PHILADELPHIA — The Villanova boys did it once more.
Jalen Brunson had 14 of his 41 factors within the fourth quarter, and hit Josh Hart for his twelfth help, and what grew to become the game-winning 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining, because the New York Knicks escaped from Wells Fargo Middle with an exciting 118-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Sport 6 of this forever-to-be-remembered first spherical collection.
With the win, the Knicks superior to the Jap Convention semifinals for a second consecutive season – a feat the franchise hasn’t achieved since 2000, when it did so for a ninth straight time. It additionally marked the fifth straight time that New York has superior to the following spherical within the playoffs with a highway victory, relationship again to beating the Indiana Pacers in Sport 6 of the 1999 Jap Convention finals at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Now, New York will put together to face the Pacers as soon as once more, with the Jap Convention semifinals between these two groups set to start Monday evening at The World’s Most Well-known Enviornment.
For Philadelphia, their residence court docket at Wells Fargo Middle has been a playoff home of horrors over the previous three years. There was the Sport 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, when Ben Simmons handed up an open dunk; the Sport 6 loss to the Miami Warmth the next 12 months, when the Warmth pulled away within the second half to win the sport; and the Sport 6 loss to the Boston Celtics final 12 months, when Philly melted down within the fourth quarter after which acquired routed in Boston in Sport 7.
And, within the opening moments of the sport, it shortly regarded like historical past might repeat itself but once more, as New York buried six of its first eight pictures and leapt out to a 33-11 lead within the first quarter, as no Sixer in addition to Joel Embiid — who completed with 39 and 13 — scored till Tyrese Maxey made a layup eight minutes into the sport, and Philadelphia repeatedly was crushed on the offensive glass and coughed up the ball.
However then, simply when it regarded like this was destined to be one other terrible residence playoff exit, Philadelphia stormed again into the sport – thanks largely to a forgotten participant on this collection, backup guard Buddy Hield.
The crew’s prime commerce deadline acquisition, Hield had gone 1-for-7 by the primary three video games of this collection, and had been benched for all of Video games 4 and 5. However with issues wanting determined, 76ers coach Nick Nurse turned to Hield late within the first quarter, and he responded by scoring 17 factors on 5-for-7 taking pictures from 3-point vary.
That Hield outburst helped energy a 43-18 run to finish the primary half for Philadelphia, sending the hosts into the halftime break with a 54-51 lead. In retaking the lead, the 76ers grew to become the first crew to path by 20+ factors within the 1st half and lead at halftime within the final 25 postseasons, per ESPN’s Stats and Info Group.
It was a 24 minutes that backed up a sarcastic remark Nurse made earlier than the sport about how unpredictable the collection has been.
“I’ve determined nothing issues,” Nurse mentioned with fun. “They kill us on the glass, it goes all the way down to the buzzer. We kill them on the glass, it goes all the way down to the buzzer. Joel scores 50, it goes all the way down to the buzzer. Brunson scores 47, it goes all the way down to the buzzer.
“Inform me what issues, and when all people figures it out, let me know … however plainly, to me, that these are two groups simply preventing their guts out it doesn’t matter what.”
The second half grew to become extra of the identical. Philadelphia briefly took a 10-point lead early within the third, earlier than back-to-back ill-advised pulls from 3-point vary by Tyrese Maxey helped let the Knicks get again into the sport, finally tying it late within the third on an OG Anunoby 3-pointer to ship this one to the fourth tied at 83 factors.
However as the sport’s remaining minutes wound down, it was – who else? – however Brunson, New York’s talisman all season lengthy, who powered the Knicks residence, together with a runner with 3:26 remaining that gave New York a 107-99 lead with 3:26 remaining, forcing Nurse to name timeout and for a loud “Let’s Go Knicks!” chant to ring out throughout the sector.
It was a stinging reminder that loads of New Yorkers had invaded this area for a 3rd time on this collection – even after the crew’s homeowners, plus former proprietor Michael Rubin, had purchased 2,000 tickets and given them to first responders within the hopes of avoiding simply that.
However these cheers shortly went away, because the 76ers managed to erase that lead, tying the sport with a Tyrese Maxey and-one with 34.9 seconds remaining.
That, nonetheless, solely set the stage for Hart’s heroics, as Brunson drove in from the left wing and kicked to Hart on the prime of the important thing. And, after hesitating for a minute, the wide-open ahead buried the triple and raised each his arms into the air in celebration.
Then, after a Joel Embiid layup and a number of other free throws each methods, Hield’s remaining potential game-tying 3 missed large, and New York – lastly – survived and superior.
