“There are some wild finishes,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That was right up there with the best of them. It just goes to show you what the playoffs are all about. A lot of times it’s a quick play here or a quick play there and just finding a way to win.”
The stage was set for late-game drama when 76ers guard Kyle Lowry missed his second free throw with 47 seconds left and the Knicks trailing 101-96. New York pushed the ball up court and initially struggled to find a good shot until nearly losing possession during a scramble in the paint. With the shot clock ticking down, Donte DiVincenzo found Jalen Brunson in the left corner for a 3-pointer that bounced high off the rim before incredibly falling in with 16 seconds left.
Philadelphia then tried to inbound the ball to Tyree’s Maxey, who fumbled the pass after Brunson appeared to be pulling on his waist. Maxey got the ball back when he fell down the court, but the 76ers were unable to call a timeout before Knicks guard Josh Hart pounced on him.
“We’re looking to do it quickly,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “We don’t get it quickly. I call time out. The judge looked straight at me and ignored me. [The ball] entered Tiris [and I] called time out again. Then the melee began. I won’t say I have to run on the floor or do anything to get his attention. I needed a timeout there to advance it. It would have been good. I did not understand. … I just watched the movie to make sure. I’m clearly calling time out. I didn’t see if [the referee] looked at me on film but I could clearly see me call time out twice.
Without stopping, Hart controlled the ball and frantically found Di Vincenzo, who missed an open three-pointer from the left wing. New York got another shot, though, thanks to Isaiah Hartenstein, who jumped multiple 76s for an offensive rebound and fed the ball to OG Anunoby before crashing down the court.
“It was crazy,” Hart said. “It was hectic. But at this point we had nothing to lose. We have to be as physical as possible [in that situation]and it worked.”
Anunoby flipped the ball to DiVincenzo, who drilled an open 3-pointer from the top of the key to give New York a 102-101 lead, sending the Garden into hysterics.
“After missing the first one, I was really, really, really, really hoping Isaiah got it because I knew with the rotation I was going to get a second look,” DiVincenzo said. “Thank God he got a ricochet on offense. … I don’t think our confidence has ever wavered. It wasn’t like the game was over. It never is, especially playing for [Thibodeau].”
The Knicks held on for the victory with a Hartenstein block by Maxey on the 76ers’ ensuing possession and a pair of free throws by Anunoby with six seconds left. Joel Embiid missed a potential tying three at the buzzer, sending the Knicks home with a wild win.
“The writers always think the games are over,” Thibodeau said. “I never think the games are over. This shows you that you can compensate very quickly. A triple goes in, you get a steal, another triple, and the next thing you know, the game changes. That’s how quickly it can change. You need luck. Sometimes the ball bounces to you.
Brunson scored a team-high 24 points despite shooting 8-for-29 from the field. All five Knicks starters scored in double figures.
“One thing about this team is nobody cares who does what or who gets the credit,” Brunson said. “We just want to go out and win.”
Maxey scored a game-high 35 points in 44 minutes despite being listed as questionable with an illness earlier Monday.
“I can’t turn the ball over,” Maxey said. “I can’t lose the ball. And we have to take the rebound. … Now we have to put it behind us. We have 48 hours to think about it and come up with a plan to get two [wins] at home.”
Philadelphia, which has reached the second round in five of the last six seasons, will host Game 3 on Thursday.
“We’re good,” said Embiid, who fought through recurring soreness in his surgically repaired left knee to post 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. “We’re going to win this series. We will win this. We know what we need to fix. We did a better job today, so we’ll fix it. We are the better team and we will continue to fight.”
