It was 27 seconds of vintage 2024 Tom Thibodeau Knicks.
A Kyle Lowry free throw put the 76ers up by five with 47.3 left in the game, they were that close to tying up their first-round series at 1-1. Then the Knicks happened: Jalen Brunson hit a leaning 3-pointer, the Knicks swarmed the inbounds pass making it difficult and Josh Hart ultimately stole the ball from Tyrese Maxey — the 76ers believe Maxey was fouled, more on that later — and the ball went to Donte DiVincenzo who missed a 3, but Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed the offensive board, kicked it out to DiVincenzo again, and he didn’t miss twice. The Knicks were up by 1 and Madison Square Garden was rocking.
DIVINCENZO AND BRUNSON DRILL BACK-TO-BACK 3'S AND THE KNICKS TAKE THE LEAD! 🔥
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2024
13.1 REMAINING IN GAME 2 ON TNT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/x0PwLjhsbw
The 76ers had their chances to get the lead back. Maxey got a head of steam from the backcourt and drove the lane, but Hartenstein blocked the shot. OG Anunuoby sank a free throw to get the lead to 3, but that left time for one final Philadelphia shot to tie and force overtime — Maxey tried to create space, couldn’t, kicked it to Joel Embiid who was forced to jack up a quick deep 3 that missed, and that was the ball game.
New York wins 104-101 to take a 2-0 series lead against the 76ers and the series shifts to Philadelphia on Thursday night.
This was a gut-punch loss for Philadelphia. Their two stars were not 100% — Embiid because of the knee he tweaked last game and Maxey, who was fighting off a non-COVID illness — but they brought it. Maxey finished with 35 points and 10 assists, while Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds. Only one other 76er scored in double digits — Tobias Harris with 10 — and the Sixers outside Embiid and Maxey shot 36.4%.
The 76ers did a better job grabbing offensive rebounds and not giving up second-chance points on Monday. In game 1, the Knicks grabbed the offensive rebound on a ridiculous 50.9% of their missed shots, 23 offensive rebounds that led to 26 second-chance points. In Game 2 the Knicks still got a high percentage of offensive boards, 32.1% but it only led to a dozen points. The problem was three of those were DiVincenzo’s late 3 that put the Knicks in front.
Brunson led a balanced Knicks attack with 24, while Josh Hart had 21 and DiVincenzo finished with 19.
After the game, the 76ers said they were going to file a grievance with the NBA about the officiating in the first two games. This is not a protest trying to change the outcome — those never work anyway — it’s more of an official complaint to the league.
Sixers plan to say in the grievance that they have been disadvantaged more than any other team. They'll provide information from the last 2-minute reports during the regular season and into Game 1 of this series to argue that.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 23, 2024
One of the complaints will be that the 76ers tried to call a timeout before Maxey’s late-game turnover, saying that Embiid, coach Nick Nurse and others tried to make the call but the referees ignored them. It would have been difficult for the referees to hear them in an incredibly loud Madison Square Garden.
With two close losses, the 76ers go home believing they can defend their home court and even this series, but they now have no margin for error.
And the Knicks have earned all the confidence in the world.