Knicks beat 76ers in Game 3, can sweep series on Sunday
Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts as the 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. looks on during the first half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks took the floor at Xfinity Mobile Arena without OG Anunoby, but they did bring a few thousand of their friends.
With the 76ers’ home court once again filled with Knicks fans who’d overcome the obstacles set in place to try to keep them out, the Knicks made themselves at home. By the time the chants of, “Let’s go Knicks!” loudly reverberated through the arena in the final minutes, there were few 76ers fans left with the will to counter the chants.
Josh Hart walked to the bench as the Knicks emptied the bench with two minutes left, signaling the crowd to continue the cheers as the Knicks put the finishing touches on a 108-94 win, pushing their lead to three games to none in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series with a chance to close it out Sunday afternoon here.
“New York always comes out and shows love,” Hart said. “They support us wherever we go. We need that. We need them to continue to do that, continue to support us.”
The Knicks endured the absence of Anunoby, the foul trouble that limited Karl-Anthony Towns once again thanks to a team effort on the defensive end, the usual offensive fireworks of Jalen Brunson and maybe the best overall game that Mikal Bridges has played since joining the team.
While Brunson led the Knicks with 33 points and nine assists, Bridges added an aggressive 23 points, making up for Anunoby’s offense, and was a shutdown defender, whether it was on Tyrese Maxey, Paul George or even Joel Embiid. Hart added 12 points and 11 rebounds while Landry Shamet came off the bench to score 15 points.
“It was definitely a team effort,” Brunson said. “Obviously, we want everyone back healthy but it’s important for everyone to step up and have the right mindset and do whatever we gotta do to find a way to win.”
“Obviously with OG out we were down a big wing,” Mike Brown said. “So Mikal had to take that part over. We’re not switching Mikal necessarily on Embiid, but if it happens he’s just got to play him without fouling. Mikal did a lot of good tonight defensively no matter who he guarded. He was big in helping us get the win because of it.”
After Philadelphia had closed within four in the fourth quarter, the Knicks ran off a 19-7 burst to put the game out of reach and empty the benches. Once again, it was the defense that took over — Bridges and Hart combining to shut down George after he scored 15 in the first nine minutes and didn’t score again. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 22 points to lead the 76ers as the Knicks held Embiid (18 points in 35 minutes) and Maxey (17 points and 8-for-12 shooting) in check.
The Knicks announced Anunoby was out 90 minutes before game time, sitting with the strained left hamstring suffered late in Game 2. While Anunoby has been a vital part of what the Knicks have done to get this far, the insistence from Brown and the Knicks players was that a little bit from everyone else would be enough to overcome the absence.
“Everyone picked it up,” Hart said. “It’s one of those things where it’s next man up. Obviously we say that but that just means it’s more opportunity for guys. Mikal did an amazing job. Deuce [McBride] gave us what he had. Landry, the ultimate professional, giving us big minutes offensively and defensively. We responded well to that adversity.”
The Knicks started out with McBride starting in place of Anunoby and put him on VJ Edgecombe while Bridges remained tied to Maxey and limited him to one shot in the first quarter. But Philadelphia still jumped out a 9-0 lead and stretched the lead to as many as 12 points in the period with George scoring 15 points and Embiid once again drawing the Knicks into foul trouble, forcing Towns to the bench with 5:28 left with two fouls.
Bridges then shifted onto George and in the second quarter held him scoreless. With Towns on the bench again after getting his third foul just 3:40 into the period, the Knicks still took control — building a lead of as many as 12 as Bridges also sparked the offense. He and Brunson each scored 10 points in the quarter and the Knicks took a 60-52 lead into the break.
“I’ve been telling ya’ll, we believe in everybody in this locker room entering into the game and producing at a high level,” Towns said. “Today showed that again.”
The Knicks lost Towns once again midway through the third with his fourth foul and the 76ers tried to take advantage of Mitchell Robinson’s presence — employing the hacking strategy to send him to the foul line. But with the Knicks clinging to a two-point lead with 2:23 left in the period, Robinson drained a pair of free throws, waking the Knicks crowd, a louder cheer than at any point in the game.
Embiid missed a pair of jumpers that could have tied the game and the Knicks took advantage down the stretch, a Shamet three ending the third quarter to give the Knicks a nine-point lead.
The Knicks called time with 8:53 left after a Quentin Grimes three cut the Knicks lead to 88-84. And from there, it was the same story as in Game 2 when the Knicks took over with defense and timely scoring from Brunson. Hart and Bridges got the Knicks started with a pair of baskets and then a Brunson three, a pair of Bridges free throws and a midrange jumper by Brunson pushed the Knicks advantage to 13, the largest lead to that point, with 5:54 remaining.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
