Knicks-Sixers: 5 takeaways from dramatic Game 4
Jalen Brunson delivered an impressive performance with a playoff career-high of 47 points, helping the Knicks secure a 3-1 series lead against the 76ers.
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When both Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby have been in the lineup, the New York Knicks have a 22-3 record.
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 performances in 1984. Additionally, he handed out 10 assists and only committed one turnover.
Anunoby contributed 16 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks, and played a crucial defensive role against Joel Embiid.
Here are a few numbers, annotations, and footage as the Knicks advanced to a 3-1 lead in the series…
1. Knicks, Brunson target Embiid
Second Spectrum tracking reports that the Knicks set 52 ball screens for Brunson. Out of these, Embiid’s man set 35. Therefore, even though the two MVPs of the team were not directly marking each other, the game was essentially a contest between Brunson and Embiid on the Knicks’ side of the court.
The sequence began with Embiid providing drop coverage and guarding the rim. If Brunson’s defender was trapped in the screen, it facilitated Brunson to comfortably take jump shots.
At times, Embiid was elevated and Brunson managed to put him on the back foot…
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 racked up 47 points. Of these, the most remarkable was a wild, fading runner across his body just as the shot clock buzzer sounded, following a forced switch by Embiid…
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 needs to improve on getting the ball away from Brunson. However, making Embiid more aggressive in guarding pick-and-rolls is not the answer. The responsibility lies with the other Sixers to better handle 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 at the ball simultaneously exposes a defense’s vulnerability on the glass. The Knicks capitalized on this by punishing the Sixers with offensive rebounds once more…
- 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 second-chance opportunities due to loose-ball fouls or rebounds going 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%).
Rebounding becomes nearly twice as significant when the field goal percentage slightly exceeds half the league’s average. The team that outperformed in rebounding emerged as the winner 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 was absent from the Knicks lineup due to re-injuring his ankle in Game 3. Hartenstein, who had no fouls in the first half, accumulated five in the third quarter. This led to Precious Achiuwa being on the court for the remaining 13:25.
However, it wasn’t him who guarded Embiid during that period. That responsibility was given to the 6-foot-8 Anunoby, who had more than enough assistance.
“Embiid is a heavy responsibility,” commented Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. “He cannot be tackled individually. The whole team has 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 good shots were achieved midway through the fourth quarter. Trailing by three, the ball was passed from Kyle Lowry to Maxey. Maxey then exploited a gap in the Knicks’ defense and assisted Oubre under the basket, culminating in a dunk.
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 dunk from Oubre at 5:04 remaining was the last field goal for the Sixers. On the following possession, the Knicks permitted Maxey an open 3, but their defense greatly improved afterward.
The initiation was preventing the Sixers from implementing their offense. With the Knicks maintaining a three-point lead and just over three minutes remaining, Philly attempted to switch Brunson onto Maxey. However, Brunson and Miles McBride, assisted slightly by Achiuwa, thwarted this attempt…
As the shot clock was about to run out with only five seconds left, the Sixers made their move. Brunson successfully held back Maxey’s initial drive, while McBride countered with a double-team. This was followed by Anunoby’s rotation which deterred Lowry from attempting a 3-pointer. As the shot clock ran out, Achiuwa rotated and blocked 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 trailing by just four points when Lowry grabbed a rebound from an Oubre miss. He quickly 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 responded by once again bringing in a double-team.
New York’s rotations were excellent once more, with Josh Hart brilliantly challenging Tobias Harris’ attempt at a corner 3-point shot…
At that stage in the game, Anunoby, Hart, and Brunson had all played extensively – over 45, 44, and 42 minutes respectively. However, the defensive energy of the Knicks remained at its peak.
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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