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[NBA.com] – Mon, 22 Apr 2024 22:46:28 GMT
Philadelphia 76ers vs New York Knicks Apr 22, 2024 Game – Scores, Stats & Highlights
[ESPN] – Mon, 22 Apr 2024 12:30:00 GMT
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[New York Post] – Tue, 23 Apr 2024 03:53:00 GMT
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267 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2024.04.23)”
When we were down 4 and Lowry was headed to the free throw line, I got so frustrated that I decided to help my wife belatedly clean up the Passover seder stuff. Then my phone started blowing up with texts, and I ran back to the room in time to see the immediate aftermath of the DDV three, including replays and the closing of the game.
I still can’t believe that happened. And if things are going badly at any point in Game 3, I will take a break to load the dishwasher. Promise.
And in case you missed it last night, here’s the MSG call of the sequence of both 3s, including an incredible Breen double-bang. Honestly, the DDV shot under those circumstances may have called for his first ever triple-bang.
Bang-bang! What a great game. I’m watching it on repeat at my house so the kids learn this new form of Knicksy.
No fighting, gents. Enough joy to share around.
LeBron chimed on. Thinks the Sixers got robbed:
I assume he wasn’t talking about the offensive foul Maxey committed when he shoved Josh Hart to get open to receive the pass.
The league better fine the everliving shit out of Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid. They’re embarrassing the game and themselves.
It’s funny that everyone is saying Maxey got fouled but literally no one is pointing to anything specific.
Brunson seems to foul him before the ball is inbounded when he puts two hands on Maxey’s waist. That could have been called. But it happens immediately after Maxey pushes Hart away to get open, which also could have been called. Seems like fair play, two non calls in both directions.
I don’t actually see a foul on Maxey knocking him to the ground. The ball got knocked loose, it was a jump ball at that point and everyone has a right to go for it. And also…
WHAT THE FUCK WAS MAXEY THINKING TRYING TO PASS THE BALL ON THE GROUND!?!?! Just hold onto it and call time out.
And why didn’t Nick Nurse immediately call time out and advance the ball to midcourt?
So much Sixer stupidity on that play being overlooked here. Not to mention Joel Embiid just totally checking out of it like Patrick Ewing watching Charles Smith.
Tyrese Maxey conducted himself well in the press conference. Nurse and Embiid were pathetic and embarrassing.
Let these guys spend two days thinking they got robbed. Thibs will spend it working with Jalen Brunson to break down what the Sixers are doing to him. They’ll come out overconfident, and Brunson will hit ’em with the haymaker in game 3. Series over.
winning two games with randle out and jalen shooting 16-55 is crazy.
Nurse is arguing he did call timeout. I don’t think Maxey had clear possession when he did, but I’m a Knicks fan.
There’s clear video of Nurse hesitating and not clearly calling a timeout until Hart grabbed the ball. After Brunson made the 3 he could’ve called timeout but you see Nurse clearly yelling at his team to inbound the ball and not coming close to anything signifying a timeout at that point.
Yup, what BBA said.
And we must assume Philly-BBA has pronounced last night as the worst loss of the …. 😉
Cyber was out, too. Crazy.
I mean why didn’t Nurse call time out when Brunson’s shot dropped through the net. Advance the ball to midcourt, draw up an inbounds play, and the game is over.
He choked. And he’s blaming it on the refs. He should get the biggest fine any coach has ever gotten for criticizing the refs.
Our guys earned a win. They choked. And now the whole world is talking about them getting robbed (because it’s a copycat media who never does their homework).
Whatever. Be overconfident. Don’t do the work.
Whoops: here’s the breen link
https://x.com/thestrickland/status/1782596324975603848?s=46&t=mhUnoqe17aQ9qM7P-jrKqA
I put the game down as Lowry was going to the line too. I was disgusted. Then my phone… I’m actually a little depressed I missed it but glad I took the hit for the team and helped the comeback by not watching. 😉
Kaminari, that was a pretty great post to pull out of your hat on the game thread as Geo pointed out.
«celebrating this is delusional” is one of the all time great takes. Truly, I am in awe.
The Sixers got an incredible whistle all game long and the fact they are complaining is very weak sauce.
Also, Breen is a civic treasure. Has to be the best to ever do it and I am so happy he had this moment.
This f’ing team is going to cost me so much sleep.
Quick thoughts on last night’s ridiculous ending-
– many here might be too young to really remember the Pistons team that beat Kobe/Shaq in 2004 but I am getting serious Pistons vibes with this team. 5 players in double figures for us (all 5 players in the starting lineup), huge contributions from Deuce/Bojan/Mitch off the bench. Every player that got minutes last night had his moment.
– Tyrese Maxey is unreal. There is an alternate universe in which Maxey fell a couple more picks in that draft and we get him instead of the convoluted trades which ultimately netted us Quickley (post-draft buzz was that the Knicks were targeting Maxey). Most likely – that leads to a team that doesn’t have Jalen Brunson — and we would have been just fine. He has been electric all series, has held up very well on D — and most importantly — is NOT a foul grifter like Embiid and did zero whining last night post-game:
“Just gotta rebound,” Maxey said afterward. “Can’t turn the ball over. I can’t turn the ball over. And we’ve got to get the rebound.”
As compared with Embiid who apparently was pulling his phone out showing screenshots of perceived bad calls. *eyeroll*
– Speaking of Embiid – his touch on jumpers at his size is literally insane. But he is just searching for fouls on Every. Single. Possession. It really is below a player of his stature and ability. If a Knick is within arms length of him when he shoots his jumper, he immediately flails his arms and legs like he was hit, even if there’s no contact. (remember when Brunson was called for a tech or offensive foul early this season when he fell down after making a 3 even though Tatum actually was in his landing zone — whatever happened to the emphasis on that?) Embiid FT/FGA is 47% this series despite him taking relatively few FGA in the restricted area and in the paint (~39% of his total FGA).
– and in general — anyone who has played pickup basketball knows that there are dudes that just actively grab every ball and other dudes that are sort of watchers. Donte/Hart/Hartenstein are always moving and always the ones with their nose in the middle of it. It is awesome to watch.
What a freaking game. I still can’t believe that happened.
Yes. Nurse should admit this failure.
“We wuz robbed” has replaced “Tip our cap to the other team. Gotta play all 48 minutes” and blah blah blah.
This is your daily reminder that Game 3 tickets are available from $131 plus you can get 5% off with a promo code. If anyone else is going I’ll buy you a beer there 👍🏾.
And I agree completely on the Nurse thing — Derek Bodner (76ers guy) posted videos on Twitter basically saying that Nurse probably did not deserve the timeouts – that he pump-faked a timeout call on the inbounds and was too late on calling a timeout when Maxey was on the floor. And then to whine about it post-game when the video evidence is RIGHT THERE — also very unbecoming. I mean, can you imagine Thibs whining like that?
https://twitter.com/DerekBodnerNBA/status/1782629641255067766
and the slo-mo video:
https://twitter.com/KnicksMuse/status/1782605663627087920
Sure maybe he called timeout in time when Maxey was on the ground but it really is bang-bang and his time-out motion was sort of half-hearted. And you can yell timeout all you want but it is freaking loud and he needed to be right in front of the official. FOH.
Thanks, Alan. Breen’s happiness as he calls the double bang is priceless. I wish someone had the clip starting a couple of moments earlier and going until the end of the game.
I find the Philly complains so rich. Nurse is known for pushing the bounds of physicality knowing that the refs can’t call everything. His entire defensive approach for this game is to get the Sixers wings harass Brunson and punish him physically all through the court. The refs don’t call anything – except for the typical Embiid stuff – and they choose to reverse Divo’s offensive rebound call in an unbelievable fashion, and then he goes and cries to the media because all of a sudden the tables turned on Maxey that last possession? Give me a break.
I hate high level players that cannot acknowledge that other teams are also, you know, good. Childish stuff.
Yeah what was the comment last night. Hart wins all the 30/70 balls, not to mention the 50/50 ones. Hahaha. Love it.
Enjoy the Philly broadcast version:
https://x.com/djacenba/status/1782740744488296536?s=46&t=4zH_tT7IhY4rnjeSDHverg
It starts with them saying “got the job done” and gained home court advantage during Lowry’s free throws.
One thing about crying to the refs: Randle does this ALL the time, and I hate it.
I wish Julius could play, but, with him off the floor, the Knicks have a better temperament in that respect.
In fairness to Randle I think Brunson might complain to the refs even more than he does.
There was a sequence in which Embiid was pushing off I-Hart with his head to try to get a foul call. It’s ridiculous.
Lotta sour grapes from Embiid and Nurse. But if I were a Philly fan, I’d probably complain about the refs too. There’s a video circulating that shows Brunson tugging Maxey’s jersey. Nothing egregious but sort of an automatic foul. Nurse did signal for the TO, even if half-heartedly.
But otoh if the Sixers won on a wild sequence like that, their fans wouldn’t give a shit about our whining. And our coach and best player wouldn’t have been as unseemly. So whatever, breaks of the game.
And what a crowd!
Maybe. By my (flawed) eye test, Brunson seems to be calmly litigating his case. Randle always gestures wildly and seems to be showing up the refs, not to mention that he is often distracted away from the continuing play. Neither is great but ….
