Last season, en route to a World Championship, the New York Knicks (2-4) took a pleasant detour in Las Vegas to collect the Emirates NBA Cup. The road to repeating the Cup win is rocky this season, with their Group B considered to be the toughest.
Tonight, they traveled to Pennsylvania to face the 76ers at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on a garish blue and gold cartoon court. This was their first Cup game of the season and the 482nd meeting between the two franchises. The Philadelphia 76ers (5-1) came
in tied with Detroit for first place in the East. All night, the star-heavy squad showed the secret to their success so far this season—a stingy, sticky defense that limited New York to 32% perimeter shooting. Our heroes fell behind by double digits toward the end of the first quarter and stayed behind until the final two minutes of the game. Quoth Laurenpal, “Unfortunately it took us too long to show up tonight.” Despite a clutch bucket from Jalen Brunson (24 PTS, 8-22 FG) for the lead late in the fourth, Tyrese Maxey (27 PTS, 10-19 FG) and the Sixers were too strong to keep down. Your final: 98-93.
Through the first half of the first quarter, the home team had the edge, with Maxey, Joel Embiid (10 PTS, 7 RBS, 7 AST), LeBron James (20 PTS, 9 RBS, 8 AST), and VJ Edgecombe (13 PTS, 8 RBS) combining for 14 points. Across the floor, Karl-Anthony Towns (22 PTS, 12 RBS), OG Anunoby (9 PTS, 4-10 FG), Mikal Bridges (12 PTS, 3 STL, 5-8 FG), and Brunson had posted 11 for the visitors.
Part of the problem for our heroes was that Philly played an almost mistake-free opening frame, committing one foul and zero turnovers. And their defensive intensity—part of a top-five defense in the league—complicated every Knicks shot. When Tyler Kolek (2 PTS, 4 AST, 13 MIN) subbed in with about three minutes left, he was harassed into his first TO of the season. Further proof of that good D? The good guys shot just 27% in the first period.
On one sequence, Brunson dribbled against Maxey from 18 feet, left side, one-on-one. Maxey blocked him, but Cap retained the ball and swished a jumper on his second attempt. It was a rare instance of Maxey getting outplayed. He led all first-half scorers with 15 points. Brunson managed only seven points pre-intermission.
After a Philly timeout, Mike Brown sent in Landry Shamet (0 PTS, 0-3 FG, 16 MIN), Miles McBride (10 PTS, 4-8 FG, 24 MIN), and Andre Drummond (3 PTS, 6 RBS, 12 MIN). The guests missed five shots, during which time the hosts capitalized with interior scores. After surrendering eight unanswered points, the Knicks got relief when Josh Hart (7 PTS, 6 RBS, 31 MIN) delivered from deep. By the quarter break, the home team was up 29-21.
On to the second. Philly moved the ball well and was unafraid to drive the lane, as Maxey did with an emphatic throwdown. While Brunson rested—and Jose Alvarado sat out with a sprained ankle—Kolek continued to play. He gave up a second turnover. Cap checked back in around the seven-minute mark.
At the midway point, LeBron and Hart traded bombs from the perimeter. The differential reached 14 before the Knicks began to chisel it down.
McBride made some midrange shots from the elbow. It was nice to see a little more imagination in his usage, rather than just sticking him at the arc and waiting for a pass. He also grabbed a timely offensive board in the paint among Embiid and a couple of other big bodies.
Nevertheless, the Knicks couldn’t get a run going. A corner three by Bridges cut the gap to six, but Maxey chucked from deep for three of his own. In fitting fashion, Brunson couldn’t get open for a final shot, and the halftime buzzer buzzed without an attempt. Philly up, 53-44.
The Knicks had out-rebounded Philly (23-19) and shot slightly better from deep (32% to 29%), but Philly owned everything inside the arc. The Knicks took more than half their shots from deep and scored nothing on fast breaks, which is a tough way to keep pace while conceding so much inside. No Knick had reached double digits yet; KAT led the team with nine points.
Following intermission, Hart missed from deep, Bridges threw the ball to the front row, and Maxey scored five points. Philly went up by 14, matching its biggest advantage yet.
Finding the previous events intolerable, Brunson took the reins and commanded his squad on an 11-1 run. He scored seven straight during that burst, and Bridges redeemed his TO with a steal (ripping the ball out of Edgecombe’s mitts) and a longball. After that, Nurse needed a timeout for a breather and a regroup.
Whatever advice the coach imparted, it worked. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons (21 PTS, 5-8 3PT, 31 MIN) hit triples, Philly tightened its defense, and LeBron attacked the cup. Soon enough, the Knicks trailed by ten again and gave us great concern about their ability to rally for a lead. After a Mike Brown timeout, two consecutive Shamet turnovers and another Simons jumper further pushed the score in the wrong direction. Too many one-and-dones were a problem. The Knicks wouldn’t quit and swung back, with McBride and Brunson reducing the hole to six, but a Simons bomb with five seconds to go closed the quarter at 77-68.
Jordan Clarkson, a sparkplug in Chicago, made his first appearance to start the final frame. Alongside him: Kolek, McBride, Anunoby, and Towns. They manufactured buckets, but surrendered them, too. Simons continued to rain buckets.
One of the surprising strengths of Clarkson’s game has been his offensive rebounding. When he flew through traffic to tip in a missed McBride three, it wasn’t quite a Game Four highlight, but it sliced the differential to three. That was the closest the team had been since midway through the first. But they taketh, they giveth. Embiid drilled a jumper at the other end, and with six-ish minutes left, Mike Brown needed a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Brown’s lineup was Brunson, Clarkson, Bridges, Hart, and Towns. The choice to go with Clarkson’s offense over Anunoby’s defense was a curious gamble. Both teams were careening up and down the court at top speed, even that geezer LeBron, and when KAT rifled a bomb, a mere two points separated the two teams.
In crunch time, Brunson had a look but bricked from deep. The ball came back to him, but LeBron worked him into a jam, with Jalen having to throw the ball off him out of bounds. After the inbound, Jalen had another chance—and connected from deep for their first lead since the opening minutes!
LeBron answered with a fadeaway at 1:10 to reclaim the lead. After Cap missed a floater, Edgecombe knocked down his first triple of the night. 94-90, 34 seconds remaining.
Cap got the ball again, iso-ing on Edgecombe, but slipped and turned his right ankle in a legitimately terrifying moment. Edgecombe was called for a ticky-tack foul (foot-to-foot contact). Brunson made one freebie. 94-91, 31 seconds. At the other end, Maxey hustled through traffic and missed on a contested layup, but ’Bron swept in for the putback. That put the score at 96-91 with 12 seconds on the clock. New York needed a miracle, but the gods were fresh out. Anunoby made a dunk, and Philly added two free throws. Ball game.
Up Next
Back to work on Monday, at home against the Nets. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
