Knicks prove they can win a slugfest to take 2-0 series lead over 76ers

NEW YORK — Maybe you thought Joel Embiid missing Wednesday’s Game 2 of the 2026 Eastern Conference semifinals series between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers threatened to sap all the drama out of the Sixers’ attempt to get right and get level after their Game 1 destruction.

Well, Mike Brown didn’t.

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“They’re still a good team, you know?” the Knicks head coach said before Game 2. “They’ve got a lot of guys that can put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. They can shoot 3s. They still like to get out in transition. They’re a good team with [Embiid] — obviously, they’re a really good team, because he’s a Hall of Famer, All-NBA selection — but without him, they have some guys that are capable of stepping up.”

Some of those guys did step up Wednesday. Tyrese Maxey attacked off the bounce, scoring 15 of his 26 points in the second quarter, resting for just 72 seconds in the first half and playing the entire second half — a 46-minute, 48-second performance for the All-Star point guard. Paul George came out scorching hot, drilling his first four shots on his way to a five-3-pointer evening, while also sliding across defensive matchups like the two-way star he’s long been.

VJ Edgecombe and Kelly Oubre Jr. each hit three 3-pointers and grabbed a handful of rebounds. Reserve center Adem Bona pounded the offensive glass and protected the rim in the first half. Backup big man Dominick Barlow had two dunks, a layup, two blocks, a steal and several stops against Jalen Brunson on switches in the second half.

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Two nights after getting absolutely shellacked, the shorthanded and overmatched Sixers were putting together a performance that dragged a Knicks team that had only played blowouts over the past couple of weeks down into the mud — a physical, foul-filled, aggressive slugfest; a fistfight in a phone booth in which neither team could gain more than three possessions of separation.

“It was a playoff basketball game, you know,” Brown said. “The game was ugly offensively throughout most of the game. You give the Sixers a lot of credit — we knew…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/knicks-prove-they-can-win-a-slugfest-to-take-2-0-series-lead-over-76ers-053230868.html

Author : Dan Devine

Publish date : 2026-05-07 05:32:00

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