Marechal posted it last night. I watched it 1,000 times:
https://x.com/KnicksMuse/status/1782595891343351975
EDIT: my bad, that just goes to the bang, not the end of game.
I totally get Philly doing the we was robbed song and dance. Better pump your ego by being robbed by the officials as opposed to the existential crisis of blowing two very winnable games because your non-star players totally let you down. A few buckets here and there by “Tobias Harris over me?” or the Bahamian Bomber and maybe they’re up 2-0.
I can understand Embiid’s deal – he looks like he’s just desperate to win. The dude does have has so much freaking talent and now that it all finally came together it has to be killing him to not be able to just dominate the way he knows he could. But that knee man… As a fellow torn meniscus sufferer I am just in awe at times at how much he goes for it early on knowing that he’ll pay for that later.
The schadenfreude I got watching this was incredible. The Sixers announcers are understandably convinced that the game is over, one of them literally says that the postgame show should be a lot of fun, and then their tone becomes incredibly neutral and muted as the Knicks take the lead on two crazy sequences. Like, they just don’t know what to say, because how could you?
The final sequences were such an encapsulation of this team: DDV getting to a loose ball he had no right of getting; a Brunson 3 after missing everything in the game; a Hart steal; an I-Hart offensive rebound; a Divo back breaking three after missing the previous one; an I-Hart series altering block; OG being cool enough to hit his clutch FTs; a bone headed play not to foul in the last possession.
If that’s not the 2023-24 Knicks, I don’t know what is.
But Maxey pushed off Hart just before. I agree that shirt grabbing is generally called, but the refs swallowed the whistle with everyone but Embiid.
Wow that Philly version is amazing! They’re so calm. It’s like they have no idea what’s happening.
Their “job done” is like W standing in front of “mission accomplished.”
“The schadenfreude I got watching this was incredible. The Sixers announcers are understandably convinced that the game is over, one of them literally says that the postgame show should be a lot of fun, and then their tone becomes incredibly neutral and muted as the Knicks take the lead on two crazy sequences. Like, they just don’t know what to say, because how could you?”
But they pointed out in real time that Nurse was signaling for the TO and being ignored by refs.
It might be that the deafening MSG crowd had something to do with that. The refs might have been transfixed by the sheer volume and the craziness of the play.
Sorry for the multiple posts, but I wanted to shout out to something before it gets lost: Deuce grabbing that rebound from Maxey’s hand with sheer force and scoring a basket was cool as hell.
The most underrated part of the entire deal is the cockroach pass Hartenstein makes laying flat on his back and somehow finds DDV and hit him in the hands. Jokic would have been proud of that pass.
Matched by our game thread. “Brunson is the worst; we suck!; wait, what?”
If that isn’t 2023-24 Knickerblogger 😉
Yal!
I’m exhausted!
Our guys can’t keep giving us heart attacks like this.
SHEW!
I tried to go to the bathroom when we put Lowry on the line with 57 seconds to go…and came back to a HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK YESSSSSS! This was definitely a game for the ages because we absorbed Philly’s best shot and still won with our best player still out of rhythm. Back to back 48 minute games for Hart…Thibs better sit him down in practice lol. Last night was stressful, yet incredible. I swear this squad feels alot like the 94 team. Listen- the East should be counting their lucky stars that Randle isn’t healthy. His presence would have freed up space for Brunson. But still- this team is figuring it out on offense despite Nurse’s masterclass in defense this series. This might have been our year if not for the Randle and Anunoby injuries. I would even go as far as to say that the only team in the playoffs we can’t beat in a series is Denver. We have a great chance against everyone else with the way the team is playing as long as Thibs & co clean a couple of things up.
But please…no more heart attacks lol
We shut up when the game is over, though.
YES
Kyle Lowry did his job on Brunson and then Maxey and Batum kind of stood there and watched DDV and Hart grab the ball that was totally up for the taking.
Looking forward, I think the Knicks figured something out offensively in the third quarter with the starters (and inexplicably went away from it in the fourth), which I hope will help get them going in Philly. Brunson was much more pass oriented, and got most of his assists that quarter.
Not always. Don’t forget the classic Thibs “He’s getting fouled” rant.
I don’t care if Embiid gets two bionic knees, I want no part of that guy on the Knicks. His talent is immense, but his heart and doggedness not so much. That I-Hart rebound kind of says it all, wtf was he doing just standing there? And the endless foul hunting, whining and mugging, yuck…
Every year my Celtics fan friend prays that they get Philly in the playoffs, because he knows they have Embiid’s number and he’ll wilt in the spotlight.
Frank’s links above suggest it was a bit of “The Nurse Who Cried Wolf.”
A couple of almost-timeout gestures before the inbound and more of the same with the ball on the floor until no clear possession.
But I’m biased.
I’ll just repeat what I said above, and now I have to finally focus on something other than last night:
Let these guys spend two days thinking they got robbed. Thibs will spend it working with Jalen Brunson to break down what the Sixers are doing to him. They’ll come out overconfident, and Brunson will hit ’em with the haymaker in game 3. Series over.
Even one of the Philly writers tweeted saying Nurse shouldn’t have been granted a timeout.
What Nurse SHOULD do going forward is say, “I made a mistake and cost my team the game by not calling timeout after the basket.” Then, going forward, his team will want to re-group, play their asses off, and pick up their coach. But don’t tell Nick this.
And now I’ll do my little victory lap because this is exactly what I told y’all last summer and took a ton of grief for it.
These comments aged well:
https://knickerblogger.net/2023/07/24/knicks-morning-news-2023-07-24/#comment-860951
https://knickerblogger.net/2023/07/24/knicks-morning-news-2023-07-24/#comment-860954
Nick “I want my wet” Nurse is obviously just really embarrassed he blew that game. He’s not usually a coach who loses you games, though (look at Hubert’s reasons). Pretty shocking.
Also, don’t forget that Nurse wasted a challenge early in the 4th quarter on something obvious (not sure but I think it was an Embiid play) which he lost. Would’ve come in handy at the end there!
So this is how Lowry got hurt on that rebound:
https://x.com/KnicksMemes/status/1782624627300417963
Jesus, Embiid just shoved his own guy to the floor.
Besides possibly subluxating you shoulder, for the love of God… no ‘victory laps’ til the 4th win is booked, please! The BB God’s were pretty good to us last night on that Brunson 3… don’t irritate them.
I think Lowry hurt his knee before the shove, but it’s really funny how Embiid just pushes him rather than trying to fight I-Hart for the ball.
Let’s put the stupid timeout/Maxey was fouled BS to rest.
100%
Paul W — yes!
I forgot to mention…
That double BANG by Breen was EPIIIIIIC
We’re supposed to win at home. We need to break them in Philly before we start celebrating.
Honestly, Shaq, OF ALL PEOPLE, made the most precise comment about this play yesterday on TNT. This is playoff basketball, you can’t just flail your arms and wait to get bailed by a ref call. This is what Philly did and why they’re whining so much.
The whining is just making me love this win even more lol, this specific team, with this coach, crying so much about refereeing is just some delicious irony. I hope we win game 3 with an even more controversial call just to see them all melt down in rage.
Please, EB. Just ten more minutes. Haha.
And I think Shaq picked us over Philly.
Honestly, if he had made this his first triple bang, it wouldn’t have felt over the top.
At best, Nurse’s TO signal was half-hearted, as if he was in-between calling and not calling for one. And it could be argued that Maxey never really had possession on the scramble so not awarding the TO there was justified. I think the last 2 minute report will be interesting.
Maxey and Embiid have played better than I expected and Brunson has played worse than any of us could’ve possibly imagined yet the Knicks are still up 2-0.
As the incomparable and indomitable Clyde frequently reminds:
“Boxing out is a lost art, folks.”
Great picture here of 4 Sixers watching DDV’s first 3PA and yet iHart gets the rebound:
https://twitter.com/KnickedupFan/status/1782711829552079281/photo/1
And that iHart block on Maxey – holy %&$^&%^@ to be able to challenge/tip that without fouling. Unreal effort.
Honesty we can give Embiid shit for lots of things, but he played 39 minutes on a bum knee, had 34-10-6, and he and Maxey had his team in position to win.
The fact that other than Maxey his supporting cast was hot garbage is not his fault.
Harris: 10 pts on 11 shots
Lowry: 8 pts on 6 shots
Oubre: 4 pts on 7 shots
Batum: 6 pts on 5 shots
Hield: 2 pts on 3 shots
Reed: 2 pts on 1 shot
In that sense, the Sixers did not really deserve to win. Still, we are very fortunate that Brunson’s 8-29 did not cost us that game.
It gets lost in the excitement, but in the 2nd half JB started finding Hartenstein for easy buckets and I think that’s going to be big going into game 3.
iHart should take at least 10 of those floaters per game. He was money on them last night.
Alas, I fear he’s pushing his worth into 20-plus mil per year territory…
Also Embiid literally can’t close his left eye. It’s incredible what he’s doing when he’s so beat up.
Any news on Mitch? Couple posters marked him limping last night, and then he did not return (I think). He had a sensational game IMO. I hope he is well.
