OG and Josh Hart defend the rim. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.
Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby came up with a steal of a Joel Embiid pass with 2 seconds left to seal a rollercoaster Knick win over the 76’ers in Philly on a Saturday afternoon, 112-109.
The Knicks played some of their best basketball of the season, especially in the 3rd into the 4th quarters — with Mitchell Robinson DOMINATING the game on both ends — to take a 17-pt lead over Philly with 9:38 left.
But Mikal Bridges almost brought the whole thing down with piss-poor shooting over and over as NY’s lead shrunk to 3 pts in the final minute — causing the heart-attack ending.
Batman & Robin to the Rescue
It was OG Anunoby to the rescue like Batman late in the 4th quarter with key steals, attacks to the basket, corner 3’s, and a key offensive rebound and slam dunk out of nowhere to save the day — and Landry Shamet — who was put into the game for Bridges with 5 minutes left — aiding and abetting like Robin with clutch 3’s.
But still the Knicks needed more — as missed Knick free throws left the game out there to be had — Josh Hart going 0-4 in the final minutes, and Shamet 1-2.
And Alfred (Coach Mike Brown) Too
NY had the ball with 33 seconds left and a 3-pt lead — but the refs called Jalen Brunson for an offensive foul even though VJ Edgecomb appeared to absolutely manhandle him. And that is where Coach Mike Brown came in like Alfred — having saved his last coach’s challenge instead of using it a few minutes earlier on foul inside on Embiid that the national broadcasters said he should have challenged.
The refs reviewed the play and overturned their call — giving Brunson a free throw and NY the ball. Brunson made the free throw and OG was fouled on a drive, making 1 of 2 free throws to give NY a 5-pt lead with 17 seconds left.
Not so fast. Tyrese Maxey scored on a drive, OG Anunoby missed a drive that was initially called a foul but overturned, and Philly had another chance to tie with 5.8 seconds left. But Tyrese Maxey heaved up a 35-foot line drive hoping to draw a foul — but didn’t and missed badly.
And so Jalen Brunson — purposely fouled — went to the line to ice the win with 3.7 seconds left — and missed both free throws. Joel Embiid grabbed the rebound and sent a pass upcourt — Philly with no timeouts remaining — but Brunson tipped the ball and OG came up with the loose ball as the buzzer sounded.
OG ended up with 23 pts on 10-15 shooting (2-3 from 3) and 2 steals, while Shamet had 12 pts off the bench on 4-9 shooting.
OG Defended Embiid in Final Minutes
NY played a small lineup at the end, as KAT had fouled out and Robinson had 5 fouls but also is a foul-shooting liability. OG was playing phenomenal defense against Embiid — pushing him out of the paint.
“We can’t do anything like that if you don’t have a guy like OG. OG allows us to play the basketball game in a lot of different ways,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards.
Mitch Defensive Player of Game
Robinson was the Knicks’ defense player of the game and had 6 pts (on 3-4 shooting), 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 27 minutes.
“Mitchell Robinson coming up big with his effort, activity on both backboards, running motor and challenging everything at the rim,” exclaimed NBA Analyst Ross Kreines.
NY improves to 27-18; Philly falls to 24-20.
1. Knicks Come Out Strong; 34-34 Tie After 1
The Knicks were coming off their near-60-pt bashing of the Nets in Brooklyn — and all eyes were on their ability to continue playing that well against Philly, which blasted them 2 weeks ago.
And NY answered the call — coming out with intensity from the opening bell and taking it to Philly.
But Philly has Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid — and they were a tough handle offensively — and Philly kept pace with the Knicks. Embiid was on a roll from the start, hitting 3’s, scoring inside, and drawing fouls on Karl-Anthony Towns.
KAT started out the game with a 3, fed Mikal Bridges for an assist, then made 2 drives inside and drew fouls — making 3 of 4 free throws. But he picked up 2 quick fouls guarding Embiid and was pulled. It would be a tough night for KAT — as he spent most of the night in foul trouble, and only had 10 pts on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from 3) with 6 rebounds before fouling out in 16 minutes.
Mitchell Robinson came in immediately blocked 2 Embiid dunk attempts inside; it would be the beginning of a massive night for Robinson, who dominated Embiid on the boards — although Embiid scored 38 pts on 13-21 shooting (3-5 from 3). Embiid was slick inside and hitting his 3, but could not jump — especially on any 2nd jump attempts.
