NEW YORK – Recreation 1 goes to the Knicks.
In a wild, back-and-forth recreation that noticed each groups blow double-digit leads, the Knicks in the end pulled off a 111-104 win over the Philadelphia 76ers to open up their first-round series Saturday in entrance of a raucous, energetic Madison Sq. Backyard crowd.
It was a bodily, gritty contest – the kind the Knicks have thrived in all season.
Recreation 2 is Monday at 7:30 p.m. (TNT/MSG Community) at The Backyard.
If it’s something like Recreation 1, that is going to be fairly the sequence.
The Knicks acquired off to a foul begin whereas the Sixers rolled by the early minutes – Joel Embiid scored the Sixers’ first 9 factors – and constructed up a lead that swelled to 13 factors.
However the Knicks climbed again and tied the rating on the 9:28 mark of the second quarter and took management of the sport, in the end taking a 58-46 lead into halftime.
A lot of that got here with Embiid out of the sport after he drove towards the basket, bounced the ball off the backboard and slammed it by the online earlier than touchdown awkwardly late within the second quarter.
Embiid was writhing in paint on the courtroom earlier than getting up and strolling gingerly again to the locker room. He returned to the ground for the beginning of the second half.
The Knicks had a foul third quarter, getting outscored 36-21 within the interval whereas the Sixers retook the lead.
A recreation that at one level appeared properly in hand turned a battle.
The Knicks made pictures late – OG Anunoby drained a three-pointer with 1:28 remaining to place his crew up by seven.
They held on from there.
The sport modified within the Knicks’ favor when Robinson entered the sport with about 4 minutes to go within the first quarter instead of Isaiah Hartenstein.
Robinson was stellar on protection and managed to restrict Embiid after the Sixers’ heart had his scorching sizzling begin. Robinson did a great job staying in entrance of Embiid and protecting him away from the basket – at one level he pressured Embiid right into a double dribble close to the three-point line.
The sport was getting away from the Knicks, however Robinson helped cease the bleeding whereas the Knicks labored their method again into the sport.
Robinson heard large ovations from the gang all through the evening, and deservedly so.
He completed with eight factors, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Whereas Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart struggled to attain within the first half, McBride delivered a giant carry.
McBride completed with 21 factors on 7-of-12 taking pictures, together with 5-of-7 from past the arc. He additionally had three rebounds, 4 assists and one steal.
McBride scored 12 of his factors within the second quarter, a interval that noticed the Knicks outscore the Sixers 33-12.
It was a comparatively quiet evening for Brunson, who completed with 22 factors on 5-of-12 taking pictures (1-of-6 from three-point vary). He had seven rebounds, seven assists and one steal.
Philadelphia made issues troublesome on Brunson, one thing that’s probably going to final in the course of the sequence.