This is why it is so important for the Knicks to get as far as they can get this season, as Embiid and Maxey will likely have a much better supporting cast next season (of course, Embiid will then get hurt again, but still).
This is the NBA, be opportunistic, strike when the iron is hot, and go as far as humanly possible!
I don’t know what happened during the first 47 minutes. I turned it on with 1 minute to go. My son and I were aghast that there was no foul called at all during that crazy sequence. But then on the replay, seeing past all the bodies flying, it appeared far less obvious that there was any significant contact.
Why didn’t Lowry call timeout when he couldn’t inbound the ball safely? It seemed that they didn’t have any, but if they did, that’s a terrible time to forget, wow.
Also, Maxey going for the layup and getting blocked seemed like a bad decision. You need a basket, give it to the guy who is guaranteed to at least draw the foul on that play, right?
Knick fans should definitely be celebrating. (But I love that some here still aren’t:)
Amazing fact via DJ Zullo from KFS –> Joel Embiid with ZERO rebounds in the second half.
Expanding on that – Embiid in the 2nd half:
20 min
6/15 from the field
0/5 from 3
ZERO rebounds
ZERO steals/blocks
3 assists
Hartenstein in the second half:
17.5 min
7/7 from the field
7 rebounds (3 offensive, 4 defensive)
2 assists
2 blocks
And of course in there are the game-saving offensive rebound and game-saving block.
Utter domination by iHart in the second half.
No doubt that between Mitch and Hartenstein, we are wearing Embiid out. The knee for sure is problematic but Mitch/Hartenstein are playing great.
“This is why it is so important for the Knicks to get as far as they can get this season, as Embiid and Maxey will likely have a much better supporting cast next season (of course, Embiid will then get hurt again, but still).”
Yeah, I recall discussions early on about the perils of Morey thinking of this year as some sort of gap year in the teambuilding process and risking that Embiid would demand a trade. He did a pretty masterful job of ensuring that Embiid feels that the best is yet to come.
They looked awful the entire game. Both teams. This is the playoffs not CYO. Everyone’s going wild after a very lucky game 2 win. Brooms come out I’ll shut my yap, but until then stop acting like this got us to the finals.
This clip of Jalen grabbing Maxey’s jersey is the worst I’ve seen against us. But some here posted that Maxey pushed off beforehand, so ….
https://x.com/PresidentEmbiid/status/1782609664959484253
Some trolls are definitely funnier than others.
I’m not trolling. Just realistic. They have to play better
Yesterday some folks scoffed at the thought that Maxey is better than Brunson. Yet Maxey has been sensational in this series while Brunson, not so much. I’d still rather have Brunson in the short run, but Maxey has become a force, and he’s only 23. He already might be the hardest player in the NBA to keep in front of you. And he says all the right things. If that shot continues to come around, he’s on an all-MBA track.
Our “mvp” is non existent. It’s horrific.
I don’t think there’s any chance we have that comeback yesterday if Thibs isn’t the coach. All of those things happening can be attributed to not being out worked by the other team. That was “Knicks Culture” that secured that victory.
I want them to go on the road and play like they deserve to win this series. Then my clouds will part a little. Keep watching the clip of the bounce and everyone sloppily rolling around on the floor.
Yeah, I truly don’t mind him going for the layup there, but you have to be sure you have your man beat there. If you’re not sure, you don’t go for a layup there. And he obviously couldn’t have been sure, since iHart was all over him from the start.
The Sixers were the better team for much of the first two games and got two losses to show for it. That’s huge for the Knicks. I agree that the Knicks overall haven’t played great, but that’s the thing, if you don’t play great, and still end up with two wins in the playoffs against another good team? That’s huge. Because the odds are that you will eventually have a really good game at some point in the playoffs.
Then you get to the next round, and neither the Bucks nor the Pacers are as good as the Sixers, or rather, they can’t cause the same problems for Brunson that the Sixers can, and the matchup is much better. Then you get to the Conference Finals, and all you need is a little luck, and suddenly you’re in the Finals, and hell, who knows what will happen there?
So I think it is fair to criticize their play in Games 1 and 2, but at the same time, you have to be ecstatic about the Knicks overall based on them winning both games while not playing that great. This isn’t like barely eking out wins against, like the Wizards or some shit, the Sixers are obviously a good team.
There are so many calls/non-calls in every NBA game that inevitably some number will be incorrect and cut against your team, so any team that suffers a close loss can play the “we wuz robbed” cope game if they’re so inclined.
To me, there was one call that was absolutely egregious and it was this foul on Lowry being overturned upon review. This was an absolutely enormous call given the score and game time and there is straight up no excuse for it–there was a foul, and even if you want to argue there wasn’t it is insane to say that’s so obvious as to meet the standard for an overturn.
So whine away, Philly guys. I have no problem with you thinking this was a pure robbery and you have nothing to you need to address.
I mean the Knicks had a 12 pt halftime lead in Game 1 and while they blew the lead in the 3rd quarter they dominated the 4th quarter. Knicks last night had an 8 pt lead with under 8 mins left in the game. Knicks haven’t exactly been dominated and just pulled out a couple of flukey comeback wins.
This is exactly the thing. The only aspect of our plan going wrong is that Jalen is not putting up 30-40 points. Last night worked on so many levels, per plan.
Tick them off — Hart, Divo, iHart, Deuce, Mitch, even Bobo held the ball for all of three seconds and pumped in two clutch threes — all per plan.
The really crazy thing is that the proverbial lucky bounce ALSO went our way at the end.
I mean … I’d love to blow out Philly by 20 every night, too, but … come on.
Yeah these have both been close games and we definitely got a little lucky last night but it’s not like Philly has been leading the whole game and we pulled it out of our asses at the last minute both times.
Both games Philly did well in the first quarter and then in the 2nd and 3rd we closed the gap and took the lead only for them to fight back in the 4th before we closed the deal.
I also don’t want to hear this Embiid is hurt crap. He’s ALWAYS hurt and he’s been healthy enough to have good, all-star level games both games against us. Is it our fault that we work our asses off and wear him out by the 4th?
They have no one really outside of Embiid and Maxey. Lowry is crafty AF but other than him, that’s about it. We’re a fucking team. And if Brunson breaks loose we’ll put these fuckers to bed quick.
I don’t even think they were the better team, though. Why? Because they led after the 1st quarter both games?
They come out strong and fade as the game goes on. We get stronger as the game goes on. That doesn’t make them better.
He isn’t horrific. He’s facing a team that is a match up nightmare for him.
This is what I kind of hate about analysis. Philly is just a tough match up for Brunson. That literally happens to every player in the league, even the best ones. It doesn’t mean Brunson is sucking. He’s doing what he can against a team that can defend him very well.
I couldn’t watch because i had a meeting with… 😴💤💤💤
Looks like i missed a great and thrilling game! 2-0, hell yeah! 🧡💙
@cs: Welcome and greetings to down under! 😉
@Max: Congrats on the scudetto! 🏆 Sadly we won’t meet in next season’s Champions League! 🙁
@Cyber — NOW it’s a thread 😉
PS — re the eye test — sure, Philly’s pair of Aces *looks* cool, but a six high straight still wins 😉
7.1 seconds left, Knicks 102 Sixers 101 —> Tyrese Maxey misses two point shot
Pags was right! Maxey would be the key and the win would be on his shoulders. He just was flat out wrong about what Maxey would do and what team would get the win, OTHER THAN THAT he was 100% right!! LOLOL
Exactly. We can’t have a bad day because we have have so many good players, even if some are “just” role players, that we always have at least some of them playing great. I love this team!
I think it’s fair to give kudos to Embiid for scoring 34 while looking and moving like he just crawled out of a high-speed train wreck.
I also think it’s fair to ask whether Oubre and Harris are actual basketball players. Kelly played decent defense, but holy hell are they otherwise back-of-the-bench burnouts.
I didn’t have a heart attack last night because I was in the process of resigning myself to the loss and then just watched the last 30 seconds with my jaw agape.
Philly is at relatively full health and we aren’t, and they had chances to put us away in both games and couldn’t. When the game was on the line the Knicks got crucial plays from all five starters:
Brunson – Makes 3pt FG
DDV – Wins 50/50 ball, makes crucial go-ahead 3pt FG
OG – Secures key rebound, sinks two clutch FTs
Hart – Steals ball from Maxey
Hartenstein – Gets massive offensive rebound over four 76ers, blocks Maxey’s attempt
Must suck to get beat by a bunch of hustlebunnies, but that’s basketball, Suzyn.
I am not sure Philly’s future is as bright as it seems. The FA market this offseason kind of sucks, especially for close to max contracts, unless Paul George, Siakam or OG decide not to stay with their current teams. They might get a Malik Monk type, but is that a difference maker? They are also losing all of the depth in the offseason.
And then there’s Embiid. How many more years of this production can one expect with his physical issues? He’s 30. The decline is coming probably sooner rather than later.
Maxey is great and all, but he is not a transcendental shooter, and I think once Embiid’s screens are not there, it will be easier to stop his dribble penetration.
I don’t doubt Morey, but I don’t think their future is guaranteed in any way.
