A 76ers-Knicks rematch returns Monday, with Embiid pleading to fans: 'Don’t sell your tickets'

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Finally finished with Boston, a trip to New York came quickly for the Philadelphia 76ers. So did the memories.

The Eastern Conference semifinals are a rematch of a tight series between Atlantic Division rivals from nearby Northeast cities, a Knicks victory in six games in 2024.

Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey delivered unbelievable performances. Both teams made unimaginable rallies.

Knicks fans were deafening inside Madison Square Garden — and in Philadelphia. (And no, Joel Embiid hasn't forgotten).

When it was over, the Knicks had outscored the 76ers 650-649. They start up again Monday night, believing this series can be even better.

“I expect nothing less. Actually more,” Maxey said. “That was a first-round matchup. This is a second-round matchup. So I think both teams are going to come out there and be extremely competitive. It’s going to be a dogfight, it’s going to be a chess match and I’m just ready to get started.”

The Knicks had a few days to rest after finishing off Atlanta with a 140-89 victory on Thursday in Game 6, setting an NBA postseason record by building a 47-point halftime lead. The 76ers have only one full day to recover after completing the NBA's 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit by beating the Celtics 109-100 on Saturday.

Philadelphia became the first No. 7 seed to beat a No. 2 since the first round became a best-of-seven format. That was the matchup when the 76ers and Knicks met two years ago.

The 76ers were on the verge of tying that series in Game 2 before the Knicks came from five points down with under 30 seconds remaining. Brunson scored a Knicks playoff-record 47 points in Game 4 and New York was poised to wrap it up at home in Game 5 before Maxey scored seven points in the final 25 seconds of regulation and the 76ers won in overtime.

“Man, that was a fun series. We were going punch for punch," Josh Hart said after the Knicks practiced Sunday. "When you think about that, you always think of the good games, so you guys can guess what games those are. But you know that you've got to turn the page. Those are memories. They don't affect tomorrow but they're fun memories.”

Embiid returned midway through the Boston series after an appendectomy and was limping late in Game 7 after a player fell into his knee. He appeared in worse shape in the series two years ago, dealing with lingering problems from a surgically repaired left knee and having been diagnosed recently with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis.

“I had a lot going on at that time, so hopefully everything is good this time,” Embiid said. “We've got a much better team than we had at that time, so it's going to be a fun series.”

The Knicks also appear better, having since acquired All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. They are in the second round for the fourth straight season and the No. 3 seed surprisingly ended up with home-court advantage in it thanks to Philadelphia's first-round rally.

Now the Knicks have to deal with the Embiid-Maxey duo that's clicking.

“If we expect to be who we are,” coach Mike Brown said, “we’ll figure it out.”

Brunson received booming “MVP! MVP!” chants in the Game 4 victory in 2024 after Knicks fans poured into Philadelphia, and Embiid expressed his disappointment with 76ers fans after the game. He implored them not to let the noisy New Yorkers take over again.

“Last time we played the Knicks it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. So we’re going to need the support,” Embiid said. "Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys. The atmosphere we’ve had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7, I mean, we need all of it.

“Knicks fans, they travel. There’s going to be some people that need the money and probably going to sell tickets, but don’t do it. We need you guys. We’ve got a pretty good chance. We’re going to need our support. We’re going to need them to be extremely loud and if you need money, I got you.”

Home-court advantage didn't exist, with the road team winning all four games. The first two were at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks took two in Philadelphia, capped by a 139-89 romp on Feb. 11.

The two star guards seem ready to pick up where they left off in 2024. Maxey averaged 26.9 points in the first round, third in the league, and Brunson was right behind him at 26.3.

New York's All-Star center is the biggest addition to the rivalry since the last meeting and showed his entire offensive arsenal in the first round, getting the first two postseason triple-doubles of his career against Atlanta.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey (left) and teammate VJ Edgecombe (right) during the second half of Game 7 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series, Saturday, May 2, 2026 in Boston. (AP Photo/Jim Davis)

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) celebrates after scoring in the first half during Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Atlanta Hawks Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts during the second half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Boston Celtics Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) high fives fans as he leaves the court in the second half during Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey (0), Vj Edgecombe (77) and Paul George (8) celebrate during the second half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Boston Celtics Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

HANOI, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 8, 2026--

As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation into the core of enterprise operations, a new reality is emerging: scaling AI is no longer a technology challenge, but a transformation imperative.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260708088519/en/

FPT Corporation today announced the release of a global thought leadership study, titled “From Pilots to Reusable Platforms: A Blueprint for Scaling Enterprise AI.” Published on 08 July 2026, this is a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of FPT, examining how enterprises across regions and industries are advancing their AI journeys - and why many remain unable to translate early momentum into consistent, enterprise-wide impact.

