Ahead of a major storm set to hit the United States on Sunday, many New York fans made the 90-minute train ride to Philadelphia to support the Knicks as they faced the 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
It was a highly anticipated matchup, with the fully healthy Sixers led by a starting unit of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe, hosting a Knicks team that had lost four of its last five games.
The game got off to a strong start, with both teams well represented in the stands. Knicks fans made their presence felt throughout the night, loudly chanting their signature “DEUUUCE” every time Miles McBride attempted one of his eight three-pointers.
Philadelphia went into halftime with the lead and even had a last-second opportunity to extend it, but a turnover off the inbound kept the margin where it was. That moment proved costly, as New York responded by outscoring the Sixers by 17 points in the third quarter, putting themselves in a strong position to close out the game on the road.
The Sixers fought back in the fourth, trimming what had been a 17-point deficit down to just three in the final moments. Still, the Knicks held on for a 112–109 win, their second straight victory, led by 31 points from Jalen Brunson and 23 from OG Anunoby.
Josh Hart once again played a key role, recording another double-double with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
On the other end, Joel Embiid had his highest-scoring game of the season with 38 points, looking like the star Philadelphia needs him to be if the Sixers want to contend in the Eastern Conference. Tyrese Maxey added 22 points, while Paul George finished with nine points and six rebounds.
Not all wins are pretty
Both Brunson and Hart acknowledged that the win was far from perfect, but emphasized the importance of finding a way to get it done.
“Just pure chaos, but we found a way to win,” Brunson said. “That’s the best way I can describe it.”
“We played well, but our execution the last couple of minutes—I don’t know if we deserved to win the game,” Hart said. “I don’t know if they deserved to win it either. It was a toss-up. We could’ve just tied, honestly, with all the miscues we had.”