Philly is doing a good job making life tough for Brunson, but I don’t think he’s 2-12 from three point land in two games because of their outstanding defense.
I honestly don’t have an explanation, and the weirdest thing is some of those 3 point attempts were UFO’s. You can’t say the playoff pressure is getting to him, because last year he was fine in both rounds.
I have a feeling he’ll bounce back in Philly, but I also thought he’d bounce back last night and well, not quite.
Look, please I’m not trying to troll. And this is all coming from a place of respect. But this is an unprecedented level of cope for this page. Two wins at home, two you’re supposed to secure. They’ve done it, but barely. Brunson is a nightmare right now. If Julius had these games you’d be firing up the train ready to run him out here on a rail. But somehow our beloved heaver gets a pass. Get real. There’s a lot of work to do and improvement to be made. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Re: the Jalen jersey pull – this is what twitter is bad for. If you screenshot a millisecond in time, it’ll look like it went on forever. But if you play that clip in real time, it’s almost imperceptible. Watch the Breen double-bang video again without pausing or slo-mo –> you can’t even really see the jersey tug.
Baseline view – basically what the ref saw: https://twitter.com/KnicksMemes/status/1782624374412956102
TV view: https://x.com/IQfor3/status/1782595134103675013
the jersey tug is literally like a millisecond, and probably had no effect on Maxey.
Just like Nurse calling the timeout while Maxey is on the ground. If you slow it down to 0.05x or screenshot it then sure it looks like Nurse called it in plenty of time, but at full speed it’s literally bang-bang.
Oh, and thanks for the thread, guys. It made me go through the emotions of the game, it was a great read. And at the end, i too felt we were losing the game, to then feel a lot of joy when we made that last minute comeback to win it.
https://twitter.com/KnicksMSGN/status/1782597246447415782
Wow! The Garden was on fire! 🏀🔥🔥🔥
We’re up 2-0 so take your “cope” and shove it up your ass.
This is an awesome view of that sequence. It’s even more chaotic than the TV view. Amazing stuff.
But it’s all going to plan!
I wonder this too. Embiid is not going to stay at this level for that much longer with all of the injuries he’s had.
This is fantastic from Monica McNutt:
https://x.com/knicksmemes/status/1782774999268352386?s=42&t=mhUnoqe17aQ9qM7P-jrKqA
Likewise, I have respect for your posts and am not trying to troll or pick a fight (or flame? haha). But I just don’t agree. Nobody is giving Brunson a pass. Re-read that thread from last night. We were mercilessly bashing Brunson and calling for him to be benched.
BUT — It just so happens (for one night, YES, I get it) that Leon’s exact acquisitions and Thibs’s exact strategy achieved their desired result *exactly* as they drew it up. And one could even argue that all these players stepped up *in expectation* of Brunson’s shooting woes against a behemoth like Batum et al.
Maybe that’s coping, but I tip my cap and rejoice at this (admittedly small game sample). And I don’t even particularly like Thibs or Leon. Haha.
With all the years of misery for this team, we can’t get excited about two big playoff wins? Lol ok.
You out a team together to pull out wins. That’s exactly what they did. Different guys made different contributions. Again, this is why you build a team and not one player.
So spare me the we got lucky BS.
Thanks, I get fully and it’s a true positive from last night. We’re not 2-0 without the depth that has been sorely lacking in past seasons. I still stand by that the win was a fluke win and we need to temper expectations. Handle it deftly on the road (even one game) and then I’ll get excited.
This is the playoffs, it doesn’t matter how you win or even if it’s “sustainable” the point is to just find a way to win by any means necessary.
The real fucked up thing is I was there too
I mean aren’t games like last night why we become fans and root so passionately for our teams? Sports to me is by far the greatest form of entertainment and games like last night is the perfect example why.
One of my favorite things about this series is that the Knicks are beating them with depth. It was always clear that Knicks have 6-7 players who are better than the Sixers’ third best player, and it’s showing.
See that’s what I’m missing, putting last night up in the all time department. If it clinched the series, sure. But yeah, I’m not here posting to shit on everyone’s buzz.
@Frank, thanks re “the Jalen jersey pull.” Agree.
Weird behavior from oaktrees, who has a history as a good and normal poster. It would be incredibly bizarre if people weren’t celebrating going up 2-0 in a playoff series.
No one is saying we played perfectly or that the series is over–neither are true. But guess what, it literally doesn’t matter at all that Brunson has shot like shit! In a best-of-seven series there’s truly one stat that matters, and it’s wins. I couldn’t care less if we get to 4 by virtue of Brunson going supernova or by virtue of him being picked up by the rest of the guys and I can’t fathom being deeply invested in such a thing.
Survive, stay healthy, and advance.
As long as you let me put it in the Skip Work Department, we’re good 😉
Decided to look at the Philadelphia Enquirer takes on the game. Expected to see a raft of “we wuz robbed” articles. Au contraire. Spoiler alert: people think we are good.
survive and advance baby…you don’t like the asethetics…go watch synchronized swimming…
While I agree with your premise, I don’t think Brunson is “just having bad games.” Remember they stymied him at MSG in the regular season once, as well (arguably our worst performance of the season). The Sixers are doing something well and he hasn’t figured it out.
I am optimistic that with two days off Thibs will review it with him and make some adjustments. But if the same shit they’ve been doing works just as well in game 3 and we lose with Brunson being terrible again, I will probably quit expecting it to get better.
‘But it’s all going to plan!’
It is exactly that. It’s the playoffs. Your best player is struggling partly due to defensive scheming and partly due to the west winds blowing. The other team is punching you in the mouth relentlessly. That’s the playoffs. And coming away after two games with two wins is EXACTLY the plan. And we did it with depth and hustle, which is exactly the plan.
So yeah, you’re shitting on our buzz. As pointed out, we slammed Jalen all game long if you read yesterday’s posts. And we almost lost — you can even, pointlessly, argue that we SHOULD have lost. But we didn’t. And so now we’re 2-0.
#theplan
And you can’t take pleasure in this?
Mate.. I feel bad for you. This is what it’s all about!
Question: do you think Brunson went out partying last night, or that he slept easy feeling like he had done his best? Do you think the team thinks they are unstoppable and that they have no room to improve themselves? Do you think if they are down 15 on the road in Game 3 they will stop competing and save energy for Game 4?
You have to make plays when it counts to win games like this. The Knicks made every play in the last minute – yes, they got the benefit of some dodgy officiating, but every loose ball, big rebound, big free throw, defensive stop… the team we root for pulled it out.
Brunson gets a pass because he’s been great in previous playoffs (with and without the Knicks) and because he doesn’t mope like Randle – he kept fighting, is willing to take the big shot even when the game hasn’t been going his way, and he makes no excuses. Knowing his personality, he KNOWS he has to be a lot better, and I expect he will be.
But part of the joy here is that everyone else is picking up the slack. And to win in the playoffs, you can have the best players and still not win if the rest of the team can’t execute. We have a great TEAM and I believe it’s going to take us to the conference finals.
But whatever the outcome, this should be fun to watch. Well, “fun” may be a strong word…
With a few days off, I’m fascinated to see how both Thibs and Nurse try to alter their schemes to deal with what the other is doing. Thibs has to find a way to get Brunson freer than he’s been. It feels like it has to be more than just letting the other Nova guys bring the ball up the court, because they did that a bunch last night and Jalen was still being swallowed up by Oubre and Batum the second he got the ball in his hands.
As for Nurse, he’s pretty masterfully neutralized Brunson so far, but at a certain point will he feel like he can’t just leave Josh Hart alone? Hart reportedly brought in his shooting coach for the week between the Bulls game and the start of the playoffs and spent hours every day hoisting up 3s in the gym. So he clearly understood what was going to happen and what he needed to do to counter that. And if the role players can beat his guys even when Brunson is playing like garbage, will Nurse decide that he has to defend the role players differently? Or stick with this strategy and hope that the success of his two stars — neither of whom we’ve been able to stop for a full game the way they have with Brunson — will eventually carry the day?
And I am here for it LOL!
Honestly I haven’t been myself in about a week or so. I’ve said my peace and will let everyone enjoy a 2-0 series lead. Seriously, it’s great. I love this page and have nothing but respect for everyone here, we’ve been through a lot of Knicks dreck so being a fly in the ointment ant this moment in time isn’t cool.
In terms of playoff excitement and drama last night’s win was the best since Games 6 and 7 in 2000 vs Miami? Cavs series last year was fun but except Game 1 not really dramatic, same with the series win vs Boston in 2013 although Game 6 turned pretty dramatic but not in a good way.
This is great! If i’m feeling this great and we’re only 2-0 on the 1st round, i can’t imagine how i’m going to feel when we’ll pull the Championship on game 7 in June! 😀
@oaktrees — please believe — no intention to slam you as a person — at all.
Keep posting as you see fit. It keeps me/us sharp.
And (if you’re able) take a walk in some sun b/c your basketball team (YOURS!) is up 2-0 in the playoffs (for today at least) 😉
That’s not what happened. I also thought i was seeing iHart pass to DDV, but because Breen said “Hartenstein gets it out to Anunoby” i paid it a close look and yeah, iHart throws the ball to the ground to pass to OG and then he makes the pass to Divo.
