After taking care of home court in two thrillers of games, the Knicks have taken a 2-0 lead over the 76ers as the series shifts to Philadelphia. This matchup has already had its fair share of antics, with the 76ers filing grievances over the end-of-game refereeing at the end of game two. Regardless, New York only needs two more wins to move to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Knicks' Stepping Up Outside Of Brunson
So far, these first two games have been difficult for Jalen Brunson to get going. In game one, Brunson had 22 points but only shot 8-26 from the field. Game two went even worse for his efficiency, as he had 24 points on 8-29 from the field. Nick Nurse has made life very difficult for Brunson to start this series, as he has done in the past against high-caliber point guards.
Luckily for Brunson and New York, his teammates have more than made up for the struggles Brunson has faced. Josh Hart has had two games of over 20 points and 10 rebounds to start the series, including two steals and two blocks in game two. He has also shot over 50 percent from three to this point, with four three-pointers in each game. Hart's impact has been enormous to this point, as he has probably been New York's best player so far.
It has not been just Hart, though. Isaiah Hartenstein has had a massive impact not only with his defense against Joel Embiid, but his rebounding offensively and defensively. Of course, his offensive rebound at the end of game two, leading to DiVincenzo's three, will be most remembered, but game one was a huge swing in overall offensive rebounds for the Knicks. New York had an astounding 23 offensive rebounds in game one, which led to the massive 55 to 33 advantage in overall rebounds for New York.
Game one also saw huge bench performances for the Knicks. Mitchell Robinson ended up playing more minutes than Hartenstein, and he did an incredible job defending Embiid down the stretch. Robinson also contributed seven offensive rebounds to the 23 total. Bojan Bogdanovic also contributed 13 points and seven rebounds while being a +27 plus/minus.
The main contributions that came from the bench were from Deuce McBride. McBride scored 21 points on 7-12 from the field and 5-7 from three. He was also an astounding +37 plus/minus in a game that the Knicks only won by seven points.
Seeing the players outside of Brunson play this way has to be incredibly inspiring for the Knicks for this series and beyond. If Brunson can get going with the series shifting to Philadelphia, the Knicks will have a real chance to finish this series out quickly.
Knicks' Defense
So far, the Knicks have done a very solid job defending Joel Embiid. Although he had 29 points in game one and 34 points in game two, he has shot under 42 percent in both games which is well below his regular season efficiency of 52.9 percent. New York has the advantage of having two legitimate centers that can match up on Embiid with Hartenstein and Robinson, and those two have done as well as expected to this point.
The Knicks have had some issues defending Tyrese Maxey to this point. He had 33 points in game one and 35 points in game two and shot over 50 percent in both games. His speed with the ball in his hands has given defenders like Anunoby trouble, as Maxey is much smaller than him.
Outside of Embiid and Maxey, two 76ers scored double digits in game one, and only Tobias Harris had double digits in game two with 10 points. New York has completely shut down the role players for the 76ers, which is the complete opposite of what has happened with the Knicks offense.
Having home court shift to Philadelphia will certainly pose a harder two games for the Knicks, but by taking care of home court with the 2-0 series lead, the Knicks really only need to take one game in Philadelphia to keep a good track this series. Game three starts at 7:30 on Thursday in Philadelphia.
Be sure to check out JerseySportingNews.com for more Knicks coverage during the Postseason
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