Tuesday’s NBA playoffs takeaways: Tyrese Maxey plays superhero for 76ers vs. Knicks, Bucks stay alive

By Fred Katz, Mike Vorkunov, Joe Vardon, Josh Robbins, Kelly Iko and Eric Nehm

What is there to even take from the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers Game 5 matchup? It’s that this series is wild and no lead is safe.

Philadelphia made up for its disastrous ending in Game 2 by unwinding a seemingly safe New York lead in less than a minute. 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey scored seven points in 17 seconds, and the Knicks lost a six-point lead with 28.2 seconds left. In this game it might have been that the least-tired team won: Jalen Brunson looked drained in overtime but the Sixers weren’t and pulled out a win that sent the series back to Philadelphia.

Here are Tuesday’s playoff takeaways.

76ers 112, Knicks 106 (OT)

Series: Knicks lead 3-2

Game 6: Thursday in Philadelphia

The normalcy of beastly NBA performances

These sorts of events were supposed to occur once every few decades, not once every few days.

The Reggie Miller moment, when the Hall of Famer went for eight points in 8.9 seconds to win the Indiana Pacers a game at Madison Square Garden, is historic because it’s unmatched in history. At least, it was.

Now, these events occur whenever the Knicks play at MSG.

In Game 2, New York benefited from the chaos, from a couple of incorrect no-calls, from offensive rebounds and from a hot-handed Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo, who each drained crucial 3-pointers as the Knicks slithered back from down five with fewer than 30 seconds remaining to win.

In Game 5, it’s happened again — even more dramatically, and this time in the other direction. Maxey stunned the Knicks with seven points in 17 seconds. Whether Philadelphia wins the final two games of this series or its season ends at some point before then, it’s a historic moment for the Sixers. And it’s one for the Knicks, too, a heartbreaker for a team that’s grown all too familiar with end-of-game anarchy. — Fred Katz, Knicks beat writer

46 PTS | 9 ASTS | 5 REBS | 7 3PM

what a performance by the 23yr old. 👏

presented by https://t.co/lEWMCwgNaV pic.twitter.com/vbwJQnzbQf

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) May 1, 2024

A coming out game for Tyrese Maxey

This was a coming out game for Maxey. He has risen to the moment this whole season. He’s proven to be the perfect sidekick for Joel Embiid and now he’s won Philadelphia a playoff game. He scored 46 points — 22 in the fourth and overtime — and had nine assists. This was his night. The Maxey Game. It helped the Sixers withstand a relatively mediocre Embiid performance — he still had 19 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, five blocks and nine turnovers — and survive another day.

The Sixers didn’t have someone to bail them out in the fourth quarter of Game 4 as the Knicks blitzed the ball out of Embiid’s hands. But they did tonight. His name is Tyrese Maxey and he’s made this a series again as it heads back to Philadelphia for Game 6. — Mike Vorkunov, senior NBA writer

GO DEEPER

'It's just the beginning for him': Tyrese Maxey's heroics save Sixers from elimination

Cavaliers 104, Magic 103

Series: Cavaliers lead 3-2

Game 5: Friday in Orlando

What adjustments can Orlando make for Game 6?

Magic coach Jamahl Mosley made the most important adjustment of the series so far, moving Wendell Carter Jr. into the starting lineup at center for Jonathan Isaac before Game 3.

But Mosley may have to make another adjustment now. With potential elimination in Game 6 looming, he’ll have to weigh whether he needs to shorten his rotation from its usual 10 guys.

Is it time to extend the minutes of the team’s two best players, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, even further? And is it time to ask even more from point guard Jalen Suggs and extend his playing time, too?

Mosley isn’t reluctant to deviate from established substitution patterns when the flow of a game demands changes. Small wonder, then, that he did start to shorten his rotation during Game 5’s second half.

The Magic weren’t getting much out of backup guard Cole Anthony, and the Magic have had a long-range shooting deficit when Anthony and Markelle Fultz are in the game simultaneously. Mosley subbed out Anthony with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter and didn’t start Anthony in the fourth quarter, with Suggs starting in Anthony’s place.

Mosley then went with his big lineup of Suggs, Wagner, Banchero, Jonathan Isaac and Carter for the game’s final seven minutes and 22 seconds (except when Mosley subbed in Joe Ingles for the game’s final 3.2 seconds with Orlando trailing by four points).

It’s possible that Mosley won’t have many options in Game 6. Gary Harris, the starting shooting guard, suffered a right hamstring strain Tuesday night, left the game midway through the third quarter and did not return. — Josh Robbins, NBA senior writer

GO DEEPER

‘We were right there’: Orlando Magic filled with regrets after Game 5 defeat

No Allen, no problem

No one was going home for good after Game 5, but the Cavaliers needed a win to keep their legs under them.