Remarkable. So much with eyes. I don’t know how she figured out words to say after.
Our best player didn’t play well, but our second best player, Isaiah Hartenstein, played like the amazing player he was down the stretch of the season. He outplayed Embiid in the second half and that was the difference.
When Hartenstein is on, he is a real difference maker.
I feel like Nurse already changed course on Hart a bit in the second half yesterday. Hart had only 2 3PAs in the half – one of which was a crazy transition pull up that he missed – and I don’t recall any instance of him being open to shoot. It might be why the 3rd quarter offense was flowing better, though Brunson was also a more willing passer then (5 assists in the second half, including some great ones to I-Hart).
It’s kind of funny how Thibs’ response to Nurse daring Hart to shoot is to let Hart play 48 minutes.
You don’t gameplan Josh Hart, you do the cardio or you lose
Same with Deuce, Donte, Mitch, OG, and iHart
One of the more surprising things in yesterday’s ESPN piece on the three Nova guys is that Hart is a notoriously half-assed practice player. That seems so anti-Thibs. But he is apparently saving himself so that he can do crazy things like play all 48 minutes of a playoff game?
Another gem from Nurse:
The Knicks were 11-33 from 3 last night.
I’m not even going to comment on the details of the foul call whining coming from Embiid and Lebron “Charmin” James. When these softies and excuse makers tell me they could have beaten Jordan I just have to laugh at them. They have no idea. lol
Both games were physical all night and had plenty of missed foul calls. Both softies had a chance to put their respective games away but failed! It was the Knicks and Nuggets that did the exceptional things to get extra possessions and make shots to secure the win PERIOD.
The important thing is that we are up 2-0. I hope the Knicks don’t take their foot off the gas pedal. We have to go all out to try to steal game 3 and twist the knife already in their chest because if the 76ers win 2 in Philly, we are no lock to hold service in NY. These teams are too close for comfort.
OG has been a bit disappointing in this series so far, but I smell a breakout game coming in Philly.
Nah, they’re going to stick with it.
You can see here in what would have been the most critical possession of the game (up 97-96, 94 seconds left) they ignored Hart completely. To his credit, he shot with no hesitation. But unlike game 1 it was a great outcome for them.
Here’s the play:
https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=622&GameID=0042300112&Season=2023-24&flag=1&title=MISS%20Hart%2025%27%203PT%20Jump%20Shot
So, should we worry again that he’ll get 25M offers? Hahaha, just kiddin, not trying to kill the vibes! 😛
Almost no mentions today, but reading the game thread, the DOUBLE BOGEY was important to our win, right?
Another gem from Nurse:….
Nurse also mentioned he thought the key to the game was Bogey’s Q4 3s. Really flailing to downplay the who wanted it more angle. Important but not the key as we were toast after that.
EDIT: half replying to cyber.
Is he playing down the “I should have called a timeout with the ball out of bounds on change of possession so we could have advanced the inbound to mid-court with a play I drew up” angle? 😉
Yeah, I think that’s exactly correct.
I don’t disagree that Nurse has a masterful game plan for Brunson, but the important thing there, as well, is if the Knicks just win two more games, they don’t have to worry about said plan against either the Bucks or the Pacers in the next round. That’s why we should all be so, so, so very happy right now about the Knicks’ position.
After the Double Bogey, I texted a friend, “Bogey is too good a shooter to have been shooting so badly.” His percentages haven’t been great in either game, but it feels like each 3 he hits is massive.
Once again, I have to apologize to the great Bill Walton for mocking his old, “It’s not how many shots you take, Marv — it’s how many you make!” comment. Clearly, our guys’ willingness to keep firing away, even when they don’t hit, has been massive in disrupting Nurse’s gameplan.
I thought that was game at the time, boy was I wrong. They were still huge shots, but tiny in comparison to that last sequence.
Could part of Brunson’s slump just regression to the mean? He was one of the hottest players in the league, maybe he’s just do to cool off a bit. Hopefully, he can get it going again. Oubre and Batum are both tough defenders, but I think he’s been missing shots that were falling before.
Yeah, we’re pretty squarely into the “Just win, baby” phase of the season.
I am quite happy but I also am sympathetic to those feeling a foreboding sense of impending doom.
I think this either going to be a sweep or a loss.
If Brunson adjusts and plays well, we’ll win game 3.
If Brunson doesn’t adjust by game 3, then I think we’re in Randle 2021 territory, and I doubt we can continue to conjure up enough hero ball to overcome it.
Oaktrees – Not to parse your posts too closely, but I think I kind of get where you are coming from. It’s not really about style points per se. We simply haven’t played well enough to feel good about winning the series yet. But winning the first two games will absolutely make eventually losing the series way way more painful. Emotionally, catastrophist fans like us are in a tough spot right now.
Love Monica. Just watching her go through that moment was great in addition to what she said.
I also enjoyed Knicks legends reaction to the DDV three.
https://twitter.com/KnicksMemes/status/1782640652322279656
I think IHart’s block is getting a little shortchanged too.
Pretty amazing that before game 1, all of us would’ve easily signed up for breaking even on the non-Jalen minutes, and now we’re hoping to survive in spite of him. It is even more amazing that we have an ORtg of 120 despite our best player having a TS of 37.3 on 36.6 usage.
I think DJ Zullo on twitter/KFS is right – Jalen is a bit shook after getting blocked from behind a few times in game 1 and is rushing everything.
let’s hope a couple days off allows him to clear his head and get back to MVPing.
Brunson is facing a lot of defensive attention and is also kind of sucking a bit. I mean it is what it is. I think it is at least likely that even if he’s bad all series he won’t be this bad because he’s been shooting poorly on his attempts when he’s open
Friend of mine with good timing just sent me this tweet:
Even crediting the Sixers for good defense, they’re not playing defense that good
All good man. I’ve been going through a pretty rough period myself; hope you can take some pleasure from the Knicks moving forward.
This sounds like expecting to “manifest abundance”.
This isn’t some instance of “everything’s great, we just need the sample to get larger.” Something is not working and he has to figure it out.
And I think Thibs is going to do a great job helping him. He’s exactly the coach you want in this spot. He was probably up til 8am putting tape together for Brunson.
I am very optimistic Brunson will turn it around, I just don’t know how long I’ll remain that way if it continues.
I think they should get Brunson off the ball and make the guys chase him around all game. He’ll tire them out. Batum can’t run all around the court chasing Brunson for long. It just won’t work. Jalen has phenomenal stamina and we should just let him cut and run to spots instead of facilitating the whole offense.
We were taught (*) by Basketball on Paper that defensive rebounding should be seen as simply another part of defense. Which means that if you are getting creamed on your defensive boards, you really aren’t playing very good defense.
And the Sixers aren’t. They’ve gotten Moneyballed to death. Will they have an answer when they get back home? If they don’t, the series is over.
(*) Or confirmed in what we already knew.
If you asked people before the serious started, whether they would be OK with being up 2 to zero after two games, but with two very ugly wins and with Embiid playing nearly 40 minutes in both wins, I don’t think anyone would’ve batted an eye. The only kind of win that sucks is a win where a key player gets injured. Could have been better? Sure. But there’s a difference between saying we are not going to keep winning if we keep playing this way and these two wins are devalued because of the way we won them.
you sure it ain’t gonna take a bit more than a basketball game to get a little sunshine flowing out your soul…
last night I thought your comments were maybe alcohol induced…not so sure now oaktrees…
unless you are drinking breakfast…what is it called, oh yeah – tequila sunrise…
no worries though, I’m fitting to get baked myself…
Edit: just saw your words reference being a bit off base…I’ll reel myself in also…
I wish you well oaktrees…
bidiong, I like that idea, particularly whenever we get the Deuce/Jalen backcourt. He’s not a great initiator, but he’s still better at it than DDV or Hart. Can we trust Good Donte to play fake point guard for more than a handful of possessions a game?
(Having IQ here would be awfully handy, but at the expense of having OG here. And I would rather have OG.)
Egg-zactly. Against good teams, wins are wins are wins are wins (okay, with the exception that you note about wins where your star player gets badly hurt).
If this were another series, and not the Knicks, we would all be writing thee Sixers off right now.
someone mentioned it earlier E, philly hasn’t rebounded the ball well all year…
The longer turnaround until the next game comes at a good time, even if additional rest can help Embiid. It feels like Thibs needs to make some adjustments to the offense to get Brunson going. In the Katz podcast today, he pointed out how the Sixers are happy to give Brunson the Maxey switch so that he can try to attack him one-on-one rather than putting Embiid in a pick and roll. The Knicks have to make Embiid move his feet on defense, because he just can’t. I think they did a bit more of that in the third quarter, and need to go back to it.
The level of whininess contained in here is incredible, and hilarious: https://twitter.com/krispursiainen/status/1782807068849611108?s=46&t=s1TSe2LoOQ2m03yjPtut5g
I just hope no one teaches Philly to box out by Thursday.
“The Knicks have to make Embiid move his feet on defense, because he just can’t.”
It’s only eye test, but I do think Embiid labors more when Mitch is defending him, which makes Joel (more) tired by Q4.
