Freed From Embiid! Knicks Nix 76ers in 6, Advance to Round Two
The Philadelphia 76ers were so worried about New York Knicks representation in the Wells Fargo Center stands that they forgot to limit it on the scoreboard.
The Knicks are moving onto the second round of the NBA playoffs after a dramatic victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, downing the Philadelphia 76ers by a 118-115 final at Wells Fargo Center. Jalen Brunson scored 41 points and dished out 12 assists while Josh Hart gave the Knicks a permanent lead with a three-pointer in the final minute.
Thus ends what perhaps stood as the most exhilarating of the eight first-round playoff matchups on the NBA bracket, one that saw the Knicks outscore the Sixers by a single point. It was a series defined by New York/Philadelphia pleasantries ... or lack thereof ... as well as strong comebacks and different heroes rising on a nightly basis.
That's why it felt like a relative cop-out when the Knicks threatened to run away early on: behind a revival from the outside for Donte DiVincenzo (held below double figures in all but one of the first five games), the Knicks built an early lead that summitted at 22, delighting the metropolitan rebels that invaded Philadelphia despite the best efforts of Sixers management.
But it didn't take long for Philadelphia to set the table for an instant classic, turning to unlikely sources to do so: the Sixer bench outscored the Knicks' reserves 30-0 over the first 24 minutes, building a 54-51 lead by intermission. Buddy Hield, sinker of just one shot over the first five games (and eschewed from the prior two entirely), was particularly impressive, outscoring the Knicks on his own with 17 compared to 15 as a team on the other side.
Philadelphia thus took a slim but assertive lead into the break despite scoring sensation Tyrese Maxey going only 1-of-6 in the first half, though Joel Embiid was 5-of-10 while Nicolas Batum added 10 more points as part of the reserves' onslaught. The Knicks' two-man bench of Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson was held scoreless as head coach Tom Thibodeau stuck with seven in his rotation.
The 76ers seemed poised for a runaway of their own by jumping out to a 10-point lead just past the five minutes gone by mark of the third quarter, but Brunson and Hart began to further hint at the makings of elimination: after a Maxey triple put the Knicks down 10, the Villanova Wildcat duo played a direct role in each of the Knicks' last 22 points of the period through either shots of their own or assists. OG Anunoby's three-pointer set up a tie game going into the fateful fourth.
Much like Tueday's Manhattan heartbreaker, several Knick daggers were shrugged off by the Sixers, including a showstopping Anunoby dunk over Embiid that put the Knicks up by eight with 2:43 remaining. Anunoby's struggle to finish the and-one provided just enough of an opening, as Philadelphia lowered the gap to one by the final minute before Maxey, fresh off an infamous four-point play that fueled the Sixers' comeback hopes in Game 5, tied the game by converting his own and-one off a controversial goaltending call.
But that only set the perfect stage for Hart's game-winner, which served as yet another thrilling example of the former Wildcat rediscovering his three-point prowess at the perfect time. The three-pointer also seved as satisfying redemption for Hart, whose miss in Game 5 afforded Maxey the room for his own heroics.
From there, free throws were allowed to decide the margin, but the Knicks hit theirs at the perfect time to escape with the win. Hield got the last shot for Philadelphia but his would-be equalizer clanked off the glass to seal the Sixers' fate and ignite the New York celebration.
In addition to his heroics from deep, Hart also pulled in 14 rebounds and tied with Robinson for six of the offensive variety. DiVincenzo had 23 points, his best output of the series, while Anunoby had 19 more.
Every postseason clinching classic has a victim, and the Sixers once again fulfilled that role in the most dramatic of fashion. Seeded seventh after they foundered in the medically-induced absence of Embiid, the Sixers will miss out on the conference finals for the 24th consecutive season, tied with the Knicks for the third-longest active drought in the NBA. Embiid went out in style with 39 points and 13 rebounds while Maxey ended the night off with 17.
New York will now move on to the conference semifinals, where the Indiana Pacers await. This will be the eighth meeting between New York and Indiana and first since 2013. The Pacers are 4-3 in the series to date, though they fell to the Knicks on each of New York's last two conference title runs (1994, 1999).
The series will tip off on Monday night at MSG (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks