PHILADELPHIA — There would have been a final prayer, a final wave of desperation, and the way tonight played out — the same as the last two games — Buddy Hield shot the basketball as the final buzzer sounded. When you putt, you half expected it to fall. , maybe with a little help from the backboard. Why not?
No miracle happened this time. There was no heartbreak this time. The ball bounced harmlessly away, and the Knicks team inside the Wells Fargo Center let out a primal, guttural roar, starting with the Knicks themselves. It’s over. finished. The Knicks have 118 and the 76ers have 115.
Four games in New York, two games in Philadelphia.
“It was a great team effort,” Knicks manager Tom Thibodeau said. “I can’t say enough about that.”
Then he added with a smile: “We all have to pull together and try a little harder.”
That’s the characteristic of this team. The Knicks put New York in trouble precisely because they are a team full of unselfish workers and hard workers who love to do a little more. Even if it violates a sacred civil agreement to compare the team to the hallowed hit-the-open-man crew until the team wins, it’s safe to say that they are definitely spiritual descendants.
And all of that was on display in Thursday’s game, where the Knicks led 33-11 and led 71-61 in a series that ended with an almost improbable final score of 650 points for the Knicks and 649 points for the 76ers. That was it. Every ounce was needed.
“I liked the way we kept fighting,” Jalen Brunson said. “It doesn’t matter what the situation is. We’re going to fight.”
It all starts and ends in Branson. On Thursday night, he was as heated as ever as a Knick. He had 41 points, 12 assists and made a series of important shots. Still, he was instrumental in the team’s iconic moment and recovery, giving up the ball late in the game when the score was tied and Wells Fargo begged for a Game 7 and two more days of basketball season. Ta.
Brunson passed to Josh Hart, and Hart’s first reaction, of course, was to pass to Donte DiVincenzo. But the 76ers let him go. Once again at the end of the series where they had dared him to shoot and begged him to shoot, they invited him to shoot.
So he shot.
And when it came clean, the Knicks had a three-point lead with 25.1 seconds remaining. This time, like the Secret Service protecting a president, they were going to guard his leads. This time, Hart — who missed a free throw two nights ago, giving the Sixers one last chance late in the game — will sleep better this time.
“I had a day and a half to think about it after I helped lose that game,” Hart said. “I’m glad I was able to contribute to this victory.”
Hart was Branson’s lead wingman (16 points, 14 rebounds) and did most of his second-half damage in one leg, but he hit his ankle just before the end of the first half.
(“Josh was never going to come out,” Thibodeau said, but he actually said it with a laugh. “It was a passing thought. I missed it.”)
But this was truly an ensemble piece, a special piece in which everyone participated. Isaiah Hartenstein made almost every one of those baby flip shots, which was good. The Knicks needed every shot, and he and Mitch Robinson worked to hold Joel Embiid to 39 points.
OG Anunoby? He hit Embiid with a powerful dunk late in the fourth inning, giving the Knicks an eight-point victory. It was a nice payback for Knicks fans who remember the difficult night at the end of the repechage in Indianapolis Carmelo 11 years ago. Anthony went for a poster dunk against Roy Hibbert, but Hibbert met him at the top and denied Anthony.
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Deuce McBride only scored three points, but his 6-footer with 7:10 left may have been the most important point of the game, erasing the Sixers’ final lead. And while DiVincenzo broke out of a series-long shooting funk with five threes, the most impressive and significant came two days after it seemed like the Knicks had no one who could slow him down. , the way he guarded Tyrese Maxey. DiVincenzo did.
“We all made sure everyone was on the same page,” Thibodeau said.
A week ago, this city was openly talking about disowning Villanova, and there was even a silly joke about temporarily removing the three Nova championship banners that adorn the rafters here. On Thursday, the Brunson/Hart/DiVincenzo trio scored or assisted on 110 of the Knicks’ 118 points.
It was barely enough to last at least two more weeks of this great basketball season in New York City. The Pacers are young and in great shape, and are feeling pretty good after defeating the Bucks. But the Knicks are also pretty happy with themselves. See you Monday night at the big gym above Penn Station.
