Knicks squander lead but hold on for Game 1 victory over Sixers
Miles McBride scored the go-ahead basket with 8:25 left Saturday night for the host New York Knicks, who blew a 14-point third-quarter lead before rallying to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Game 2 is scheduled for Monday night in New York.
Josh Hart led the second-seeded Knicks with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson added 22 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
McBride scored 21 points from the bench, including 13 in the second quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic, a fellow reserve, scored 13 points, while OG Anunoby had 11.
"We need everyone. Tonight, it was the bench," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points and Joel Embiid added 29 points and eight rebounds for the seventh-seeded 76ers. Kyle Lowry added 18 points, while Kelly Oubre Jr. had 10.
Embiid scored the first nine points for the 76ers, who went on an 18-7 run and extended their lead to 13 points at 32-19 on Oubre's three-point play with 1:14 left in the quarter.
Embiid exited the game with 2:37 left before halftime after a thunderous dunk, but collapsed to the ground after appearing to injure his left knee. He returned to start the second half, however, and Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse stated that Embiid would be evaluated after the game.
The Knicks scored six of the final eight points of the first half, before Bogdanovic and McBride combined for an 11-2 run to tie the game at 36-36 with 9:28 left.
With 5:31 left in the second quarter, Brunson scored to give the Knicks a 42-40 lead. New York gradually increased its lead before scoring the last nine points of the period to lead 58-46.
"We had another one of those second-quarter starts where we didn't guard anybody," Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said.
The Knicks took three 14-point leads in the third quarter, the last at 65-51 with 10:07 remaining, before the 76ers went on a 27-7 run over the next 7:03. Philadelphia led 78-72 after Oubre's 3-pointer, but New York closed to within a point twice before the visitors finished the period with an 82-79 lead.
"We started the third quarter slowly, but we found a way to win," Thibodeau said.
With 10:07 remaining, Mitchell Robinson's tip-in extended the Knicks' lead to 84-82. Tobias Harris responded with a jumper 1:19 later, before McBride's tie-breaking layup. The 76ers got as close as one, but Hart and Anunoby combined to make all three 3-pointers in the final 1:55, allowing New York to pull away.
SportsLigue