The executive study is based on a global survey of 397 business and technology decision-makers globally, supported by in-depth interviews with senior executives across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan, spanning industries including automotive, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, energy and sports.

Enterprises are accelerating AI adoption at scale, but the path to enterprise-wide impact remains uneven. The study reveals a consistent global pattern: while 51% of organizations are allocating at least 5% of IT budgets to AI, only 26% consider themselves advanced in operationalizing it. AI is largely deployed to drive operational gains - with automation and cost reduction among primary drivers - but relatively few are yet redesigning their business models around AI, with only 34% pursuing an AI-first operating model.

As organizations push toward more ambitious use cases, constraints become more structural. The research points to integration complexity (41%) and data silos (38%) as the most significant barriers to operationalizing AI, particularly in data- and operations-intensive environments. Beyond technology, only 39% of enterprises report meaningful progress in aligning strategy, governance, and operating models - highlighting a broader imbalance between AI ambition and organizational readiness, limiting the ability to scale AI in a consistent and controlled way.

At the same time, organizations are still struggling to measure AI impact in a way that supports scaling decisions. Notably, 35% of them do not collect quantified metrics at all, and 10% do not measure AI outcomes in any form, making it difficult to identify which initiatives should be scaled and which should be deprioritized. As a result, even high-potential use cases risk stalling in pilot phases without clear pathways to enterprise-wide adoption.

In response, enterprises are rethinking how they scale AI - not as isolated deployments, but as coordinated systems across the full lifecycle. When selecting partners for enterprise AI, they increasingly prioritize the ability to engineer, deploy, and operate AI systems at scale across the full lifecycle (48%), supported by strong governance and security capabilities (48%) and the ability to integrate seamlessly with existing systems (47%).

Regional preferences reflect this shift, with demand for full lifecycle capabilities particularly strong in North America (59%) and EMEA (54%), while APAC and Japan’s organizations place greater emphasis on end-to-end strategic and execution support. This signals a broader transition toward partnership models that enable co-innovation and repeatable execution - a critical step for enterprises seeking to move beyond pilots and unlock sustained, enterprise-wide value from AI.

“We believe this study also builds upon insights from FPT’s decade-long experience working alongside global clients across industries, where we have seen AI ambition grow rapidly, but scaling it remains the real challenge,” said Pham Minh Tuan, Executive Vice President of FPT Corporation and CEO of FPT Software. “As AI ecosystems become more complex, organizations can no longer move forward in silos—they need partners who can bridge strategy, integration, governance, and operations to turn innovation into repeatable, enterprise-wide execution. At FPT, we are committed to co-innovating with our clients at every stage of their journey, helping them scale AI in ways that are stronger, faster, more secure and more efficient— ultimately building more resilient organizations ready for the next frontier of AI adoption.”

FPT’s AI-first approach is supported by its AI platform, FleziPT, as well as a global team of 30,000+ AI-augmented engineers, AI Factories in Vietnam and Japan, and collaborations with global AI leaders to accelerate innovation and delivery at scale. This enables FPT to scale AI deployment through tailored solutions that enhance speed, scalability, and traceability, resulting in up to 60% optimized development time, over 50% less rework, and a 30% uplift in developer productivity.

The Corporation also recently launched FPT CASAN, a comprehensive AI transformation methodology designed to help organizations progress from fragmented experimentation to scalable, real-world AI deployment. Built on a five-level AI-native framework, Curious, Augmented, Standard, Automatic, and Native, FPT CASAN provides a structured roadmap to assess AI readiness, strengthen governance, and operationalize AI across core business functions, helping enterprises turn fragmented AI efforts into AI-native operations with measurable business outcomes.

Through this research, FPT aims to foster a more collaborative, co-innovation-driven approach to AI adoption, supporting organizations at different stages of maturity to scale AI in ways that are stronger, faster, safer, and more efficient—ultimately enabling more resilient and future-ready transformation. Download the study here.

About FPT

FPT Corporation (FPT) is a globally leading Vietnam-headquartered technology and IT services provider, with operations spanning more than 30 countries and territories. Over more than three decades, FPT has consistently delivered impactful solutions to millions of individuals and tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. With a strong focus on mastering strategic technologies, FPT continues to drive innovation across industries. As an AI-first company, FPT is committed to elevating Vietnam’s position on the global tech map and delivering world-class AI-enabled solutions for global enterprises. In 2025, FPT reported a total revenue of USD 2.66 billion and a workforce of over 54,000 employees across its core businesses.

For more information, please visit https://fptsoftware.com/.

FPT Releases Global Study on Scaling Enterprise AI, Highlighting the Shift from Pilots to Platform-Driven Transformation