NEW YORK — The New York Knicks, up eight in the fourth quarter, coughed up the lead in a matter of minutes. The 76ers, up five with 47 seconds to go, may have coughed up the series in a matter of seconds.
Consecutive 3-pointers — one by Jalen Brunson, then a game-winner by the Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo, coming after Philly’s Tyrese Maxey lost his balance and fell trying to catch an inbounds pass — put New York, improbably, ahead with 13 seconds left, and the Knicks went on to win 104-101 to take a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven series.
It was a Reverse Reggie Miller. This time, the road team gave the game away, rather than the host Knicks.
DIVINCENZO AND BRUNSON DRILL BACK-TO-BACK 3’S AND THE KNICKS TAKE THE LEAD! 🔥
13.1 REMAINING IN GAME 2 ON TNT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/x0PwLjhsbw
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2024
It leaves New York halfway to the second round, despite Brunson struggling again to find much rhythm. And it leaves Philly in a precarious hole, despite Joel Embiid gutting out 39 minutes on his repaired knee to go for 34 points and 10 rebounds, and Maxey playing 44 minutes after missing the morning shootaround with an illness to score 35 points.
Per a 76ers spokesperson, the team intends to file a complaint with the NBA regarding the officiating in Games 1 and 2, claiming the team was “disadvantaged by two calls in Game 1 per the league’s L2M report.”
The team will argue that it should have been granted a timeout after Brunson’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, that made the score 101-99. On the subsequent inbounds pass, 76ers guard Maxey lost his balance after jumping to catch the ball, and then was stripped of the ball by New York guard Josh Hart, while 76ers coach Nick Nurse appeared, twice, to signal for a timeout from the 76ers’ bench. The timeout was not granted.
After the turnover, DiVincenzo missed a 3-pointer. But Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed the offensive rebound, and the ball went back out to DiVincenzo, who knocked down the go-ahead 3.
Because a pool report request with game officials was not submitted within 15 minutes of the end of the game, referees did not speak with a designated pool reporter after the game ended about the final sequences.
Game 3 is Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The 76ers are, again, getting close to leaving a season’s playoff picture all too early, a feature of the Embiid Era.
How Knicks pulled off the chaotic win
If you had predicted that Brunson would shoot 29 percent from the field over the first two games of this series, then you probably would have guessed the 76ers would be in command heading back to Philadelphia. Instead, it’s the Knicks who have pulled out a couple of nail biters.
Sometimes, the ball bounces your way.
Such as on a Brunson 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining, when the basketball nails the front of the rim and pops in anyway. Or when Maxey falls down but doesn’t get a foul call. Or when Nurse motions for a timeout but does not receive one as the ball trickles loose from Maxey’s hands. Or when a DiVincenzo 3 misses but Hartenstein is there to recover.
The Knicks have built their identity around hustle plays.
It only makes sense for them to win a playoff game because chaos occurred and they acted as if all was normal. — Fred Katz, Knicks staff writer
Required reading
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