I want Mitch to really body him as much as possible during the minutes they share on the court.
If you asked people before the serious started…
In a way it is the opposite. Other than Hart, no one is playing where regression to the mean is a risk. I much have it this way than JB went off for 40 per game and all the Phillly preparation for game 3 is single minded.
Mitch has been wonderful guarding him, I agree. But I thought I-Hart did a fantastic job yesterday. Embiid was clearly tired too – with 0 rebounds in the second half, and once again an inefficient shooting line.
I can’t find the clip, but the possession where Maxey gets blocked by I-Hart at the end is telling. Instead of crashing the offensive boards, Embiid was standing almost at half court.
If they get him moving on defense, good things will happen.
May we refer you to the NBA book Rule 5, section VI, letter d.
“A request for a timeout by a player in the game or the head coach shall be granted only when the ball is dead or in control of a player on the team making the request. A request at any other time shall be ignored.”
PS — EDIT — @ merchal — totally agree and not taking away anything from iHart’s performance, too. In a way I want Mitch to “use up” his fouls and his body, so iHart can do what you saw at the end.
Honest question, are you depressed?
He’s flying under the radar because all the attention has been on Brunson but OG Anunoby has been off, too. He’s sporting a 47.5% eFG with no trips to the line except for the 2 huge ones he hit last night after his key defensive rebound. And the guy he’s guarding has been the best player in the series.
I’ve read a lot of posters suggest we take him off Maxey and I think that would be wise. We need our OG back.
Love that Monica clip, really hope she takes over eventually when Clyde decides to retire. Very good analyst and a very enjoyable voice to listen to as a bonus.
The thing that bothered me with Brunson is that game 1, it was really about Philly’s defense just flat out stopping him. Game 2 obviously the defense played a part and was impressive once again, but he was able to get to his spots a lot more often I feel, he just missed the shots, shots he was making very often before the playoffs.
I feel like he’s trying too hard to shoot himself back into rhythm and forcing too much, specially when we have Hartenstein on the court guarded by Embiid who just doesn’t have any mobility to contest inside. I have hopes he’ll start hitting those shots now that the pressure should have eased a bit.
This times a hundred. Besides being down 0-2 Philly should be freaking out right now because they’ve lost both games while achieving their number one goal of containing Brunson. So now they have a very tough decision. Do they stick with that game plan or do they put more focus on Hart, DDV, etc…and open things up for Brunson.
That seems like a real Sophie’s Choice because if they stick with what they’ve been doing and Brunson is able to break through, they’re FUCKED. Or even if Brunson doesn’t break through but they lose game 3 in a similar fashion, they’re fucked.
Either way….Philly is very close to being FUCKED and Embiid forcing a trade out of town this off season LOOMS on the horizon if they lose in the first round especially if they get swept.
This is the Philly broadcast at the end of the game. My favorite line after the Lowry FTs – “job done, let’s hit the Turnpike” 😂
https://twitter.com/djacenba/status/1782740744488296536/mediaviewer
It’s probably terrible karma but I have to admit to enjoying watching this way too much…
https://x.com/KnicksMemes/status/1782832389602857270
In yet another reminder of how useless raw +/- is, Miles McBride almost single-handedly cost us the game* with a -8. Everyone else on the team was in plus territory.
* I am being facetious.
Yeah, the ball wasn’t in Maxey’s possession long enough for Nurse to have been granted a timeout, even if he ran onto the court. He definitely could have called a timeout on the inbounds, but as Rob Perez and others have pointed out, he did it in such a half-hearted manner — like a kid in class who raises his hand, then pretends like he was just moving to scratch his head or something — that there’s no way the refs would have noticed, or cared if they did notice.
“I think DJ Zullo on twitter/KFS is right – Jalen is a bit shook after getting blocked from behind a few times in game 1 and is rushing everything.”
This. I was thinking this all game, but didn’t post it because really, who knows. But ‘hearing footsteps’ from behind, even when they weren’t there, could explain why he was just off.
A few days off to just get back to his game should help, regardless.
Owen, the silence at the end is golden.
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun being a Knicks fan. Larry’s 4 point play probably?
A few things:
-between my work hours and daddy duty, I don’t get to catch games. Tried to keep up with the score in ESPN, but I got nervous. That, and driving with my son back home from the IE in rush hour traffic.
-I was so shocked when I saw the highlights. It took seeing the last few minutes of play like 3 times for the incredible-ness of that last minute/30 seconds to kick in.
-While it’s definitely fair to worry about whether Brunson figures it out offensively in this series, how can anyone be anything other than encouraged that we won two games with him struggling the way he has? And with Embiid and Maxey averaging over 30 ppg? Crazy, man.
-I’ve felt deep down that Josh Hart was gonna win us at least one playoff game, like he basically did in Game 1. He’s the perfect guy to embody the spirit of Starks in this era of bball.
-Us winning the way we did yesterday, and the Lakers losing the way they did yesterday, was karmically beautiful!
-HEY LEBRON HOW ABOUT U STFU AND WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN SERIES THAT YOU’RE DOWN 0-2 IN!!!
I haven’t seen any data, but I think the 76ers may be taking away some of the easier catch and shoot shots Brunson typically gets. When you combine that with him being bothered a bit by the length of the players defending him at times, I think that explains most of the slump. The part that annoys me is the thing I’ve criticized him for in the past. Sometimes he makes up his mind he’s going to create a shot for himself instead of simply trying to penetrate, seeing what the defense does and then either shooting or making a pass. It’s that tendency that results in him taking so many shots even though he’s having a terrible game.
This is one of the two calls cited in Philadelphia’s report about filing a grievance (Brunson drags his pivot foot at around the 11 second mark):
https://official.nba.com/last-two-minute-report/?gameNo=0042300111&eventNum=2285
You seriously expect that call, Philadelphia? Good luck with your grievance.
I actually thought the Knicks defended Maxey much better last night than in Game 1. They seemed to go under screens more and cut off alot of his penetration and easy layups he made in Game 1. Last night Maxey to his credit seemed to make a bunch of contested shots, maybe the shot charts tell a different story but just watching the game that’s my take.
I’ve been thinking about this whole Brunson thing and wondering if it hasn’t been a Pyrrhic victory for the Sixers. They are killing his efficiency but at substantial cost: our Ortg for the past two games is 119.2, better than our season mark of 118.2.
In the playoffs.
Against a defense that is top 5 when Embiid plays. That shouldn’t happen in general, least of all with our superstar neutralized.
Moreover, upon review I thought yesterday was different from Game 1 for Brunson. A decent portion of his shots were good looks that he’s usually a decent bet to make. I’m not saying he’s due for a 40-point explosion next game, but I don’t think he could play any worse. If he plays any better, we can easily take a game in Philly.
Man, this has to feel demoralizing for them. They aren’t a mentally strong team, and it’s clear their instinct towards whininess in the face of adversity didn’t leave with Doc Rivers. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if we just swept them by gutting out 4 fluky wins we had no business taking, with them all the while looking like the clear better team?
I thought OG did a fantastic job on Maxey in the third quarter. They were both on the court for the entire quarter, with OG as Maxey’s primary defender, and Maxey missed all of his four shots (and keeping him to four shots in 12 minutes is a big win too).
I mean I get what you’re saying but I just can’t get behind the idea that they’ve looked like the better team all the while.
Both games they jumped out to an early lead in the 1st quarter. Both games we either clawed it close to even (2nd game) or erased their lead and got ahead (1st game) in the 2nd quarter. Both games we dominated or mostly dominated the 3rd quarter and both games we had the lead going into the 4th quarter. Both games the 4th quarter was much tighter and they fought back, maybe took a brief lead, only for us to win.
So it’s not like they’ve led from the opening tip-off till the last few minutes of the game. They’ve gotten out ahead of us early and then we took control. Lost in all the chaos of last night’s thrilling victory is that we were ahead most of the second half and they only retook the lead the last few minutes of the game.
Totally! To this and all the rest of your post, Alan.
I hope the official report says same and doesn’t “apologize” or walk back the calls made on the night (except for that ridiculous overturn against us!).
Notorious Knick’s hater Glibert Arenas and company are clowning the sixers on Gil’s Arena.
The filing a grievance move is just Daryl Morey’s MO, he did the same pathetic shit when they lost to the Warriors. In this case the whiny attitude definitely comes from top to the bottom. Of course the insecure man child who can’t be bothered to pack his own bags or return a rented car to the correct place would scream when he doesn’t get preferential treatment.
What a finish! Could not watch the game live, but so happy, quite an intense game thread, too, 🙂
I saw this different angle of the crazy play at the end, and just wanted to share it:
https://twitter.com/Moose_NBA/status/1782607814935933121
As I said, if those calls went against us instead of them, and we lost on that kind of sequence, I’d be just as pissed as Sixers fans. He clearly signal for timeout, and there was clearly a foul, and I think Maxey had the ball long enough. Put differently, if they had called the foul or granted the time out, I wouldn’t be saying that we got jobbed. But I agree that they were not egregious blunders by the refs. They were marginal calls, but still, Sixers fans have every right to complain.
