in the majors, but with an offense that can't seem to find its rhythm, it hasn't translated into wins.
Stanton's slow path to irrelevance  Giancarlo Stanton has seen his offensive numbers improve somewhat since last season, but he's still struggling to make a consistent impact in the Yankees' lineup.
Noah K. Murray for the NY Post
For the second time in less than a year, Aaron Hicks was let go by a team. After the Yankees released him last May, eating the final two-plus years on his contract, Hicks had a brief resurgence with the Orioles, but was unable to carry over that success to the Angels this season, hitting .140 with a .222 OBP.
He was designated for assignment by Anaheim on Monday.
As The Post's Joel Sherman has noted previously, the Yankees appear to be on a similar path with Giancarlo Stanton, who is under contract until 2028.
The 34-year-old has put up better numbers than he did last season, but there was an ugly reminder of his one-dimensional game in Monday's loss to Baltimore, when Stanton was thrown out at second on what should have been a runner-moving single to right by Austin Wells.
Not surprisingly, Stanton has some of the worst speed numbers in the majors, according to Baseballsavant.com, though his sprint speed of 24.8 feet per second is actually a bit higher than the previous three years.
 Stanton found himself forced out at second on Monday night when he couldn't get to the bag in time after Austin Wells' apparent base hit.
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His 90-foot sprint speed clocks in as the 13th-worst in the majors, behind teammate Anthony Rizzo (fifth-worst) and ex-Met Wilmer Flores (No. 1 in the dubious category).
After appearing in 33 games on defense last season, Stanton has not played the outfield at all in 2024.
The Yankees have to hope Stanton's still-prodigious power is enough to make up for the other deficiencies.
Prospect of the day Nick Morabito could have hardly ended April on a higher note.
 Nick Morabito followed up a spring appearance in the Mets' Breakout game with a sizzling start at Port St. Lucie.
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The Mets outfield prospect went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a walk for Class A St. Lucie on Tuesday as he extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Morabito, the No. 75 overall draft pick in 2022, had seven multi-hit games in April as he finished the month with a sterling .397 average and 1.047 OPS.
What we're reading 👀 🏒 That the Rangers have become an annual threat to compete for a Stanley Cup has been years, and multiple GMs, in the making. Writes Larry Brooks: "The entire operation reminds me of the Devils during their extended run of excellence through which they won the Stanley Cup three times in nine years from 1995 to 2003. It is as buttoned down as it comes."
⚾ An ESPN report details how Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, funneled the money he allegedly stole from the Dodgers superstar through casinos to pay off his bookmaker.
🏈 It seems the clock is already ticking on Zach Wilson's tenure with the Broncos.
🏒 The Islanders are heading into an offseason with eight regulars on expiring deals, which, as Ethan Sears notes, likely means a summer filled with roster changes.
⚾ This week's Yankees-Orioles showdown has focused a spotlight on one of the more intriguing matchups between the two — the shortstop battle between two of MLB's fastest rising stars, Anthony Volpe and Gunnar Henderson.
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