The New York Knicks extended their playoff hot streak to five straight games on Wednesday night, grinding out a 108-102 win over a Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. After three consecutive blowouts opened the postseason, this one tested a different muscle.
"Jaylen Brunson doing what great players do when they need points," Dan Patrick said on his syndicated show. "He came in and hit a couple of big baskets. Neither team led by more than seven points. 25 different lead changes. That's the most in an NBA playoff game in 11 years."
The Sixers shot the lights out from deep through three quarters, hitting roughly half of their attempts and trading punches with a Knicks team that could not find its three-point stroke until the final frame. The dam finally broke when New York's defense smothered Philadelphia in the fourth quarter, allowing just 12 points.
"That was again championship-level defense, which has been the consistent thing that we've seen from this team for a couple of months now," DJ Zulo said on the Knicks Film School postgame show. "And that's just what they are. And they were able to turn it on late and take this one home."
Karl-Anthony Towns posted 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on six-of-eight shooting in 38 minutes. Towns also fought through foul trouble that nearly derailed his rhythm down the stretch as Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse kept hunting Paul George onto him to disrupt the Knicks' offense.
"In today's sports world, it's amazing how you have to give credit to somebody who's supposed to be great," Patrick said when asked about Towns. "He's supposed to be great."
Brunson took over from there. With Tyrese Maxey running out of legs late and the 76ers' three-point well drying up, the New York star delivered the kind of contested mid-range shotmaking that has come to define his playoff identity, including a high-arcing turnaround over a switching defender in crunch time.
"Playoffs often come down to our tough shot makers versus your tough shot makers," DJ Zulo said. "Who's going to make more tough shots? And we made more tough shots tonight."
Mike Brown's bench moves drew praise across postgame coverage. Inserting Landry Shamet midway through the second quarter sparked a defensive uptick and matched the desperation a one-loss Sixers team brought from the opening tip. Bench wing Miles "Deuce" McBride and starter Mikal Bridges have absorbed the increased load without losing their composure.
The win moved the Knicks to within two of an Eastern Conference Finals berth, but the celebration was tempered by the sight of OG Anunoby limping to the locker room with around three minutes left after pulling up on a dunk attempt. He finished with 24 points, five rebounds and four steals.
ESPN senior NBA reporter Brian Windhorst noted that "generally, when you go up 2-0, you win 92% of the time." The Knicks have now won five straight playoff games, one shy of tying their franchise record. Two of the previous three times New York reached the same mark in the playoffs, the team went on to play in the NBA Finals.
Game 3 tips off Friday night in Philadelphia, with Embiid's status uncertain and Anunoby officially listed as questionable. For Mike Brown's group, the assignment is straightforward: keep the foot on the throat without burning out the bullets they may need a round deeper.