Beyond that, Credit to our guys for taking advantage and making the big plays when they counted. The Sixers had time to score, and didn’t. Fuck them.
tyrese maxey is a really good player, joel embiid at probably less than 70% is a really good player…
the rest of their squad is just okay…we look to be a lot more team oriented rather than just 2 players playing well…
the front office and coaching staff have put together a solid team…
if we were down 0 – 2 I’d still be encouraged to see the next game, and believe we had a good shot at winning…
Geo, if we were down 0-2 we’d be absolutely screwed having to win 4/5 games with 3 on the road. As I said, I think they are the better team based on top-end talent and the massive net rating they have when Embiid plays.
Fortunately they have a tendency to lose playoff series with the better team, and we are a tougher, deeper, and more resilient group. We’re far from home free, and if they win the next two games convincingly I’ll be sweating. But the Ringer’s playoff odds say we have an 80% chance to win this series, and we are firmly in the driver’s seat thanks to banking a couple of wins, fluky or not!
I agree that there is a Brunson foul on Maxey (although I also believe that there is Maxey foul on Hart), but no way Nurse called a timeout on time.
When Lowry was inbounding, Nick Nurse was with his hand raised watching if he had to call a time out for a 5 second violation, but was clearly NOT calling the timeout, and lowered the hands once Lowry inbounded. Then he tries to call timeout when Maxey goes to the floor, but too late, when he raises his hands Hart already has the ball.
Iserp, thanks for sharing that link, sure looks like Brunson is lying there kicking at the ball in that first sequence. Pretty funny.
Also a great view for picking up how fast everyone and everything was moving. Man.
@iserp. Thx so much for that link. And +1 to everything you said about it. We should inform “head office” 😉
no pags, we would not be screwed at all…we’d be exactly the same as we are now…
a little less joy maybe, but we all would be just fine…
I wonder what it would feel like to not be able to share in the joy of the last 2 wins…
I imagine I might be resentful of others for feeling that irrational joy…
and no, not thinking of you pags…concerned a bit for oaktrees though…
to get upset at the joy of others, because you yourself are just not feeling it…seems like a signal/cue that perhaps something else is at play…
at times it feels like so many of us are hostage to our feelings…
I agree with iserp. Sure Brunson fouled Maxey, but Maxey pushed off Hart with two hands right before that. Good no call, refs not deciding a playoff winner themselves. And Nurse didn’t call TO when he had the chance, and once Maxey was down, he shouldn’t have been given it.
As for Maxey going down, seems he turned into the chest of Hart and hit him with the ball, lost control and went down after it. It ended up in front of Hart, who grabbed it, and the rest is history!
It took me a while to sweat out yesterday’s emotions and recover some sleep 🙂
Some random thoughts:
– The series is far from over, we’re only halfway and we need for JB and OG to step up.
I’m expecting hell in Game-3.
– I understand Philly’s fans, I’d be exactly as pissed as they are, but the way the refs are whistling there are so many bad/missing calls it could have been whatever and could have gone both ways.
– I get the concerns, we’re not playing well, it’s been a grind, they’re a strong team and their two stars are giving us fits (Maxey more than Embiid).
But at the end of the day I don’t give a fuck about how we won the game, this are the playoffs, not figure skating, they don’t give you points for style, only wins matter.
If Lowry would have hit the FT the game’d be different but he missed, and they misssed the last two shots, it’s right the Basketball Gods rewarded us because we always play the “right way”*. 😉
– 76ers defense and all the Little General is a bit of a mess.
Shooting slumps happens, but bad decisions, stubborness and overdribbling are things you can control and, with the exception of the 3rd quarter, he didn’t.
I still believe he’ll right the ship soon.
– Basketball is a team sport and we’re winning (even barely) as a team, our role players are raising to the occasion over and over, basically everyone in the 8-men rotation did something meaningful in the 2 games, while Phil’s living on its stars (plus Lowry).
– I respect Maxey’s reaction to the loss, while I’m losing respect for Nurse (who’s looking more desperate with every game).
I’ve never thought too much about Embiid, great player but he’s always been a whiny loser, so no changes in my opinions here. 🙂
* You need to be wired in a certain way and willing to try everything to win games like this. That’s why I love this team.
L2M out;
https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0042300112
If the refs make a call, it can be challenged and reviewed, but if they don’t make a call, nothing can be done, correct? Seems like in the final minute of close games they’d choose to call more, not less, so that their work isn’t questioned so much after the fact. But, then again, there’s game flow and pacing and general entertainment, so maybe the league would rather ask for forgiveness instead of permission.
Thanks Cyber!
I’m sorry, you’ll be missed in Champions,
I’ve liked Porto since the Madjer-Juary days, the Dragao is a wonderful place to play and last year’s matches were outstanding hard fought battles.
(Plus I hate Benfica 😉 )
Drew Hanlon’s take seems accurate to me.
Again. if those same exact photos were made with Brunson on the floor and Thibs signaling, and with Brunson’s jersey being pulled, I’d be livid, and my guess is that everyone who is defending the no-calls would be as well. In that sense, I credit Stephen A Smith for telling it like it is rather than rationalizing.
The L2M report went 100% in favor of the Sixers.
✅ Maxey push off was clean
✅ Nurse called timeout
✅ Brunson committed foul on Maxey
✅ Hart committed foul on Maxey
Hubie, not quite right:
Hart (NYK) cleanly steals the ball from Maxey (PHI). An attempt to call a timeout by Coach Nurse (PHI) during this play is neither recognized nor granted by the officials; the timeout request is simultaneous to Hart making contact with the ball and PHI not having possession. CNC.
That’s the second one, Raven. They said he should have had the first one (when Lowry still had the ball):
Side note: I don’t understand how Maxey’s shove (which moved Hart back two feet) was “marginal”.
Hubert, it said he called the first timeout, but it said the one while Maxey was on the floor wouldn’t have been granted if officials had seen it.
And there was an Embiid foul that wasn’t called.
But yes, it is mostly pro-Philly, which will only reinforce their whining. And perhaps turn the whistle against us on Thursday.
Yeah, to me they’re just giving Philly the one event — that we grabbed the Maxey jersey and pushed him at the inbounds. To me that’s a “normal” non-call at end of games.
There’s also an incorrect non-call against Embiid on Divo, right? This report is not damning at all.
“If the refs make a call, it can be challenged and reviewed, but if they don’t make a call, nothing can be done, correct?”
Only if the coaches did not use their challenges yet. I believe tha Philly had already used both of theirs and NY had already made an unsuccessful challenge.
But I don’t think the refs are thinking that way, nor should they. Call the game as you see it and let the chips fall where they may. My assumption is that the refs did not feel that the TO was called properly, or just missed it, and that they missed the pulled-jersey foul on Brunson. It was a wild scrum, and the tendency is to swallow the whistle. Reference was made to the DET game, where there was a clear foul against the Knicks that wasn’t called. OTOH, in the Houston game, the ref saw a phantom foul on a three point shot. Win some, lose some.
Interesting, Hubie. That section is also given a Correct Non Call. Not sure how to read the timeout part of it.
The officials can’t decide themselves, in lieu of a coach’s challenge, to review a call made on the court to affirm its accuracy?
Not normally. There are some weird exceptions, I believe, like goaltending or 24 second violations. But very limited.
I’m as interested in the content of the L2M as I’d be if game had gone the other way: not at all. None of this has any force or effect, it’s actually just a brilliant marketing ploy for the league to drive more dialogue and engagement.
For my money, the hypothetical F46M report would show a shitload of preposterous calls in Embiid’s favor on his way to another dozen FTA despite avoiding the paint for most of the game.
No matter how you parse each second of that last stretch, it strikes me that some of the cognitive dissonance around this win is that we were lucky.
The thing is, being lucky is a GOOD thing. Just because Knicks fans are completely inexperienced with being lucky doesn’t change that fact.
Now, being lucky also doesn’t say much about what to expect going forward, either. One’s luck can run out.
I’m not too worried though because I think we’re 2-8 better than them (I might take Bogey over Harris), and because I think Jalen will figure it out. And because hustle-bunnies rule.
The non-call on Embiid actually helped us out as Brunson hit his 3 immediately afterwards, it was a lucky non-call too
Spot on, even if the Whiny Queen believes that those calls are due (“unacceptable” my ass)
Playoff basketball is much more physical than regular season bball and not officiated 100% accurately and clinically as it would have killed the contact nature of this sport.
It’s fkn basketball Not Fencing for god’s sake!
Calling every contact would have made this sport a sad start/stop travesty.
Embiid should be thankful for playing in the US and Not in Europe cause his knees would have been the number one target in every play.
I watched from various angles in slow-motion and there had to be a second shooter
Hey Sixers players, fans and coaches – instead of focusing on the refs, how about examining all the mistakes the players made leading up to the Divo 3 pointer?
Hey Lowry – make the 2nd foul shot and the game is over. And how about calling a timeout instead of forcing the ball into Maxey (you can actually see him cringe when he realizes he never should have made the pass)
Hey Embiid- how about boxing out I-Hart?
Hey Maxey – how about securing the ball, rolling over and getting a timeout instead of coughing it up?
