Knicks-Sixers: 5 takeaways from dramatic Game 4
Jalen Brunson put on a stellar performance with a playoff career-high of 47 points, helping the Knicks secure a 3-1 series lead over the 76ers.
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When Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby have both been in the lineup, the New York Knicks have a record of 22-3.
They were two of the five players who played more than 43 minutes of Game 4 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday afternoon, and they had their fingerprints all over New York’s 97-92 victory.
Brunson set a new Knicks playoff record by scoring 47 points, surpassing two previous 46-point performances by Bernard King in 1984. Additionally, he delivered 10 assists with just one turnover.
Anunoby contributed 16 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks, while also playing a crucial defensive role against Joel Embiid.
Here are a few numbers, observations, and movie clips as the Knicks advanced their series lead to 3-1…
1. Knicks, Brunson target Embiid
Second Spectrum tracking reveals that the Knicks set 52 ball screens for Brunson, 35 of which were set by the player being guarded by Embiid. Hence, although the two team MVPs were not directly guarding each other, the game was essentially a contest between Brunson and Embiid from the Knicks’ perspective.
The sequence began with Embiid in drop coverage, safeguarding the rim and permitting Brunson to take comfortable jump shots if Brunson’s defender got ensnared in the screen.
At times, Embiid was on a higher level and Brunson managed to destabilize him…
That “at the level” coverage can sometimes provide a runway for the roll man, but Embiid was twice able to recover and contest or block a layup attempt by the Knicks’ bigs.
Ultimately, Brunson outperformed Embiid. After all, he managed to score an impressive 47 points. The most remarkable among those 47 points was a wild, fading runner across his body at the shot clock buzzer, which was executed after Embiid was compelled to switch.
A few minutes later, Embiid was well beyond the 3-point line and got caught on the wrong side of the screen as Brunson drove for a layup to put the Knicks up three with a little more than five minutes left.
It’s clear that Philly must improve at dispossessing Brunson of the ball and making Embiid defend pick-and-rolls more assertively isn’t the answer. The responsibility will fall on the other Sixers to better navigate those screens and prepare to assist off Brunson’s teammates.
2. Knicks continue to dominate the glass
Those New York teammates were just 5-for-19 from 3-point range on Sunday, but are still 40-for-98 (41%) from beyond the arc on the series.
Assisting at the ball also exposes a defense’s weakness on the glass, and yet again, the Knicks exploited the Sixers with offensive rebounds…
- In Game 1, the Knicks had 23 offensive boards and 26 second-chance points.
- In Game 2, the Knicks had just 12 and 12, but it was Isaiah Hartenstein’s offensive rebound that led to Donte DiVincenzo’s game-winning 3-pointer.
- In Game 4, the Knicks capitalized on 15 offensive rebounds and other second-chance opportunities, like loose-ball fouls or rebounds that went out of bounds, converting them into 21 second-chance points.
More than half (11) of those second-chance points came in the fourth quarter. And those 11 second-chance points accounted for more than half of the Knicks’ 20 points in the period. It was a one-point game after the third quarter and it was an ugly fourth, with the two teams combining to shoot 12-for-45 (27%).
When the field goal percentage slightly surpasses half the league average, the significance of rebounding nearly doubles. The team that excelled in rebounding emerged victorious on Sunday.
In the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, the Knicks retained 39.4% of available offensive boards, the highest rate for any team in any series in 10 years. Their offensive rebounding percentage in this series (38.9%) is only a tick lower than that.
3. Defending Embiid is not a one-man job
Mitchell Robinson of the Knicks was absent due to an ankle injury he sustained in Game 3. Hartenstein, who had no fouls in the first half, incurred five in the third quarter. This led to Precious Achiuwa replacing him on the court for the last 13 minutes and 25 seconds.
However, he was not the one guarding Embiid during that period. That responsibility fell on the 6-foot-8 Anunoby, who had ample assistance.
“Embiid is a significant challenge,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. “He cannot be guarded individually. You need to guard him as a team.”
The Sixers’ execution against double-teams was a mixed bag. There were possessions in the third quarter where Tyrese Maxey shot too quickly or Kelly Oubre Jr. stopped the ball instead of swinging it to a wide-open teammate.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, they managed to get a few good shots from the double. With a three-point deficit, Kyle Lowry passed the ball to Maxey. Maxey exploited a gap in the Knicks’ defense and passed the ball to Oubre under the basket who then dunked.
Maxey then missed a wide-open 3 on the next possession when the Knicks’ first rotation was late (and coming from too far away).
4. Knicks force Sixers to play late in the clock
The last field goal the Sixers had was that Oubre dunk with 5:04 left. Although the Knicks let Maxey have an open 3 on the following possession, their defense significantly improved afterwards.
The initial strategy involved preventing the Sixers from executing their offense. Despite the Knicks maintaining a three-point lead with slightly over three minutes to spare, Philly attempted to have Brunson switched onto Maxey. However, Brunson and Miles McBride, assisted by Achiuwa, managed to thwart this attempt…
When the Sixers eventually managed the switch, only five seconds remained on the shot clock. Brunson successfully contained Maxey’s initial drive. Following this, McBride responded with a double-team. Anunoby then rotated and deterred Lowry from taking a 3-pointer. Finally, as the shot clock ran out, Achiuwa rotated to block Embiid’s 3-pointer.
On the next possession, there were eight seconds left on the clock before the Sixers got what they wanted (an Embiid post catch), because Anunoby initially kept the big man from using an Oubre screen. The Knicks doubled Embiid, Achiuwa rotated up to Maxey, kept him out of the paint (as the other Knicks stayed home on shooters), and forced him into a tough, step-back jumper that came up way short.
5. Knicks double, scramble and contest
The Sixers were only trailing by four points when Lowry secured a rebound from an Oubre’s miss. Without wasting time, he passed the ball to Embiid who was positioned on the left side of the court, with 11 seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Knicks, once again, responded with a double-team.
New York’s rotations were outstanding once more, with Josh Hart exceptionally contesting Tobias Harris’ attempt at a corner 3-point…
At that stage of the game, Anunoby had been in play for over 45 minutes, Hart for over 44 minutes, and Brunson for over 42 minutes. Despite this, the Knicks’ defensive vigor was still top-notch.
After scoring 125 points on just 91 possessions (137 per 100) in Game 3, the Sixers had just 92 on 91 in Game 4, including just 16 on 21 (76 per 100) in the fourth quarter.
That 22-3 record that the Knicks have with both Brunson and Anunoby includes a 13-0 mark at Madison Square Garden, where they can end this series in Game 5 on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, TNT).
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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