Tom Thibodeau always preaches the value of learning through winning. Thanks to another clutch performance from their captain, the Knicks get to absorb their lessons from the win column rather than the loss column.
Jalen Brunson poured in a game-high 34 points on 8-of-17 shooting, once again delivering in crunch time to lift the Knicks to a 110-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
But the victory didn’t come without its share of drama.
“We knew it would be a hard fought game, but just find a way to win,” said head coach Tom Thibodeau. “That’s all that matters.”
The Knicks built a 19-point lead over a shorthanded Sixers team riding an eight-game losing streak, only to watch it disappear in the fourth quarter. They surrendered a 23-13 run that gave Philadelphia a one-point lead with under four minutes to go, setting the stage for a chaotic finish.
After back-to-back blowout losses to championship contenders — the first by 37 points to the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, then another lopsided defeat in Boston against the reigning champion Celtics — the Knicks couldn’t afford to let this one slip away.
Not against a Sixers team missing nearly half its rotation.
The Knicks were already short-handed themselves. Karl-Anthony Towns sat with patellar tendinopathy in his left knee after tweaking it in Boston. Rookie Ariel Hukporti got the start in his place but left the game with a knee sprain in the second half. Mitchell Robinson remains out as he continues working his way back from offseason ankle surgery.
“You’re not replacing a guy like KAT individually,” said Thibodeau. “You have to do it collectively.”
But the Sixers were far more depleted.
MVP big man Joel Embiid (knee) remained sidelined, joined by Kyle Lowry (hip), rookie Jared McCain (knee), veteran scorer Eric Gordon (wrist), and French forward Guerschon Yabusele (eye). The talent gap was evident early, as the Knicks jumped out to a 24-12 lead and maintained a comfortable double-digit cushion for most of the second and third quarters.
NBA games, of course, last 48 minutes. And one of the Knicks’ biggest struggles this season has been playing a full 48.
Mikal Bridges erupted for 19 points in the first quarter and 28 for the game, marking his first 20-point game of the month, and OG Anunoby added 18 points and 9 rebounds.
Yet despite entering the fourth quarter up nine, New York watched its lead vanish. Paul George drilled a three. Then he missed one — but Andre Drummond tipped out the offensive rebound to a wide-open Kelly Oubre Jr., who capitalized from deep. Tyrese Maxey used his speed to slice through the defense, and suddenly, what seemed like a comfortable Knicks win turned into a fight for survival.
That’s when Brunson had seen enough.
With the Knicks down one, the All-Star guard took over. He tied the game with a driving layup, then buried a step-back three in Maxey’s face on the next possession to put New York back on top.
The depleted Sixers didn’t have an answer.
The Knicks now brace for a critical stretch, with seven of their next eight games coming on the road. Next up: a back-to-back against the Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat before returning home to face the Golden State Warriors.