Hey entire Sixers team – how about getting on the floor and grabbing the loose ball instead of allowing Donte to sneak in and keep the possession alive?
i
Ok sure, if the situation was reversed we’d all be bitching about the refs. But we’d also be ripping our players a new one for showing no poise in crunch time and getting, as Clyde would say, outhustled and outmuscled when it mattered
Like it or Not the Healthy Sixers with awaken supporting cast is Contender material.
Knicks without their AllStar PF are definitely Limited But Give their 100% each game to make up for this big loss.
Don’t expect Dominance in these series.
Winning or Losing them would be a matter of details and if you’re not able to enjoy this shit my recommendation is to change habbits or go check yourself medically.
That’s The Real Deal We were waiting all year long.
Zip it, d-mar! The last thing we want them focusing on is playing better basketball against us. I would suggest they double down on whining and grievances instead, making no changes whatsoever to their approach on things like keeping Hartenstein off the glass in the final minutes.
I always find it so amusing when fans spend days screaming that the refs are garbage, games are rigged, the entire refereeing system is fucked and they all should be fired… and then a L2M happens, made by the same group that takes care of refereeing in general in the league, and all of a sudden it’s treated as gospel lol. The most incompetent organization is suddenly infallible when they say what they want to hear.
What this tells me is that Thursday embiid will get 20 foul shots just for standing on the court
If I were a betting man, I’d put so much of my money on Hartenstein getting two fouls before 2 minutes next game.
Embiid has probably the best whistle in the entire league. L2M the entire game and I would be willing to bet the Knicks come out losers in the foul department.
I really hope Brunson gets right and we win by 40 next game.
Breaking:
Tyrese Maxey won 2024 Most Improved Player award.
Anyone heard anything about Kyle Lowry’s injury? Hoping we’ve seen the last of the immortal smug bastard.
Yeah the L2M is rather pointless. Not every foul gets called in the last 2 minutes of the playoffs. It’s all subjective. I’m just surprised they gave it all to them, including the half-hearted timeout and the offensive foul on Maxey.
Hate to go conspiracy mode and I’d love to be wrong but Knicks-Sixers rivalry seems quite commercial to end in 4 or even 5 games imo
If i were the NBA I’d might have said:
Stretch this one till the end…
The irony is that’s what I thought they were doing in game 2! Right up until that play every call was going the Sixers way.
I’m a fan since a little earlier than Madjer and Juary, but their time on the club was one of the greatest, first time ever we won it all. 🙂
Last year’s matches between us were great, too bad only one can go through. 😉
I like Inter too, because i have a preference for blue teams. I collected scarves in the 80s and i have one from Inter’s. 😉
I’m guessing your rivals are AC Milan and Juventus. With AC Milan we had a lot of great matches in the late 80s and early 90s, but i don’t have strong feelings about them. It’s Juventus that i hate. Their 2nd goal in the 1984 Cup Winners Cup was a clear foul and i was a young kid that felt robbed and powerless. I guess i’m not over it even after all these years 😛 , and probably won’t be until i meet them at an european final again for the payback.
I do trust Nba’s competitive & untouchable nature but just thinking that every extra game’s profits are a few millions it makes me expect the expectable…. still remember the fake bubble Heat comeback …
And a second spitter 😉
Well we will know for sure if that happened if they assign Scott Foster to game 3 or 4…
I’ve read that when scientists investigated the reasons for home court advantage, they concluded it’s mostly that home teams get slightly more favorable foul calls. This may be the case here. The last two minute report details so many cases where the refs could have made a call but didn’t and were correct. They only missed a couple in a brief section of a chaotic scramble at the end and we know from watching they weren’t blatant fouls. So it’s par for the course that’s some maybe marginal calls went our way. We can expect the opposite in
Phillly
Has the home team ever won four days in a row in MSG in the playoffs? With the Rangers basically a period away from victory, this has been a pretty special time.
Second game of the series was up for grabs.
Both teams had their chance to get it and Knicks did it.
If “rigged” and “we were fucked” means 2 successful 3s and D in the last minute then words lost their meaning.
#Well we will know for sure if that happened if they assign Scott Foster to game 3 or 4…#
Idk if Foster is the only one doing the job but i know that referees’ boss is the nba and if your boss tells you “play it 50-50” or “make it a series” or “protect the stars” or whatever they wanna promote each time You Do it without second thoughts.
After all it’s Their product
that just sounds so made up KfniNJ…i could totally imagine myself saying those exact words with nothing but the briefest/sparsest of recollections…
yeah right – scientists 😛
Edit: just flashbacked to The Institute in Fallout 4…i need to go find my PS4 saved data…old external drive, i think…maybe i deleted it 🙁
way too much time in the wasteland…
The only thing missing from Knick fans’ conspiracy theories against the league is basic motive.
I guess Lillard was just saving energy for the playoffs really… another insane half by him, but this time the Pacers are punching back.
#The only thing missing from Knick fans’ conspiracy theories against the league is basic motive.#
How about the most basic and obvious of all?
$$$$$$
the suns look super soft in the middle…
I think Phoenix was favored to win the series but boy they don’t look like it
The motive is so obvious. That’s why there are theories.
rooting for indy to win…just for tonight…
i wonder if bobby portis has like enhanced vision, with that eye thing…
The dollars come from New York winning and going deep in the playoffs. It hasn’t happened in 25 years!
#The dollars come from New York winning and going deep in the playoffs. It hasn’t happened in 25 years!#
Despite not happening in 25 years the Knicks are among the most valuable and most profitable teams in the league.
More games for them means more money for the league.
Obi just had one of the most unbelievably stupid flagrant fouls you’ll ever see.
Pascal carving up Milwaukee
Siakam is playing incredibly well
Exactly. If they could control outcomes New York would be as successful as the Lakers. There’s no motive to conspire against the Knicks. Certainly not in a first round matchup. It’s bonkers.
I had a suspicion the Pacers would do better. They could win the series. The first game there was a long section of the first and second periods where nothing went in for them. After that they played the game pretty even. I just couldn’t imagine that lack of s prong would happen again. And if Lillard is scoring a ton but not a net positive, Rivers will probably keep playing him.
Doc Rivers’ only idea he’s had all week: Dame time. (It works, until it doesn’t work Doc.)
The Knicks make something like $1mm more per game than the average team. But each game is worth approximately $10mm between gate and tv revenue.
That makes extending a 4 game series to 7 games worth over 4 times more money than the Knicks making it to the next round.
#Exactly. If they could control outcomes New York would be as successful as the Lakers. There’s no motive to conspire against the Knicks. Certainly not in a first round matchup. It’s bonkers.#
Having a respectful product is one thing.
You can’t promote shitty teams under the knicks logo.
Making 50M more from a series is another.
Why 4 games if you can play 7.
Warriors made 130M revenue out of 11 playoff games recently
There’s no conspiracy against the Knicks, the L2M report is just no improvement over the refs themselves, and they get it just as wrong. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man in Secaucus is king.
Brunson should have a much easier time scoring in the 2nd rd.
Will always find it a positive when Grayson Allen’s team loses.
I’ve admitted here many times to having a 7th grade math education, so I’ll defer to your arithmetic, as wrong as it sounds (a 7 game 1st round matchup involving the Sixers really generates more revenue than a New York v Lakers finals?); however, if the league was able to grant its own wish and produce more 7 game series’, then why don’t they?
The L2M did not say there should have been a timeout. They had 4 incorrect calls:
A missed defensive 3 sec on OG at 1:14
A missed call on Embiid fouling DDV at :34
Brunson grabbing Maxey at :27
Hart fouling Maxey at :24.9
Both the timeout attempts were called correct no calls.
I think them calling the jersey grab a missed call is a bit bogus. Technically it might be a foul but I don’t think it impeded Maxey at all, it lasted only a second and wasn’t even enough to untuck his jersey. Calling the contact Hart had on Maxey’s body a foul is probably more legit but it wasn’t a ton of contact and Maxey was bobbling the ball and out of control. It seems like a classic no call considering it is at the end of the game.
Playoff basketball is physical and none of the fouls at the end were clear. If in doubt it is better miss a call than make a bad one. So I think the ending seemed fair. They are not going to get every call right and both the no calls at the end were marginal. I hope they also look at Embiid’s ridiculous whistle and realize he gets too many calls while Brunson gets mugged every time down the court.
Fun ending last night.
I’m the Pacers Bucks game, Lillard scored 34 points but was minus 24 in 39 minutes.
Many people operate with the belief that the league does, in fact, extend series regularly (the most egregious example being Kings-Lakers game 6 back in the early 00’s).
They don’t fix games directly, but they can influence one easily. If Miami is up 2-0, for instance, they’ll tell the officiating crew of game 3 that Bam Adebayo is getting away with too many fouls and they need to clean it up.
Another trick they do is send certain crews who have high home-court bias to ref a home game.
And if all else fails, they send Scott Foster.
#however, if the league was able to grant its own wish and produce more 7 game series’, then why don’t they?#
Predictable 7 game series could hurt the product and league’s reputation and goodwill.
But a few “adjustments” here and there could make it much more entertaining and profitable without spoiling its fame or have booking implications.
It’s not rocket science, just the greedy human factor.