The Philadelphia 76ers stuck to their game plan and handed the Knicks one of their worst losses in the past six years.
Sunday’s 79-73 defeat at the hands of the Sixers marked the Knicks’ fewest points scored in a game since 2018. It was also fewer points than the Knicks allowed when they held the Orlando Magic to just 74 points on Friday — the fewest points scored by a Knick opponent since 2012.
The Knicks shot just 26-of-80 (32.5 percent) from the field and 9-of-40 (22.5 percent) from three-point range at home against the Sixers.
For Philadelphia, the defensive effort was rooted in nightmares of the Knicks’ last two visits to the Wells Fargo Center.
The Knicks entered Sunday’s matchup with a 2-0 series lead over the 76ers thanks to two impressive road victories over a quality Eastern Conference opponent.
The Knicks had beaten the Sixers, 128-92 and 110-96, in their first two meetings of the season.
Philadelphia’s head coach Nick Nurse reminded his roster of how lopsided those games were the morning ahead of tipoff on Sunday.
It was an impressive win for a Sixers team without MVP center Joel Embiid (meniscus), All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (concussion protocol) and rotation players Robert Covington and De’Anthony Melton.
“The last two games they came over to Philly, they were very, very physical on us,” said Sixers veteran forward Nic Batum. “They kicked our ass twice. And they were very, very physical. They went at us. They really went at us. We never responded.
“That was coach’s message this morning. ‘What are you gonna do about it though? They came to our house and punked us, twice.’ We had to respond at least. We’re missing Tyrese, missing Joel, RoCo and Melt. We’re missing a lot of key guys.
“We had to get a good response tonight against a very good team in a tough place to play. Tuesday’s gonna be another fight. After what happened in the previous two games and then this one? Tuesday’s gonna be a fight for sure.”
The Sixers held Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson to just 19 points on 6-of-22 shooting from the field and one-of-nine shooting from downtown.
Former All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry said a healthy amount of respect for Brunson’s scoring ability kept the Sixers on their toes.
“Send bodies to him. Make him see bodies. He still got some and-ones. He still got some shots made, and he’s an All-NBA guy, an All-Star, a guy who’s gonna be a dominating presence in this league for a long time,” Lowry said after the game. “That’s a tough team over there. They’ve got an All-NBA superstar who pretty much is gonna try to win the game and can win any game for them. And we just tried to limit him as much as possible, which is tough to do. We stuck to the game plan and stayed in our zone, and big shots down the stretch. And Kelly Oubre Jr. has been playing his butt off.”
The Sixers also utilized a number of lanky forwards as primary assignments on Brunson.
Batum has drawn this kind of assignment often throughout his career as a versatile defender, and Oubre shouldered the lion’s share of the Brunson task on Sunday.
“JB’s a tough guard. It’s hard to guard him, but at the end of the day, I was glued on him all night,” Oubre said. “Guys, we were on a string on defense. Boxes and elbows. We followed through with the game plan very nicely and it showed.”
Brunson had 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the third quarter but only made one field goal in the fourth.
“We didn’t take our foot off the pedal. We just kept on going at him and made him make tough plays,” said Sixers guard Buddy Hield. “Keeping our hands back without fouling and be smart. He’s a great player, crafty, but we came in and played our game and got a W.”
The Sixers are expecting the Knicks to come out firing on Tuesday. If Philadelphia wins, they will tie the season series at two games apiece, meaning a playoff tiebreaker would be decided by record against divisional opponents.
Oubre suggested All-Star guard Maxey, who has been in the concussion protocol, could be cleared to play on Tuesday.
“That felt like a ’90s game. Old school, straight East Coast basketball. Very defensive game. They played good defense as well, but we played a little bit better defense tonight,” said Oubre. “[Tuesday night will] be more physical. Faster pace, obviously higher scoring. We’ve just got to do what we did tonight, but better.
“We’ve just gotta do what we’ve gotta do to catch their counter-attacks, cause I’m sure Thibs [Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau] is gonna yell at them for two-to-three days to get them fired up, but we’re fired up, too. I don’t even think we performed at our best tonight. I didn’t in the 2nd half, but at the end of the day, guys stepped up, so we’re gonna do the same, but with Tyrese back.”
