Spike Lee made the trip. So did Tracy Morgan, Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller, and Timothee Chamalamalamalet. Despite attempts to keep Knicks fans from the Xfinity Mobile Arena, and Joel Embiid moaning about it being “Madison Square Garden East,” plenty of orange and blue support was present for Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
In the first quarter, the 76ers swung their strongest punch of the series, but New York regained its footing to flip the momentum in the second. While Philly
choked under defensive pressure, the good guys stretched their lead to 12 with a 27-11 run. The camera caught a dejected Embiid toweling his forehead on the bench and looking ready to weep. Those Knicks cheers? They came through loud and clear on the Amazon Prime broadcast.
New York brought a 60-52 lead into intermission. Following that, Philly took another swing to cut the deficit to three, but New York rallied with a run to start the fourth ahead, 85-76. Then, the Knicks blew the lid off. Our heroes pushed their lead to 16, Nick Nurse waved a white flag with two minutes left, and a 108-94 win puts New York one away from a return trip to the ECF!
Who deserves the gold stars? Quoth foiegrastyle, “NOVA KNICKS.” The Villanova alums Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges carried the game tonight, combining for 68 points, 19 rebounds, and 14 assists. Sure, Landry Shamet (15 PTS, +20, 26 MIN) and Mitchell Robinson (4-8 FT, 6 REB, +16) provided a huge lift off the bench, and Karl-Anthony Towns played pretty well (8 PTS, 12 REB, 7 AST, 5 FLS, 26 MIN). But those ‘Nova cats were next level. Campus is just 17 miles from Philly, right? Maybe they’ll crash a frat party while they’re in town.
First Half
A strained hamstring kept OG Anunoby from traveling with the team. The absence was acutely felt in the first quarter. OG has played career-best basketball of his career this postseason, so it was no coincidence that Philly made more buckets and the Knicks offense fizzled early on.
The Sixers came ready for war. They scored the game’s first seven points and their defense forced four misses and two turnovers. The guests fell behind by nine, and after more sloppy play, trailed 15-8 at 7:30. Less than a minute later, thanks to a miss at the rim by Brunson and an offensive foul by Hart, they had surrendered five more points, digging a 12-point hole. Miles McBride, starting with OG out, recorded two blocks in the quarter, but heaved two bricks, once again failing to make much of an impact offensively.
Paul George (15 PTS, 6-18 FG, -14) carried the scoring load to start Game Two and repeated that tonight…for awhile He scored six of his team’s first 11 makes, tallying up 15 points in the opening frame. He would be much less effective as the game went on. Meanwhile, the visitors had coughed up the rock six times, which cost them nine points, and they lost the first period, 31-27.
To start the second quarter, Jalen Brunson (33 PTS, 11-22 FG, 9 AST, +13) took a breather after getting heavily harassed by VJ Edgecombe (11 PTS, 7 RBS, 40 MIN) for 12 minutes. New York continued a roll they’d started at the end of the first period, and when Jordan Clarkson assisted Landry Shamet on a dunk, they knotted the score at 33. When Alvarado drilled a 29-footer, New York had their first lead of the contest. And when Mitchell Robinson sonned Embiid with a dunk on his overlarge noggin, the difference was five and the stadium rocked with NY cheers.
There was a ton of physicality in the frontcourt. KAT and Joel Embiid (18 PTS, 6 RBS, 5 AST, -9) fell all over each other (literally) and both collected three fouls in the first half. By the break, the Knicks are winning 60-52. They had shot 53% and 43% while hammering Philadelphia inside for a 36-24 edge in points in the paint and out-rebounding them, 25-16. After six turnovers in the first quarter, New York had only two giveaways in the second. At the same time, Philly’s sizzling first quarter shooting had faded to 46% and 36% at the break. Mikal Bridges (23 PTS, 8-14 FG, +15, 37 MIN) and Kelly Oubre, Jr. (22 PTS, 8 RBS) topped their teams with 15 points apiece at the half.
Second Half
Out of the locker room, McBride finally hit from beyond the arc. A couple of misses and a few Sixer baskets narrowed the score, but Brunson and Towns were distributing crisp passes that set the twilight reeling.
A fourth infraction sent Karl-Anthony to the bench at 6:27. The teams traded baskets, shoves, and choice words. With three minutes to go, Josh Hart (12 PTS, 11 REB, 40 MIN, 2 damaged digits) fouled a driving Embiid. The big Cameroonian crashed to the floor and came up gingerly, massaging his hip—a hip that was already sore and kept him out of Game Two. His two free throws cut the differential to three. At the other end, Nick Nurse played Hack-a-Mitch (Robinson made one). Then Embiid battled Mitch at the rim, missing dead on, then making a fiercely contested putback. They hacked Mitch again, and this time he made both.
When Edgecombe missed the basket completely on a long attempt, a cheer of “Airballll!” came from Xfinity Mobile; when Shamet swished from range, he capped a 7-0 run; and when the quarter ended, New York held an 85-76 lead.
OAKAAKUYOAK Quentin Grimes waited until the final quarter to make his three-pointers. He drilled two, and the differential was four with nine minutes to play. After a timeout, the Knicks responded with an 11-2 run, thanks to timely buckets by the Villanova Three and another steal by Bridges. Many times tonight, the Cheesesteaks got within sniffing distance, and every time they did, New York pumped the gas to open up some distance.
A chyron on the TV showed a startling stat: through nine playoff games, the Knicks have a +238 point differential in the fourth quarter. That’s the third-best in the NBA in the last 70 seasons. And they weren’t done scoring! Embiid had sat through the first half of the fourth, and frankly, his team had played better without him. After his return, our heroes went up by 16 with just under four minutes left. One starts to wonder if Daryl Morey regrets trading Jared McCain (the youngster had 18 points in 18 minutes for OKC yesterday). With two minutes left and down by 16, Nick Nurse surrendered, subbing out all five of his guys for reserves. Somewhere, Tom Thibodeau was screaming about that time Tracy McGrady scored 22 points in 30 seconds! Never surrender! Gaaaahhh!!!
Knicks coach Mike Brown responded in kind, letting Tyler Kolek, Jeremy Sochan, Pacome Dadiet, Mohamed Diawara, and Ariel Hukporti finish out the win. With it, New York is one game away from returning to the Eastern Conference Finals. Another fun tidbit from the broadcast? No NBA team has ever come back from three games down in a seven-game series.
Up Next
Game Four will be played on Mother’s Day afternoon. Not convenient. Rest up, Knickerbockers.
