Knicks Bench Press 76ers, Comeback to Win Game 1
The New York Knicks depth stars created a fully armed and operational basketball station on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks' bullpen came through in style in the team's 2024 NBA playoff opener against the Philadelphia 76ers, as Bojan Bogdanovic, Miles McBride, and Mitchell Robinson stole the show in a 111-104 Game 1 victory.
While the Knicks' starting headliners were able to reach their regular outputs, the second-string trio ensured that there would be a winning game to close: McBride, a whopping plus-37 when he was on the floor, scored 21 points, all but five in the first half when New York erased an early 13-point deficit. Bogdanovic hit 3-of-6 from deep with seven rebounds while Robinson had 12 rebounds and four blocks, tying a Knicks postseason record with seven second chances created by the boards off the bench.
The three relievers kept things close in a rollercoaster game, but, by the end, the usual suspects were ready to make their presence felt: Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart shared the team lead with 22 points and the latter came up big with crucial triples and rebounds to seal the deal.
Hart shot a career-worst 31 percent with an extra point on the line this season but broke even in the finest form possible, going 4-of-8 on Saturday. The latter duo came in the final stanzas and helped the Knicks form a lasting multi-possession lead.
It was clear from the get-gotha Philadelphia would not roll over in the seventh slot, establishing a 10-point lead less than five minutes into the postseason. The reigning MVP Embiid, who missed all but one of the 76ers' four meetings with the Knicks, reminded Manhattan exacty why he continued to perfectly define the middle initial, as he talled 15 points in the first quarter alone. With two assists added on three-pointers for Nic Batum and Tyrese Maxey, Embiid played a direct role 21 of Philadephia's first 34 points before he got to take a rest.
With Embiid sidelined, the second unit went to work: Bogdanovic and McBride alone erased the nine-point disadvantage the Knicks faced at the start of the second, building an 11-2 run that tied the game just over 2.5 minutes into the period. Philadelphia pushed the lead back to four before a Robinson dunk off a Hart misfire retied the game and ignited an 11-6 stretch that stopped when Embiid was forced to the locker room with an apparent knee injury when he self-passed a dunk off the backboard despite OG Anunoby's defense. With Embiid gone early, the Knicks scored seven unanswered to close the period and take a dozen-point lead into the halftime break.
An early Brunson double briefly stretched the Knicks' lead but Embiid's return and Maxey's breakout ensured that fans would have to stick around. Maxey and longtime metropolitan nemesis Kyle Lowry scored a dozen each (on a combined 8-of-11), accounting for two-thirds of Philadelphia's third-quarter tally. Their efforts gave the visitors an 82-79 lead by the end of the third.
But the replacements had one last offensive show to put on before yielding to the marquee men: Bogdanovic opened the last frame's scoring with a triple before Robinson gave the Knicks the lead back by tipping in a Brunson miss. From there, the Knicks never trailed again despite several ties and one last deep ball from McBride (trusted over the Knicks' new three-point darling Donte DiVincenzo) provided a stable multi-possession lead just before the midway mark.
A trio of triples over the final two minutes, two from Hart and the outlier from Anunoby, created the final margin and secured the Knicks' early series advantage. Robinson even came through with two successful free throws as the capper of a brilliant fourth that saw him keep Embiid's successful shot chart blank.
The Knicks' bench wound up outscoring Philadelphia's 42-7 and every tally in that regard from The City of Brotherly Love came in the first half. Paul Reed, who infamously claimed the Sixers found extra motivation in an "easier matchup" with the Knicks, was a minus-21 on the statsheet in 11 minutes. Maxey led the 76ers with 33 points while Embiid had 29 in defeat, but most of that came from the foul line after he was just 2-of-11 in the second half.
Game 2 of the series will be held on Monday night at MSG (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/TNT)
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks