Knicks-Sixers: 5 takeaways from dramatic Game 4
Jalen Brunson delivered a standout performance, scoring 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 Bernard King’s two 46-point performances from 1984. In addition, he distributed 10 assists with just one turnover.
Anunoby not only played some critical defense on Joel Embiid, but also contributed 16 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks.
Here are several figures, observations, and footage as the Knicks advanced to a 3-1 lead in the series…
1. Knicks, Brunson target Embiid
Second Spectrum tracking data indicates that the Knicks established 52 ball screens for Brunson, with Embiid’s mark setting 35 of them. Therefore, despite the team’s two MVPs not directly opposing each other, it was essentially a Brunson versus Embiid match on the Knicks’ side of the court.
The sequence began with Embiid in drop coverage, guarding the rim and letting Brunson take comfortable jump shots if Brunson’s defender got tangled in the screen.
At times, Embiid was at a disadvantage and Brunson managed to push him back…
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 outplayed Embiid, scoring a notable 47 points. His most remarkable score was a wild, fading runner shot across his body 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.
Clearly, Philly needs to improve on removing the ball from Brunson’s possession, but making Embiid guard pick-and-rolls more aggressively isn’t the answer. The onus will be on the other Sixers to better handle 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 the ball also exposes a defense’s vulnerability on the glass, and once again, the Knicks exploited the Sixers by securing 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 the fourth game, the Knicks converted 15 offensive rebounds, along with other second-chance opportunities such as 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%).
Rebounding becomes nearly twice as vital when the field goal percentage is slightly above half the league average. The team superior in rebounding emerged as the victor 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 an ankle re-injury he suffered in Game 3. Hartenstein, who had no fouls in the first half, accumulated five in the third quarter. This situation led to Precious Achiuwa replacing him on the court for the final 13 minutes and 25 seconds.
However, during that stretch, he wasn’t the one guarding Embiid. The task was given to the 6-foot-8 Anunoby who had ample assistance.
“Embiid is a challenge,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. “You can’t defend him one-on-one. You need to defend 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.
A couple of good shots were made from the double midway through the fourth. Trailing by three, Kyle Lowry passed the ball to Maxey. Maxey then exploited a gap in the Knicks’ defense and passed to Oubre, who was positioned under the basket, leading to 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 last field goal of the Sixers came from that Oubre dunk with 5:04 left. Following that, the Knicks permitted an open Maxey 3 on the subsequent possession, but significantly improved their defense afterwards.
The initial strategy involved preventing the Sixers from launching their offense. With a little over three minutes left and the Knicks leading by three, Philly attempted to switch Brunson onto Maxey. However, Brunson and Miles McBride, aided slightly by Achiuwa, successfully thwarted this move.
When the Sixers eventually made the switch, only five seconds remained on the shot clock. Brunson successfully contained Maxey’s initial drive, followed by McBride’s double-team. Anunoby then rotated and frightened Lowry away from making a 3-pointer. Lastly, 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
Lowry rebounded an Oubre miss when the Sixers were still trailing by only four points. He quickly passed the ball to Embiid on the left side of the court, with 11 seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Knicks promptly responded with a double-team, just like before.
Once more, New York’s rotations were outstanding, featuring Josh Hart making an excellent challenge on Tobias Harris’ attempt at a corner 3-point shot…
At that stage of the game, Anunoby had clocked in over 45 minutes, Hart over 44, and Brunson more than 42. Despite this, the Knicks’ defensive energy was still 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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