The Knicks had every reason to expect a simpler night.
Joel Embiid was out for the Philadelphia 76ers, though Mitchell Robinson was a late scratch for the Knicks. And somehow, even without Philadelphia’s franchise center on the floor, the Knicks still spent most of Game 2 fighting whistles, foul trouble and a team that looked far more comfortable than it did two nights earlier.
They got through it anyway.
The Knicks won 108-102 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden to take a 2-0 series lead on their side of the Eastern Conference semifinals bracket. The series will continue Friday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
It took a game with 25 lead changes, the most in any NBA playoff game in 11 years, according to NBA Communications. The most recent playoff game with at least 25 lead changes came May 2, 2015, when the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers had 31.
“It’s about trying to figure out a way to get a stop,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “That’s what you can control more than the ball going in.”
Aside from Josh Hart, all Knicks starters finished in double figures, led by Jalen Brunson, who had 26 points and six assists as the Knicks shot 50.6% for the game. Tyrese Maxey paced four 76ers in double figures with 26 points, three rebounds and six assists.
This wasn’t anything like Game 1. The Knicks weren’t raining jumpers from everywhere. The 76ers weren’t absorbing punches and waiting to be buried. Philadelphia, oddly enough, found a better rhythm without Embiid, who was ruled out with ankle and hip issues. The floor opened. The ball moved. Maxey drew attention, made the right reads and helped the 76ers take advantage of the 4-on-3 opportunities that came when the Knicks blitzed him.
Paul George set the tone early. He scored 11 of Philadelphia’s first 13 points, started 4-for-4 from the field and hit his first three 3-point attempts. Kelly Oubre Jr. found room because of the Knicks’ paint-protection principles and hit shots he didn’t hit in Game 1. Oubre and VJ Edgecombe also made Brunson work for his offense, which gave Philadelphia more staying power than it had in the opener.
Then the fouls started piling up.
Karl-Anthony Towns picked up two in the first quarter, forcing Brown to Ariel Hukporti earlier than planned. Hukporti barely had time to settle in before picking up three fouls in just under four minutes. Jeremy Sochan entered as a small-ball option, and the Knicks were already piecing together frontcourt minutes with Robinson unavailable because of illness.
Philadelphia led 33-31 after the first quarter behind 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Knicks still hung around. Hart kept them in it. His defense and willingness to push in transition helped the Knicks climb back from a six-point hole and tie the game at 54. The Knicks even used their defense to grab a brief lead late in the half, forcing 10 Philadelphia turnovers before the break.
Still, they trailed 62-61 at halftime. They’d been whistled for 14 fouls, which gave Philadelphia 14 points at the free throw line. Towns had played only eight minutes and already had three fouls. Hukporti had four fouls in seven minutes.
“We talked about defending without fouling at halftime, and we did a better job,” Brown said.
So, Brown leaned harder into OG Anunoby, who finished with 24 points and five rebounds, at center, choosing that look over Sochan. Anunoby gave the Knicks what they needed. He was terrific on both ends in the third quarter, holding together smaller lineups while the Knicks tried to survive every whistle around their bigs.
The Knicks kept scoring. They just couldn’t get enough stops. Towns, who was excellent whenever he stayed on the floor, picked up his fourth foul with 4:31 left in the third. Philadelphia led 90-89 entering the fourth, and Game 2 had become exactly the kind of possession-by-possession fight the Knicks probably hoped to avoid against a wounded opponent.
Then the 76ers went cold. After burning the Knicks from deep for much of the night, Philadelphia missed from 3 on a few key late trips. Brunson buried a 17-footer to put the Knicks ahead by two with 5:06 left, then the Knicks survived a Philadelphia possession that included several offensive rebounds and could’ve undone all of their work. Instead, the Knicks got out of it clean.
Brunson answered again to push the lead to four. The Knicks got another stop. Then Mikal Bridges stepped into one of the biggest shots of the night, hitting a 20-footer with 2:56 left to give the Knicks a six-point lead, their largest of the game at that point.
Towns said the Knicks separated themselves by executing, rebounding and closing possessions with the stops they needed. Bridges, who said the Knicks have to head to Philadelphia playing “desperate” and acting as if the series is “zero-zero,” put the fourth quarter in simpler terms.
“Everybody’s being on the string,” Bridges said. “Everybody being aggressive and stepping up for one another.”
After the game, Brown said he had no update on Anunoby, who left with 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter because of an apparent leg injury. The Knicks didn’t get the easy version of Game 2, but they figured it out when it mattered.
“Most importantly, just staying poised, staying composed,” Brunson said. “Just figuring out one play at a time, one step at a time and not looking too far ahead.”
