The Knicks tightened the screws on the Philadelphia 76ers in the fourth quarter to win a back-and-forth battle to grab a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a 108-102 win in Game 2 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Sixers, playing without Joel Embiid (hip, ankle), totally lost any semblance of offensive rhythm they had in the game’s final period, going 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from the floor.
New York outscored the visitors 19-12 in the fourth and closed the game on a 12-3 run over the final 6:50 of action.
Here are some takeaways...
- After a blowout in Game 1, neither team managed to build much of a lead through the first three quarters, with the largest lead being seven for the 76ers and three for the Knicks. New York opened the fourth by committing three turnovers and a missed jumper in four possessions, before Miles McBride connected on his first jumper in four attempts to tie the game as Philly started cold (1-for-6).
The story of the Knicks may be the key players always popping up at just the right time: First, Jalen Brunson's jumper and OG Anunoby's layup to give them 20 and 24 points, respectively, forced a Nick Nurse timeout with the Knicks back in front. Then Josh Hart, who had struggled all night, connected on his first three, stemming a 5-0 Philly run. After four straight empty possessions for Philly, Mike Brown called a timeout with 4:01 to play and his side up two.
A Brunson turnaround jumper and another Sixers' missed bucket (3-for-16 in the quarter) led to another Brown timeout with 3:14 to play. After the Knicks nearly turned it over and missed a dunk, Mikal Bridges, who was having a great game, hit a jumper to give him 18 on the night and a 9-0 lead. The Sixers ended the drought with one from the line, but Brunson answered with two of his own with 66 seconds to play. And despite a few nervy moments, the visitors never found their legs.
- Foul trouble was an issue for Knicks’ big men in Game 1, and that repeated itself in the first: Karl-Anthony Towns picked up his second foul with 4:29 left in the first, forcing him to the bench with seven points and two assists. Ariel Hukporti entered (as Mitchell Robinson was unavailable due to an illness) but picked up three fouls of his own on the defensive end and had to sit with 46.7 to play in the first. (Jeremy Sochan got a cameo to close the period.)
And 46 seconds into the second quarter, Towns stuck a leg out against a driving Tyrese Maxey and went to the bench with his third foul. That put Anunoby at the five, and the Sixers’ Adem Bona took advantage with three offensive rebounds before Hukporti checked back in as Philly kept a slight lead. It wasn't long for Hukporti to pick up his fourth foul on a terribly silly one, 80 feet from the basket, and he hit the bench with 4:47 left in the quarter with Anunoby back at the five.
- The Sixers' ability to draw fouls was something the Knicks' head coach was concerned about heading into the contest after the Sixers attempted 34 free throws in Game 1. The Sixers picked up where they left off with 20 in the first half (converting just 14 of them). The Knicks, who went 9-for-10 from the line in the first, didn’t make a trip to the line in the second until a loose-ball foul with 3.9 to play. The Sixers managed to play 9:23 of the quarter without a foul. The foul count through the first half was 14 for New York (plus a Hart technical) and 10 for Philly.
The tight officiating continued in the third, with Hart picking up his third foul on what looked like a clean pick of Paul George. But Andre Drummond, in for Embiid, picked up two quick ones and forced him to the bench with four. Bona was forced to sit with under five left in the third after Towns got him for his fourth and fifth fouls of the game.
The Knicks held the Sixers to just four free throw attempts in the third, but the deficit was unchanged from the half. There were just two free-throw attempts (both by Philly) through the first 11:27 of the fourth before Maxey went 1-for-2 at the line late. Philly closed 21-for-28 from the free-throw line. New York was 21-for-25, with the visitors out-fouling them 23-20.
- Towns played just 8:17 in the first half due to the fouls, with nine points (3-for-3 shooting, 3-for-4 from the line) with one rebound, two assists, and a steal. He entered the third with an impetus, connecting on his first three attempts, on his way to scoring 10 points in the first five minutes, while drawing three fouls. Towns picked up his fourth foul on a play without much contact with 4:31 to play in the third, and, despite arguing with Brown, was subbed out.
He finished with 20 points (6-for-8) with 10 rebounds (two offensive), seven assists, and was a plus-6 in 27 minutes.
- Brunson started slow, missing his first three attempts, before connecting on a three, two at the line, and a baseline jumper to get off the snide and finish with nine points and three assists in the quarter. He finished the first half with 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting.
He finished with a team-high 26 points (9-for-21) with six assists and was a plus-7 in 41 minutes.
- Bridges, who has had quarters of passivity, had 16 points (8-for-11 shooting) with two rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block, and had at least three field goal attempts in each of the first three quarters.
He finished with 18 points (9-for-13) as he slipped to the periphery a touch in the fourth, but still came up huge, adding five rebounds and two assists, and was a plus-7 in 38 minutes.
- Both teams were looking to push the pace, and that led to some turnovers (four for the visitors and two for the home team), but the Knicks were the only team to score off those miscues (5-0) in the first six minutes.Anunoby continued his two-way dominance with two steals and put in his seventh point to give the Knicks a lead, 18-17, erasing a one-time seven-point deficit seven minutes into play. He popped up with another such instance late in the third, grabbing two offensive rebounds in the same possession, which ended with him hitting from three.
The Sixers' offense was much improved from the first contest, but the turnovers hampered them as the Knicks punished their mistakes with 13 points off 10 turnovers in the first half, which helped keep it a one-point game at halftime. New York outshot Philly in the first half, 53.3 percent from the floor (24-for-45) to 48.8 percent (20-for-41), but the visitors owned the outside: 47.1 percent (8-for-17) to 25 percent (3-for-12).
The Knicks finished with 23 points off the Sixers' 18 turnovers. And held the Sixers to just nine points of their 13 turnovers. After the good first half, Philly went 5-for-17 from deep in the second. New York went 4-for-14.
- In Embiid’s absence, the Sixers were spreading the floor and taking advantage of the space. George really picked up the slack on the offensive end, connecting on his first four shots for 11 points. And Kelly Oubre Jr., who had been struggling from three, connected on his first two from the corner, as Philly was 6-for-9 from three for a 33-31 first quarter lead.
George found the touch again in the third with two more from deep. George finished with 19 points (7-for-18), six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks and was a minus-4 in 43 minutes.
Maxey started slow (1-for-4) in the opening quarter, but he righted the ship in the second, hitting four of his first four five to give him 15 in the game just four minutes into the second. Maxey finished with 26 points (9-for-23) with six assists, three rebounds and was even in his 47 minutes.
- Towns was left sprawling twice in the game’s early goings. First, when he picked up his first foul with an illegal screen and knocked knees with V. J. Edgecombe. Two possessions later, Towns took a huge shot to the head and neck area as Oubre fouled him right at the basket. (The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1.)
Game MVP: OG Anunoby
Anunoby finished with 24 points (9-for-17 shooting) with five rebounds, four steals, two assists, and was a team-best plus-12 in 37 minutes. He continues to be everything the Knicks need him to be at all the right times. Anunoby missed the game's final moments, but Brown did not have any injury update after the game.
Highlights
What's next
The series moves to the City of Brotherly Love for Game 3 on Friday's 7 p.m. tip.