Mitchell Robinson thwarts Joel Embiid again! 💪 pic.twitter.com/e1xAhexTdB
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 24, 2026
Embiid had 13 pts in the 1st quarter; the score was 34-34 after 1.
2. Philly Up 64-60 at Half
Embiid continued to score in the 2nd quarter, racking up 13 more points for 26 pts at the half. Tyrese Maxey was also scoring for Philly, and Paul George got a bunch of buckets early in the quarter as Philly went up by 3-5 points and maintained that lead throughout the period — going up 64-60 at the half.
Jalen Brunson was doing the majority of the scoring for NY, and doing it with very efficient shooting. He would end up with 31 pts on 11-24 shooting (6-12 from 3) despite Philly throwing the kitchen sink at him.
Jalen Brunson picks up where he left off in the first half 🫡 pic.twitter.com/lxJLTNlNGI
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 24, 2026
3. Knicks & Robinson Dominate 3rd Quarter, Go Up 90-77
And then came the 3rd quarter, when the Knicks played maybe their best basketball of the season — with Mitchell Robinson at center Dominating inside on the defensive end and on the offensive end.
NY was down 68-62 when Brunson hit a 3 to make it 68-65.
KAT then picked up his 4th foul, and Mitchell Robinson came in.
The move turned the game around as Robinson started Dominating on both ends:
Robinson dunked off an alley-oop pass from Bridges,
Bridges hit a 3,
Brunson hit a pullup,
Hart scored on a Bridges assist, and
Brunson hit a 3 for 15 straight Knick points and a 77-68 Knick lead.
Robinson defended Embiid and held him in check and the Knick defense shut down Philly.
ABSOLUTE SAVAGERY FROM MITCHELL ROBINSON‼️ pic.twitter.com/HHW8HjwOVw
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 24, 2026
Maxey hit a 3, but Robinson grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home.
The Knicks with Robinson and Hart owned the offensive boards — on one play the Knicks got multiple shots with Brunson finally hitting a 3 to give NY an 84-72 lead.
Multiple shots. Multiple offensive boards.
This Knicks sequence was SICK 🤩
New York leads heading into the final frame on ABC. pic.twitter.com/p7qUINQFzM
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2026
Josh Hart blocked Adem Bona‘s dunk attempt, and Robinson slammed again inside building the NY lead to 86-72.
MONSTER MITCH‼️ pic.twitter.com/75L1P153pv
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 24, 2026
NY led 90-77 after 3.
4. Knicks Take 17-Pt Lead in 4th
KAT came in for Robinson to start the 4th quarter as Robinson had 5 fouls, and KAT immediately picked up his 5th.
Ariel Hukporti came in and did a solid job — ripping down rebounds and blocking a Trendon Watford drive inside — and the Knicks pushed their lead to 17 pts on buckets by Bridges and Hart and free throws by McBride.
A Hukporti drive inside off an OG pass gave NY a 98-81 lead with 8:17 left.
5. Bridges Fritters Away Lead with Piss-Poor Shooting
But things started to go awry as Mikal Bridges started missing shots in volume — he missed a 3, a pullup, another 3, another jumper, and then on one horrid play — missed a 3 and then received the ball back on a Josh Hart offensive rebound, and awkwardly missed a 14 footer.
Joel Embiid scored on the other end and drew a foul on KAT — making it a 98-92 lead and fouling KAT out of the game.
6. OG, Landry, & Brown to Rescue in Wild Ending
That’s when OG and Landry Shamet came to the rescue — Shamet, who came in for Bridges with 5 minutes left — hitting a huge 3 with 4:35 left to give NY a 101-93 lead.
Then OG hitting coming out of nowhere to tip home an offensive rebound with 1:55 left to give NY a 104-99 lead.
OG ANUNOBY PUTBACK SLAM pic.twitter.com/llIABRQknM
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 24, 2026
Then OG again hitting a huge 3 with 1:12 left to counter a VJ Edgecombe 3 and give NY a 107-102 lead.
Then Shamet hitting another Clutch 3 with 42 seconds left to give NY a 110-102 lead — and what looked like the ballgame.
HUGE THREES FROM OG ANUNOBY AND LANDRY SHAMET! pic.twitter.com/HDHpHsHE6D
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 24, 2026
But Maxey quickly came back with a 3, and Edgecombe made free throws to make it 110-106 NY and set up the crazy ending. which ended with Mike Brown winning a key challenge, and Brunson & OG stealing the ball in the final seconds for the old ballgame.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810498