What Knicks player can make a surprise impact in Game 4 vs. 76ers if OG Anunoby is sidelined?
Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns tries to get past the 76ers' Joel Embiid during the first half of Game 3 in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
The Knicks, with six straight playoff wins, find themselves with a chance to secure a spot in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season. With a 3-0 lead and what undoubtedly will feel like a home-court advantage in Philadelphia, they can close it out Sunday afternoon.
1. Finishing strong
161. That’s the number of teams that have taken a 3-0 lead in an NBA playoff series. It’s also the number of teams that have won the series. The Knicks now have the opportunity to finish off the 76ers on Sunday afternoon, and they are trying to do it by not thinking about history and focusing on the next game.
“We just gotta stay in the present,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “The next game is the most important game. There’s a lot of things we need to clean up and we want to clean up and we have another game to do that. It’s about just staying about us.”
2. Who’s in?
It was hard to imagine that the Knicks would rush OG Anunoby back for Game 3 with a 2-0 lead in the series. It’s even harder to imagine that they would risk aggravating his mild hamstring strain with a 3-0 lead. But the Knicks are still calling him day-to-day and he is listed as questionable for the game.
3. Dust off
The Knicks have found, since the post-deadline recovery of Jordan Clarkson, the ability to plug in a little-used piece and find production. The latest was Landry Shamet in Game 3, gaining minutes thanks to Anunoby’s absence and contributing 15 points as the Knicks' bench outscored Philadelphia’s 29-11. Who’s next? A return of Mo Diawara?
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.
