PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks finally got Jalen Brunson out in Game 3, but two other reliable starters, Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby, were out for the first three games of their first-round series against the 76ers. The development was full of ups and downs.
DiVincenzo followed up his elation with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.0 seconds left in Game 2, then showed off his quiet offense for the second time in the series in the Knicks’ Game 3 loss on Thursday night.
Before his heroics in Game 2, DiVincenzo had scored eight points on 3-of-10 shooting in the opening game, but was held to a low-impact five points and suffered the Knicks’ first loss. In the game, he missed all three 3-point shots in 28 minutes. of the postseason.
The former Villanova star was scoreless in the second half and missed both of his 3-point attempts after intermission.
DiVincenzo said before the game that the reaction to the shot in Game 2 was “cool,” but he was only thinking about the rest of the series.
“That’s really all I want to say. To be honest, I don’t want to seem like the crux of the next game mentality, but it doesn’t mean much right now,” DiVincenzo said. “I’m thinking, let’s win one more, let’s win two more, then I can think about it some more.”
Anunoby had a series-high 17 points and multiple dunks in Thursday’s loss, but hasn’t had the consistent two-way impact he showed in the injury-plagued second half after being traded from the Raptors in late December. do not have.
Anunoby had a plus-minus record in 23 consecutive regular season games, and the Knicks went 20-3 in those games, including a two-month absence due to right elbow surgery.
But he was on the downside in two of the three games against the Sixers, meaning the Knicks allowed more points than Anunoby on the floor, his lowest minus-10 points since the 39-game trade. It became. A few minutes left in the third game.
He is -14 overall in the series entering Sunday’s Game 4, minus-5 in the series-opening win and plus-1 in the come-from-behind Game 2 win.
Brunson scored 39 points in a loss Thursday night, snapping a two-game shooting slump (29.1 percent).
“I’m not too worried about what I did,” Brunson said. “Our team allowed 43 points in the third quarter and lost. So my main focus is how can we readjust to that.”
