Scenes from Brunson Burner scorching the City of Brotherly Love

In Game Four, Round One of the 2024 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs, the New York Knicks once again took on the Philadelphia 76ers. After a disputed wild finish in Game Two, and a 50-point Joel Embiid performance in Game Three, fans at the Wells Fargo Center expected another incredible game today.

They had no idea. The league prays that the actual Finals games are as exciting as these Knicks-Sixers battles.

In the first half, the Phillies maintained a strong defense and physical play, but Jalen Brunson kept the Knicks alive. Shooting poorly, New York would lose the first frame 27-17, but win the second and enter halftime trailing just 49-47. More incredible play from Brunson in the third quarter gave our heroes a sliver of a lead heading into the fourth. With Isaiah Hartenstein sidelined by foul trouble, Precious Achiuwa, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby dominated the glass to help Jalen and Deuce McBride hold off Philly, 97-92.

As usual this season, New York’s MVP Jalen Brunson was the star of the game. He recorded the first ever 40+ point, 10+ assist postseason game for the Knicks franchise. Furthermore, his 47 points are a new personal playoff career high, and a new Knicks franchise-record, besting Bernard King’s 46 mark. Even playing injured, he was unstoppable. MVP. MVP. MVP.

To beat a team of Philly’s quality, the shorthanded Knicks needed a team effort. They got it with a 16-point, 14-rebound double-double by Anunoby, 16 rebounds from Hart, a truly stunning job by Achiuwa (seven boards, four blocks, two assists), and Miles McBride’s 13 points off the bench.

As for Philly, Joel Embiid scored a 27 and 10 double-double, and Tyrese Maxey added 23, while—bah! Who cares? The Knicks bring a 3-1 series lead back to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday! Close it out at home!

First Half

Philadelphia brought their usual defensive intensity to start the game, with Kelly Oubre, Jr. chasing the smaller Jalen Brunson through traffic (no reckless driving puns here!). Nonetheless, Brunson found daylight to score the Knicks’ first three buckets, getting himself off on the right foot. He would finish the quarter with 12 of New York’s 17 first-quarter points.

In another physical game, the home team inched to a 12-point lead late in the quarter. Both teams had shot 1-of-6 from downtown by the two-minute mark. Physical? Or dirty? Here’s Embiid ‘accidentally’ flattening Josh Hart:

And here’s Kyle Lowry being shameless. Stay classy, Phils.

he Sixers’ size was a factor as they won the battles for rebounds, 17-10, and points in the paint, 16-6. The Knicks would enter the second quarter behind 27-17. New York gained ground when Embiid sat in the early minutes of Q2, with back-to-back buckets by Isaiah Hartenstein. Bojan Bogdanovic checked in briefly but rolled an ankle when he and Nic Batum dove for a loose ball and promptly retreated to the dressing room.

Two other bench Knicks came on to make a difference. Precious played solid, hands-up defense, and Deuce McBride blocked a Tyrese Maxey dunk that was turned around for a Brunson floater.

OG Anunoby would follow this with a driving dunk (no reckless driving puns here), Jalen would add another floater to tie up the score by midway through the quarter, and then go ahead by two thanks to Philly going ice cold from the field. After that, the lead flipped and flopped, with Maxey and Deuce dueling as the quarter wound down.

Overall, the Knicks would win the quarter 30-22, and enter the half down by two, 49-47. Jalen Brunson led all scorers with 23 points and seven assists. OG Anunoby was headed toward a double-double with eight points, nine rebounds, and three blocks already. Josh Hart was averaging over 20 points per game in the series; he and Donte DiVincenzo combined for one point by intermission.

For the villains, Embiid had scored 14 points and Maxey 13. Philly had shot 12-of-13 from the charity stripe, while the Knicks had hit 4-of-9; from the floor, however, New York had the advantage, shooting 48% to 37%. Neither team had shot well from deep (NYK, 27%, PHI, 33%). After a paltry first quarter, New York had figured out how to score in the paint, ultimately winning those points 26-16 for the half.

Second Half

Coming out of the locker room, the Knicks chucked bricks while Philly couldn’t miss on a 10-4 run. Fortunately, Jalen had found his rhythm and scored 15 in the quarter, despite dirtbag elbows.

Since hitting the game-winning three-pointer in Game Two, Donte DiVincenzo missed seven straight three-pointers, including four today before hitting two straight important longballs late in the period.

The game trudged along, with the teams combining for 17 free throws in Q3 (11 for Philly, six for New York). Isaiah Hartenstein collected his fifth infraction with less than two minutes left quarter and had to sit. With multiple offensive rebounds by Josh Hart on one possession that concluded with an acrobatic Jalen Brunson layup and an And1, the Knicks finished the quarter up, 77-76,

Brunson appeared to sustain a knee bump somewhere in the final minute, was examined during the between-quarter break, and headed back to the locker room. Meanwhile, here’s Joel Embiid at work. It is remarkable that whenever a Knicks player fell to the floor, a Philly player managed to ‘inadvertently’ step on him. It’s like they’ve stolen a copy of Miami’s playbook.

Brunson checked in with 9:30 left, just after Hart and DiVincenzo joined forces to block Nic Batum at point-blank range. Jalen promptly canned a 19-foot J to build on their advantage. With Hartenstein sitting on five fouls, Josh (also with five fouls) and Precious Achiuwa smashed the glass, gobbling up offensive boards over Philly’s frontcourt, and giving the Knicks crucial second-chance points.

The Knicks small-ball lineup continued to outwork the home team for the boards. Here Precious blocks Embiid as the shot clock expires, thus getting the ball back for New York. Seconds later, Achiuwa was snatching up another offensive board, and a minute after that, his contest of a Maxey 20-foot jumper preserved a three-point lead.

With the Knicks up by six at the one-minute mark, Embiid made one of two freebies. The Knicks were in the driver’s seat and wasting time, but then Joel slapped the ball from Josh Hart and the game could have gotten ugly if not for Maxey losing the ball out of bounds with 27 seconds left. On the inbounds play, Kyle Lowry lured OG Anunoby into Embiid for an away-from-the-ball foul.

Lowry made the free throw, cutting the lead to four. The ball then was inbounded to Embiid, who was blocked at the rim by Precious! Josh Hart was fouled on the rebound . . . but whiffed on both freebies with the lead at four. Philly still had a chance, but Lowry missed a triple and a then free-throw and whattayafrigginknow? Knicks win!

Next Up

Back to the Garden, we go for Game Five. God bless you, Knickerbockers.

Box Score