76ers 120, Knicks 97: Scenes from a sleepy scrimmage

Real fans watch preseason games, these half-hearted scrimmages in which stars tend to lollygag, and the guys fighting for roster or rotation consideration tend to play as you’d expect—like guys trying to secure seats at the southern reach of the bench. Bandwagoners and parade crashers don’t tune in for this slop. Real fans do, cuz a Knicks game is a Knicks game. We even watch summer league!

After a short summer respite, the World Champion Knickerbockers and your loyal P&T blogger were all feeling

rusty during the first preseason game. From the start of tonight’s 120-97 loss to the Sixers, the champs continued to show their penchant for the long ball, heaving more than half their shots from the outfield. Both teams converted 33% from deep through the first 12 minutes, and here’s some good news: Finals MVP Jalen Brunson’s surgically repaired wrist had a familiar sweet snap as he drilled two three-pointers.

The guests took an early lead, but Philly answered with a 14-3 stretch through the heart of the quarter. Seeing former Celtic Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia blue boggled the brain for a moment. He carried his unit with LeBron James, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey taking the night off (chickens), and the new Sixer collected 13 early points. Meanwhile, Brunson and OG (The Tipmeister) Anunoby scored eight points apiece for our heroes.

Former Knick Ariel Hukporti started the game, but exited early with an injury after facing up with Karl-Anthony Towns. He was assisted to the locker room, and it had the hallmarks of an Achilles tear. If that turns out to be the case, it’s a devastating blow to a likable guy who stood to get significant playing time this season.

On the subject of Towns, he attacked the paint and looked not a bit sour about his contract situation. Behind him, Andre Drummond played his first (unofficial) game as a Knick and was exactly the same Drummond he’s always been.

As the quarter went on, Tyler Kolek (with longer locks) assumed ball-handling duties. He seemed to have a mandate to score and forced it a little. Due to an absence of defense on either side, the teams swapped buckets like high-schoolers on layup lines. One welcome exception was the dependable Landry Shamet, who drained a pair of triples.

After 13 lead changes, the Knicks finished the quarter trailing just 33-32, despite the Sixers out-shooting them 54% to 48%.

To start the second quarter, Jaylen Brown returned for a short stint, as did Brunson and Towns for the Knicks.

But, true to his word, Coach Mike Brown doled out minutes to as many players as he could. The spotlight in these early days is squarely on sophomore Mohamed Diawara. He attacked the rim with mixed results and coughed up the ball twice. Not a great sign after a crummy summer league. Alongside him, Jordan Clarkson logged his allotment of minutes, picking up where he left off.

Veteran James Wiseman took a turn at center, hoping to convince Brown to award him the team’s final roster spot. He scored two buckets but seemed a step slow on defense. Speaking of which, Pacome Dadiet guarded with more aggression than I remember. His offense, however, was pretty much exactly as I remembered—he and Miles McBride combined to shoot 0-of-4 from downtown in the half.

The second quarter belonged to the 76ers, who reached a 14-point lead late in the period and went into intermission ahead 72-58. They shot 53% from the field and 46% from deep, converting 11 dingers to the Knicks’ five. After missing a bunch of shots in the second quarter, our guys had shot 23% from deep. Brown led all first-half scorers with 22, while Anunoby logged 12 for the good guys.

Kolek and Shamet started the third, as did Walker, who answered their buckets with a trey of his own. Diawara turned on the charm with consecutive finger-rolls, a putback, and a steal. From there, the teams traded inefficient offensive blows.

Drummond swatted three blocks, and his layup fueled a nice push during that run, but Clarkson committed two travel violations and whiffed on multiple shots. Wiseman hit from the line and dunked a tip-in, while Ochai Agbaji went scoreless with some misses, and Dadiet’s fouls sent the Sixers to the stripe. By the end of this sludgefest, both teams had scored 21 points. The Knicks were still down, now 93-79.

Drew Eubanks and Bruce Brown started the fourth quarter for the Knicks, and we saw cameos by Kevin McCullar, Jr., Tyler Nickel, Tony Bradley, and Jaden Akins. By the buzzer, Brown had played 20 players (and it would’ve been 21, but Jose Alvarado is nursing a bruised knee). Aikins and Dadiet both hit from deep, which were rare sights on a night when the Knicks shot 8-of-41 from yard.

For the home team, rookie forward Saint Thomas impressed with a double-double. Thanks to his efforts, the Liberty Bells inflated their lead to 23. Caleb Love continued to have a nice game for them (15 points, 3-of-6 from deep). When the cutting was done, our heroes had fallen, 120-97. Big deal. We’ll give these bums the business on banner night.

Up Next

The Knicks host the Wizards on Thursday. Safe travels, Knickerbockers, and get well soon, Huk.