Game 1 Was More About The Knicks Peaking Than It Was Tired Sixers Legs

The New York Knicks have pitched a Johnny Vander Meer over the last two games. It wasn’t quite 54 consecutive outs, but it was as close to perfect as basketball can be for 96 minutes. Coach Mike Brown's group backed up their series clinching 51-point thrashing of Atlanta, which set a record for the largest playoff win in team history, with a 39-point bulldozing of Philadelphia, their second-biggest postseason beatdown.

Over the past two games, the Knicks have won by a combined 90 points, good for the second-largest margin of victory in the playoffs across league history, per Mike Vorkunov of the Athletic. No team in history had previously won back-to-back games by 39+ in the playoffs.

Furthermore, the Knicks have won their last three playoff games by margins of 29, 51 and 39 points, an average of 39.7. The 119-point margin of victory is the largest ever over any three game span. In the process, they became the first team since 1997 to take a lead of at least 30-points in three straight playoff games and the first to win three straight playoff games by 25 or more points.

The Knicks are hitting their stride at the right time

"You always want to peak later in the season. Just the process of the year, that's how it went. Now we're starting to click, hopefully continue to get better and better," OG Anunoby said after the 137-98 victory. "We have a really talented team, threats all over the place. It's very hard to guard."

Losing Game 3 against Atlanta might’ve been a blessing in disguise for these Knicks. They’ve absolutely locked in since, especially Jalen Brunson. The scary part for Philadelphia is that the captain usually takes a game or two to figure things out. But everything was dropping last night en route to a game-high 35 points on 18 shots.

Cooking the 76ers is nothing new for Brunson, who has scored 35 or more points in five straight playoff games against them. Getting buckets is nothing new this time of year either. He's now scored at least 15 points in all 49 playoff games wearing orange and blue. Only Michael Jordan (179 straight) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57 straight) have longer streaks starting their playoff career with a single team.

What's also changed since going down 2-1 against the Hawks is the team tapping more into Towns as a facilitator and focal point of the offense. In 20 workmanlike minutes, KAT scored 17 points, snagged six rebounds and dished out six dimes. He also knocked down three threes and is thriving with the extra involvement.

"I just love that I get to get my teammates involved and I get the chance to quarterback the offense and put them in positions that I feel they can succeed," Towns said about his newfound role as a playmaker. "And they've obliged."

Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks — New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) controls the ball against Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) during the first quarter of game one of the eastern conference semifinal round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, Anunoby has been ready to go since the tournament started. He's hit 19 of his 32 three-point attempts and the team is +105 when he's on the court. In 30 Game 1 minutes, the swingman notched 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. When the unheralded star plays like this, it lifts New York to another level.

When talking about this team's ceiling we have to mention the play of Mikal Bridges. The much maligned ironman followed up his 24-point barrage in the closeout of Atlanta with another two-way clinic. On just ten shots, the often-invisible 29-year old chipped in 17 points and three triples.

The Knicks are getting big contributions across the board

Obviously, New York isn't going to shoot this well forever and one game doesn't dictate a series. They shot 63% the floor and connected on 19 of 37 (51%) shots from long distance. The overwhelming excuse for the evisceration was that Philadelphia was "gassed" after playing a Game 7 in Boston on Saturday night while the Knicks had three days off. A scheduling loss, if you will.

You can argue that historically teams coming off a Game 7 are an ugly 33–55 in Game 1 of the following round. Some will point to Philly losing Game 1 in Boston by 32 points not long ago. Maybe tired legs had something to do with it. But perhaps it's just that the Knicks are a flat-out better team and peaking at the right time.

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