PHILADELPHIA – The scene could have been a repeat of 48 hours earlier, but this time it was better for the New York Knicks.
With the Knicks up by one point and hoping to close out a first-round NBA playoff series for the second time in three days, Donte DiVincenzo stepped to the free throw line. At that time, they knew that much more important than a basketball game was the telephone game.
Two nights earlier, with the Knicks locked in another close battle with the Philadelphia 76ers, Josh Hart made just one of two free throws, extending the Knicks’ lead to three with 15 seconds left. Anyone interested in the drama knows what happened next: The Knicks didn’t intentionally foul, even though they were supposed to. Tyrese Maxey tied the score with a three-pointer for Hoboken. And the 76ers won in overtime to extend the series to Game 6.
The Knicks said after the final bell Tuesday that they had a miscommunication. Head coach Tom Thibodeau wanted them to make three errors, but the message was not conveyed.
That was not going to happen again.
As DiVincenzo waited for the ball, ready to shoot two free throws that could put the Knicks up by three, Knicks players rushed each other, reminding each of them of the situation. Everyone on the court knew the plan: If DiVincenzo sunk both gifts, they would intentionally foul.
This time, that’s exactly what they did.
DiVincenzo got them both right. Miles “Deuce” McBride, the same person who did not commit an intentional foul on Tuesday, hit Maxey in the defensive zone, long before he could take a shot. The Knicks and Sixers exchanged free throws. And he helped New York close out a 118-115 victory and, more importantly, the series 4-2.
OG Anunoby celebrates a three-pointer during Game 6 on Thursday against the 76ers. (Bill Streicher/USA Today)
“Sometimes when something like that happens, it crystallizes everyone’s thinking,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And we won’t be perfect. We are going to make mistakes along the way. And I think that is seen here.”
The Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers, who just posted a six-game victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, in the second round of the playoffs. The first game is scheduled for Monday at 7:30 pm (ET).
New York will also make mistakes in that series. Just like against Philadelphia, he will have to learn from them.
Part of the reason the Knicks have come this far (they have won a playoff series for two consecutive seasons, the first time this franchise has accomplished that feat in 24 years) is that their mistakes make them better.
They botched the end of Game 5, so they made sure not to do the same in Game 6.
On Thursday, they hit the big shots. They were crushed when they were supposed to. On another possession, when the Sixers ran a play in the final minute with the Knicks up by three, Thibodeau knew Philadelphia had to go for a 3-pointer.
Instead of leaving a conventional center on the floor as he did in Game 5 when Mitchell Robinson fouled Maxey on a four-point play, he replaced McBride with a small lineup that changed everything and faced OG Anunoby in the center. He stopped.
The Knicks noticed what didn’t work and adapted.
They placed several defenders on Maxey after he scored 46 points in Game 5. In Game 6, he scored only 17 points on 18 shots. In Game 6, DiVincenzo started him.
They reviewed their Joel Embiid double teams. In the second half of Game 6, they were defending the reigning MVP, not doubling except in emergencies. Until then, they shook off where the double teams came from, sometimes two passes away, sometimes from the baseline.
The Knicks didn’t just win Game 6 because they had been there before.
Hart hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 25.6 seconds left and finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Anunoby went off in the second half, disrupting passing lanes and gutting Embiid on a dunk in the fourth quarter. He finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. DiVincenzo rediscovered his shooting, adding 23 points and seven assists, in addition to making five 3-pointers.
And then there was Jalen Brunson, who poured out 41 points and 12 assists. He has now scored 39+ points in four consecutive playoff games, which is the first time that has happened since 1993, when Michael Jordan did it.
27-year-old players with 35+ points per game in the playoffs:
Michael Jordan
Elgin BaylorAnd Jalen Brunson. pic.twitter.com/Wcbc3hSRVh
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 3, 2024
“This was a really important test for us and we were able to come out victorious,” Brunson said. “In the future… it might be a different test, maybe something completely different. But this definitely helps and obviously you want to learn while you win, so obviously we’re still playing and we want to get better.”
That’s why the Knicks expressed no interest in giving up the No. 2 spot at the end of the season. Others in the league, like the Cleveland Cavaliers, feared the 76ers, who fell to seventh place while Embiid was injured, enough to intentionally lose on the final day of the regular season. But New York wanted this job.
Now, this group is well organized thanks to its second place.
The Knicks pushed and pushed to get past the Sixers in Round 1. They have home field advantage in Round 2, and they would have it even if the Pacers hadn’t upset the Bucks. The Knicks (yes, the New York Knicks) will be the favorites to go to their first Eastern Conference final since 2000.
But that doesn’t mean Indiana will be a picnic.
The Pacers advance through the games. They are speed demons in transition. The Tyrese Haliburton-Myles Turner pick-and-pop is among the most dangerous actions in the NBA. The Knicks will encounter a lot of problems in Round 2 that they haven’t seen before.
A season ago, they faced a lower seed in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and did not fare well, losing to the Miami Heat in six. But the Knicks tend to learn from their mistakes.
It’s a good trait to boast about come playoff time.
“Crazy things happen in the playoffs,” Thibodeau said. “And then it depends on how you respond.”
(Top photo: Bill Streicher / USA Today)
