Scenes from Precious, Bogey, and the Nova Knicks shining in Philly

The New York Knicks (34-22) came into Philadelphia tonight having lost four consecutive games before a week-long All-Star break. In their first game back, the ‘Bockers showed no rust as they steamrolled the Philadelphia 76ers (32-23) through the first half, enjoying a lead as large as 26 points. Post-intermission, however, the Sixers applied the defensive clamps and won the third quarter by 13 points. In the fourth, the home team cut the visitor’s lead to six points before the Nova Knicks hit timely threes to seal the win, 110-96.

Another great team effort. Precious Achiuwa contributed yet more evidence to his case for Most Improved Player, scoring 18 points, 11 rebounds, three stocks, and committing just three fouls in 37 minutes. Bojan Bogdanović shot a perfect 6-of-6 from deep and contributed 22 points from the bench, and Josh Hart logged another double-double with 18 points and 12 boards. Philly harassed Jalen Brunson all night and it showed on the stat sheet—he shot 5-of-18 and committed seven turnovers—but he was flawless from the foul-line (11-of-11) and dished 12 assists. A plus/minus of +20? Can’t complain about that.

Back in the win column!

First Quarter

The Phillies played sticky defense—especially that irritant, Kelly Oubre, Jr.—but the Knicks’ Villanova contingent (Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo) had gunpowder fingers from the jump and sparked an early 15-3 lead. While the Sixers missed eight of their first ten shots, the Knicks made six of their first ten. Something like this:

As the quarter continued, Philly nibbled at the lead, but the Knicks rolled them back by winning the glass and the points in the paint. In particular, Precious Achiuwa feasted down low, swatted the ball way from attacking Sixers, and dished alert outlet passes. Thanks in part to his efforts, New York won the battle of the boards 16-7 and won the quarter, 32-21.

Here Precious shows a flash of finesse:

Kyle Lowry hadn’t played since January 21, as a member of the Miami Heat. The North Philly native made his Sixers debut tonight—and logged nine minutes before an accidental elbow from Jericho Sims smashed his face, drew blood, and sent him to the locker room.

Speaking of Sims . . . Isaiah Hartenstein was back in the lineup tonight after missing three games with a sore Achilles, but was on a minutes restriction. Hartenstein played just six first-half minutes. In his relief, Sims logged 13 minutes and played one of his best halves of the season, grabbed eight boards, scored four points, and dished two dimes. Look at him fly here:

In the first half, New York’s All-Star Jalen Brunson scored nine points and six rebounds and received MVP chants again at the foul line. He also coughed up the rock four times, but was a +24, so hush. Fun fact (courtesy of MSG Network): in February, Jalen Brunson has averaged 18.7 points in the paint, behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo. Not bad for a little guy.

Fellow former Wildcat Josh Hart played an excellent half, scoring 13 points, seven boards, and three assists. The Knicks’ bench had outscored their Pennsylvanian counterparts, 31-14. Newcomer Bojan Bogdanovic led New York with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and made each of his first five three-point attempts. At halftime, our heroes were ahead, 69-46.

New York’s largest first-half lead was 26. They had outshot their hosts from downtown, 48% to 25%, and dominated the glass, 28-15. Tyrese Maxey was the only Sixer in double-digits with 17 points.

Second Quarter

The Sixers burst out of intermission with a 13-2 run to cut their deficit to 12 by the seven-minute mark. After a promising start to the game, DiVincenzo went cold from the field, committed a travel, and generally seemed mud-bound. Picking up the slack, Brunson took command yet again. He scored 12 points in the third period and connected beautifully with Achiuwa multiple times to exploit the weaker Philly frontcourt.

Nick Nurse’s FIghting Cheesesteaks don’t quit early or easy. Tyrese Maxey scored 18 points in the quarter, Lowry returned to can a triple, and the Sixer defense smothered New York. The Knicks found themselves on the wrong side of a 15-5 run before Bogey swished a triple to settle our nerves. Outscored 35-22 in the third, the Knicks were ahead by ten heading into the fourth.

Final frame, more of the same. The Liberty Ballers quickly cut the lead to six. Brunson continued to turnover the ball (he did so seven times tonight), but his college pals bailed him out. Donte DiVincenzo hit two timely treys and lent great defensive effort to make up for his previous quiet spell, and Hart added a triple that finally turned the tide back in New York’s favor with three minutes to remaining.

A lineup of Brunson, McBride, DiVo, Hart, and Achiuwa proved to be the winning formula down the stretch. As the Philly fans made for the exits, Precious stepped to the foul line with one and a half left, and the Knicks fans let him hear their appreciation. Deservedly so.

Up Next

The Boston Celtics visit NYC for a tussle at MSG on Saturday. See you then. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score