This was easily the best, most competitive game of the series, and Cleveland entered it having been dealt multiple series blows. First, it combined 61 points by which it lost Games 3 and 4 in Orlando, and then, on Tuesday, Jarrett Allen was suddenly out with what the team called bruised ribs.

For those two reasons — how bad the Cavs have been at Kia Center in this series, and the uncertain status of Allen going forward — a loss at home Tuesday would have been devastating.

So for the first time in the series, Max Strus bombed 3s. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff dusted off Marcus Morris Sr., who responded with 12 crucial points off the bench, and Evan Mobley delivered the best defensive play in the clutch of his young career — erasing Franz Wagner’s layup attempt with about six seconds left in a two-point game.

GO DEEPER

Marcus Morris Sr. gives Cavaliers buyout success story in playoffs

Mitchell looked closer to his better self, leading the Cavs with 28 points, but he still was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range. Mitchell scored 14 in the fourth quarter after going scoreless in the third (important because he was shut out in the second half of Game 4). Nine of his points came at the foul line.

Garland was better, too, with 23 points, and Strus shook free from his miserable shooting series to add 16 points and four 3s.

Allen’s absence forced the Cavs to change, something Bickerstaff has been reluctant to do. They played much smaller, starting Isaac Okoro for Allen, and turning to Morris over Georges Niang was a second adjustment (though probably not brought on by Allen’s injury).

Whether any of this holds up Friday in Game 6 remains to be seen. No team has won a road game yet in this series and we don’t need to get into just how bad all the Cavs were in the first two games in Orlando.

But in a two-to-win-one scenario, the Cavs still have their goals and don’t even have to play well on Friday.

But it would be nice if they did. — Joe Vardon, NBA senior writer

Bucks 115, Pacers 92

Series: Pacers lead 3-2

Game 6: Thursday in Indianapolis

Champions don’t go down without swinging

The Pacers, as young, bright and fun as they have been this season, learned a valuable lesson in Game 5. Champions don’t go down without swinging. And in a first round that has featured chess move after chess move, Bucks coach Doc Rivers still has at least one more trick up his sleeve

Closing out a series is one thing. Taking down a stubborn, physical, experienced Bucks team with a relative lack of experience is another ball game — no pun intended.

Indiana’s calling card throughout this series has been their offensive efficiency, ranking second among playoff teams per Cleaning the Glass, scoring 123.4 points per 100 possessions. Their ability to generate good shots has largely been successful against a Milwaukee team that has thrown everything at them defensively — well, almost.

On Tuesday, Rivers made another subtle tweak to his game plan, switching assignments and placing Khris Middleton on Myles Turner and Brook Lopez on Aaron Nesmith. Milwaukee intended to switch everything across the board and deter Indiana from going to their series’ bread and butter, having Turner space the floor and beat them from a distance.

But that adjustment was only a microcosm of the level of physicality and attention to detail the Bucks displayed defensively. Milwaukee extended their traditional level of attack, completely converged in the middle and made life difficult for a team that tends to score in their sleep. The Pacers were shut down from the onset of the second quarter, scoring just 17 points and fared similarly after halftime, with a 19-point third quarter. Combine that with an inability to defend Middleton (29 points) or Bobby Portis (29 points) and you have the recipe for disaster. Game on. — Kelly Iko, NBA staff writer

Role players come in clutch for Bucks

After Games 3 and 4 in Indianapolis, it was difficult to imagine the Bucks playing a composed and focused enough game to extend this series to Game 6 back in Indiana. But the Bucks put together their best performance since Game 1 and pulled out a win. They were led by Middleton, who put up 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Portis, who tallied 29 points and 10 rebounds, but it was a big night from their role players that carried them through Game 5.

Spinning and-one for Pat Bev! pic.twitter.com/ZJz4LXKvCa

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) May 1, 2024

Patrick Beverley (13 points, 12 assists) was in full control of the game in the third quarter and diced up the Pacers to help the Bucks build a 20-point lead. Malik Beasley scored all 18 of his points in the second half and his four 3-pointers played a massive role in the Bucks building and maintaining their lead. Danilo Gallinari and Pat Connaughton contributed solid minutes off the bench and the Bucks put together a full team effort to survive for one more game.

The Bucks will have another do-or-die game in Indianapolis on Thursday. — Eric Nehm, Bucks beat writer

GO DEEPER

Knicks have a way to make sure nobody talks about Tyrese Maxey's magic: Win!

Wednesday’s schedule:

Heat at Celtics: 7:30 p.m. ET, TNT (Boston leads 3-1)
Mavericks at Clippers: 10 p.m. ET, TNT (Series tied 2-2)

Required reading

(Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)