Knicks Great Escape Sends New York to 2-0 Series Lead Over Philly
The New York Knicks survived a wild night at the Garden on Monday night, stunning the Philadelphia 76ers in a last-second thriller 104-101 to take a commanding 2-0 series edge in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs.
Knicks Find Themselves Down
The wild events of Game 2 culminated in a heart-pounding 27 seconds of basketball as the Knicks found themselves down five, 101-96.
It all started when Jalen Brunson took an off-balanced shot from the corner and watched the ball bounce, rattle, and fall in for a three-pointer to cut the Sixers lead to two, 101-99. On the ensuing inbounds pass to Philly’s Tyrese Maxy, it appeared that Maxy was fouled by Josh Hart, who wrestled Maxy to the ground and jarred the ball loose. Oddly no whistle was blown.
The ball bounced around like a beach ball — first into the hands of Donte DiVincenzo who missed a three-pointer, then into the hands of Isaiah Hartenstein for the Knicks’ offensive rebound. Hartenstein then kicked it back out to DiVencenzio who drilled the deciding three-pointer with 13.1 seconds to go.
The sequence of events sent the Garden crowd into a tizzy. Just moments earlier it appaered that the Sixers were going to walk out of the Garden with a win, and a evened up series.
Joel Embiid played his heart out for Philly, limping around on one leg to dish out 34 points. Maxy was also great for Philly, scoring 35 points to lead the team.
Many were not happy that New York was not called for a foul on the inbounds pass following Brunson’s three.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse later claimed that he tried to call a time out, but was ignored by the referees.
As for the Knicks, they find a new hero every night. While DiVencenzio hit the game winner, a lot of credit goes to Hartenstein who had a huge block on one end of the floor late in the game, and later delivered the game deciding rebound to give the Knicks a shot. Hartenstein finished with 14 points and eight boards.
The Knicks and Sixers continue their series on Thursday at 7:30 down at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
