The Sixers dared the role players to beat them and Josh Hart and Miles McBride obliged.
Overcoming a Game 1 dud from Jalen Brunson, the Knicks rode unlikely heroes to topple the Sixers, 111-104, in front of a jacked-up crowd Saturday at MSG in the postseason opener.
The star point guard, crowded by Philly’s defense, shot just 8-for-26 and watched Hart drain three clutch treys to carry the Knicks through a late surge.
“When your top dog is not shooting well, you need other guys to pick it up for him,” said Hart, who finished with 22 points and 13 boards. “And that’s what we did.”
The Knicks outscored the Sixers in the final 10 minutes by seven points, getting those timely Hart buckets and needed physical defense/rebounding from Mitchell Robinson.
Joel Embiid, despite an injury scare, was a handful all night but missed all five of his field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
Hart, meanwhile, scored 13 in the final period. He shot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
“I knew I was going to be left open, disrespected on the 3-point line, and if you base it off numbers in the regular season, I think I shot like 30 percent — so it’s a smart game plan,” Hart said. “For me, it’s just continuing to take the shot. I made my first one and missed my next four. And normally I would have just been hesitant. But I just got to continue to shoot, continue to shoot.
“Make them respect me.”
McBride added 21 points in 28 minutes as the reserves dominated their minutes, most with Embiid on the bench.
It didn’t matter that Brunson, outdueled by Tyrese Maxey (33 points in 44 minutes), essentially disappeared under the defensive blanket of Kelly Oubre and Philly’s shifting zone.
The other Knicks starting guard, Donte DiVincenzo, also struggled.
But the role players came through and the Knicks won a Game 1 at home for the first time since 2013 against the Celtics.
“We started the game slowly,” Tom Thibodeau said. “And I thought it changed when the energy of the bench came in. And we need everyone, so tonight it was the bench. You gotta win games different ways. The rebounding was huge for us. We made some 3s, I think timely ones, particularly late. And that was big, as well. But obviously there’s a lot of things to clean up, too.”
Just before halftime, it looked like the whole series was about to change dramatically. Embiid, the reigning MVP who finished with 29 points, had been dominating his minutes but clearly got too comfortable with his surgically repaired left knee. The center threw an alley-oop to himself off the backboard, converted the dunk but landed awkwardly. He quickly clutched his knee and collapsed to the court.
The 30-year-old, who had his meniscus repaired during the season, left for the locker room. The Knicks, who were up by five at that point, finished the half with an 11-2 run and led by 12.
But then Embiid returned after the break with his white tights bloodied around the left knee.
The Sixers quickly tied the game and took a three-point edge in the third quarter after a thread-the-needle dime from Embiid to Oubre in transition.
It set up the heroics for Hart and rebounding explosion from Robinson, who also nailed two important free throws and had his best game since returning from ankle surgery.
“The whole month of April, we looked at, OK, he’s gotta work his way back,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously when you’re out as long as he’s been and he’s done a great job putting the work into it. In each game, you can see his timing is coming around. Those two big free throws he hit late but also to be able to battle and be physical, move his feet and just anchor the defense, the blocked shots, the offensive rebounding is huge.”
The crowd was on fire well before tipoff (which was delayed 10 minutes to accommodate ESPN), an environment reminiscent — though not quite equal — to the Game 1 against the Hawks in 2021.
The anthem and lineup introductions burst with noise, with boos then cheers.
And almost immediately, the Sixers took the crowd out of it.
Behind a mobile and confident Embiid — along with early struggles from Brunson — the Knicks trailed by 11 after about five minutes. The first quarter ended with a nine-point deficit.
But Embiid went to the bench, and the Knicks quickly erased their disadvantage. The fans came roaring back and lived up to their reputation.
“They appreciate great effort. And they appreciate competition,” Thibodeau said about the MSG fans. “And I think there’s an appreciation for playing smart but also playing together as a team. And I think if you do that, they’re going to be great with their support. What they’re not going to appreciate is a lack of effort and things like that. Guys playing as individuals. Like I said, it’s a very knowledgeable basketball city.”
They had plenty to cheer about at the end.
“There’s no better place than a big game at the Garden,” Thibodeau said. “For the people who’ve been through it, I think players all know it. It’s what makes that building MSG. It’s loud, it’s passionate. Just a great atmosphere. If you love competition, it doesn’t get better than that.”
