Scenes from McBride and Mitch bringing the goods from the bench

In Game 1 of their first-round series, the second-seed New York Knicks (50-32) were favored to beat the seventh-seed Philadelphia 76ers (47-35). In the first quarter, at least, that prediction looked pretty darn dubious.

The home team started cold, shooting poorly and quickly falling behind by double digits, but managed to close the gap to nine by Q1’s buzzer. The second period saw a huge turnaround with the Knicks’ bench stepping up, particularly Deuce McBride, who powered New York to a 58-46 halftime lead.

Joel Embiid had another knee scare in the first half but returned for duty in the second. The narrative flipped again in the third period, with Embiid back and the Phillies winning 36-21. McBride continued to sizzle in the fourth, Mitchell Robinson overpowered a tentative Embiid, and Josh Hart, who scored the first points of the game, fittingly sank two freebies to seal the dub. Knicks win, 111-104.

For Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points on 14-of-26 shooting, and Joel added 29 points and eight boards. For the victors, Deuce McBride was automatic from deep, hitting 5-of-7 from downtown and collecting 21 points in 28 minutes. He had a plus/minus of +37.

+37.

Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart scored 22 points apiece, with the latter adding 13 boards for a double-double. Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in essential buckets, with 13 points and a +27. And Mitchell Robinson? 12 rebounds (seven offensive), eight points, four blocks, and a steal. He finished +20, swiiiiished two free throws at the game’s end, and outplayed Isaiah Hartenstein for the first time since returning from ankle surgery.

Knicks lead the series 1-0. Let’s go!

First Half

Shooting an icy 2-of-12 to start, New York quickly fell behind by ten, and Philadelphia was up 17-7 around the middle of the first quarter. After a timeout, they tightened the bolts to mount an 8-1 run that cut the deficit to three. In response, the Sixers ripped off on a 14-4 run and quieted the Garden crowd.

In the quarter, the visitors hit five of their 11 three-point attempts and 55% from the field, while New York made just seven of their 22 tries. Joel Embiid looked gimpy in Philly’s play-in game against the Heat. Not today. His 15 first-quarter points led all scorers, and the Knicks entered the second quarter down 34-25.

To start the second frame, the Knicks gained ground while Embiid rested on the bench. Bojan Bogdanovic and Deuce McBride combined for three triples that brought the home team back within two. McBride in particular invigorated his fumbling team, and his two free throws knotted the score at 36. The weird thing? Jalen Brunson was sitting, too. Big bench minutes for the ‘Bockers!

Want to hear the Garden roar? Watch Deuce rain threes in a playoff game.

Gradually, the Knicks began to show all the facets that made them a 50-win success this season. They began to crash the glass, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson hit the gas, and the latter drew a timely Tobias Harris charge. The Phillies went four minutes without a bucket, and at the 5:30 mark, Jalen hit a turnaround J to finally give our heroes a lead again.

With three minutes to go, Embiid made one of the year’s most impressive dunks. From thrill to agony, he appeared to re-injure his surgically repaired knee when he landed and subsequently retreated to the locker room. If Embiid is lost to injury during this series, it will be a major disappointment. Real sports fans want to see their team beat an opponent at their best.

Rebecca Haarlow reported that this was Joel’s first dunk since returning from his surgery.

Holding the Sixers to just 12 points in the second quarter, New York entered intermission up 58-46. Not only did Deuce harass Tyrese Maxey (5-of-14 in the half), but McBride topped the Knicks with 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from downtown. He was the best three-pointer on the team during the regular season, and he was their most potent offensive weapon through the first two quarters.

Josh Hart had contributed nine boards, and New York had outrebounded Philly 30-19. Mitchell Robinson had two blocks, and this was by far the prettiest.

Second Half

False alarm. Embiid returned to start the third quarter.

Kyle Lowry made 12 of Philly’s first 16 points, and Maxey added a bucket to cut the Knicks lead to three. The Knicks lost their touch and fell behind on Philly’s 12-2 run. At just past the four-minute mark, Embiid rocketed a pass ahead to Kelly Oubre, Jr., whose dunk put the Sixers up again. It was another lopsided quarter, which the Cheesesteaks won 36-21.

New York entered the final frame down by three. Once again, Embiid started the frame on the bench and again Bogey came to the rescue, drilling a three-pointer to level the game. From the bench, Mitchell Robinson blocked Paul Reed’s three-point attempt and followed that with a tip-in for two.

Thibs gave Brunon a breather with eight minutes to go and handed the reins to McBride. Why not? He had the golden touch tonight. I can’t find a clip of it, but there was a Philly possession when he was switched onto Embiid. It literally looked like a pug wrapped around the leg of a great Dane, but Deuce’s haggling distracted the big fella and a turnover resulted. You’ll have to settle for this instead.

Jalen checked back in. Tyrese Maxey was packing on the points, and Oubre and Lowry worked to disrupt the Knicks’ backcourt a bit, but Josh Hart hit three huge fourth-quarter three-pointers to retain the lead while Mitchell Robinson took advantage of a tentative Embiid. Like so:

OG Anunoby hit his first triple of the game with 1:30 on the clock to keep the wolves at bay. Soon after, Embiid fouled Robinson on an inbound pass to send him to the line. And the ragin cajun sank ‘em both! Maxey scored quickly to cut the gap to five with 30 seconds left, but the Knicks executed a Globetrotters routine to evade fouls. Hart reached the line to seal the victory with two seconds left.

Up Next

Back at the Garden on Monday for Game 2. Rest up, Knickerbockers.

Box Score