Knicks-Sixers: 5 takeaways from dramatic Game 4
Jalen Brunson sparkled, scoring a playoff career-best 47 points, helping the Knicks secure a 3-1 series lead over the 76ers.
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When both Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby have 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 Bernard King’s two 46-point games in 1984. In addition, he distributed 10 assists and only committed one turnover.
Anunoby contributed 16 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks, in addition to playing crucial defense against Joel Embiid.
Here is a collection of numbers, observations, and film clips as the Knicks advanced to a 3-1 lead in the series…
1. Knicks, Brunson target Embiid
Second Spectrum tracking reveals that the Knicks provided Brunson with 52 ball screens, of which Embiid’s mark set 35. Even though the two MVPs of the team weren’t directly opposing each other, the game was essentially a contest between Brunson and Embiid from the Knicks’ perspective.
The sequence commenced with Embiid in drop coverage, guarding the hoop and letting Brunson take easy jump shots if Brunson’s defender was entangled in the screen.
At times, Embiid was elevated and Brunson managed to knock him off balance…
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, scoring an impressive 47 points. The most memorable of these points came from an extraordinary, cross-body, fading runner at the shot clock buzzer, just 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.
Clearly, Philly needs to improve on keeping the ball away from Brunson, and using Embiid to aggressively guard pick-and-rolls isn’t the answer. The responsibility falls on the other Sixers to better maneuver around those screens and be prepared 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 the ball leaves a defense susceptible on the glass, and once again, the Knicks capitalized on this by punishing 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 converted 15 offensive rebounds, along with other opportunities from loose-ball fouls or rebounds that went out of bounds, 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 exceeds half of the league’s 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, a player for the Knicks, was absent due to an ankle injury he suffered during Game 3. Hartenstein, having made no fouls in the first half, accrued five in the third quarter. This resulted in Precious Achiuwa being called into play for the concluding 13 minutes and 25 seconds.
Anunoby, who stands at 6-foot-8, took on the role of guarding Embiid during that stretch, not him, and he had ample assistance.
“Embiid is a handful,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. “He’s not someone you can guard one-on-one. Your whole team needs to defend against him.”
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.
A couple of impressive shots were made in the middle of the fourth by them. Down by three, Kyle Lowry passed the ball to Maxey, who exploited a gap in the Knicks’ defense and assisted Oubre in scoring a dunk under the basket.
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 Sixers’ final field goal was Oubre’s dunk with 5:04 remaining. The Knicks did allow Maxey to get an open 3 on the following possession, but improved their defense significantly afterwards.
The initial step was preventing the Sixers from launching their offense. With a little over three minutes remaining and the Knicks leading by three, Philly attempted to have Brunson take on Maxey. However, Brunson and Miles McBride, assisted by Achiuwa, successfully thwarted their plan.
When the Sixers finally managed to switch, only five seconds were left on the shot clock. Brunson successfully contained Maxey’s initial drive, and McBride followed up with a double-team. Anunoby then rotated and frightened Lowry away from a 3-pointer, while Achiuwa rotated to block Embiid’s 3-pointer just as the shot clock ran out.
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 down by four when Lowry grabbed a rebound from an Oubre miss. Without delay, he passed the ball to Embiid who was positioned on the left side of the floor, with only 11 seconds remaining on the shot clock. As before, the Knicks responded with a double-team.
New York’s rotations were excellent once more, with Josh Hart effectively challenging Tobias Harris’ attempt at a corner 3-point…
At that stage of the game, Anunoby had been on the court for over 45 minutes, Hart for over 44, and Brunson for more than 42. Yet, the defensive stamina of the Knicks remained 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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