76ers, Knicks combine for 152 points, lowest in NBA since 2016،
NEW YORK — Friday night, the Knicks became the first team to hold an opponent under 75 points in more than three years by beating the Orlando Magic.
On Sunday night, the Knicks moved into second place when they managed to put just 73 points on the board in a 79-73 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The total of 152 points between the two teams constitutes the lowest game in the NBA since January 2016.
“The nature of the game was physical,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It was hard.
“I thought our defense was good, I thought the rebounding was pretty good. They made a couple shots late in the 3rd and early in the 4th. But we fought back, came back, had a chance at the end. We had a few turnovers. It hurt us there. That's how it goes sometimes.
The way this one played out for 48 minutes was a brick-fest that could have taken off the foundation and a few floors of a nearby skyscraper in midtown Manhattan, as both teams scored 15 points in the first quarter and never managed to achieve much. shifted into second gear offensively at any time of the night. New York finished the game 26 of 80 (32.5%) from the field overall and 9 of 40 (22.5%) from 3. Philadelphia was positively torrid in comparison, shooting 38.8% from the field. total and 30% on 3.
After Orlando and New York became the first teams to score fewer than 75 points since the LA Clippers did so on December 27, 2020 against the Dallas Mavericks, the 152 points are the lowest combined number between two teams since The Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 78-74. on January 6, 2016. New York also held an opponent under 80 points on consecutive nights for the first time in 20 years.
In the current context, this should have resulted in two victories. Instead, the Knicks fell on Sunday, at least in part, because Philadelphia managed to keep star Jalen Brunson in check.
New York's All-Star guard was 6-of-22 overall and just 1-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc.
“He threw bodies at him, made him see bodies,” said Kyle Lowry, whose three-pointer with just under two minutes remaining proved to be the deciding bucket of the night for Philadelphia , about his fellow Villanova point guard. “He still has and-1s, he still made some shots.
“He’s an All-NBA player, All-Star, a guy who’s going to be present and dominant in this league for a long time.”
Brunson, however, offered a blunt assessment of his performance and said it had nothing to do with what Philadelphia was doing.
“I was dogs—,” Brunson said. “That's it.”
Sunday's low-scoring game was a microcosm of the physical state of both teams, as well as much of their competition in the midst of the Eastern Conference playoffs. New York is missing its entire starting frontcourt and got Brunson back from a knee issue Friday, and center Isaiah Hartenstein had a large heating pad on his back as he stood next to the bench during the second half.
Philadelphia has been dealing with the absence of reigning league MVP Joel Embiid for several weeks, and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey is now out the past four games due to entering the concussion protocol of the NBA, although the precocious young floor general was with the team on Sunday and could return as early as Tuesday.
With this victory, coupled with other results in the East, there is only a two-game gap between the fourth-place Knicks and the eighth-place Miami Heat, and a one-game difference in the loss column between Orlando Magic fifth and Miami. .
That's why 76ers coach Nick Nurse said that as his team tries to survive until it can get back to full strength on the court again, he's just looking for basic things that his group can manage to do in the meantime.
“I'm mostly trying to evaluate if guys can execute what we're trying to do,” Nurse said. “Play really hard and execute what we're trying to do. Make plays, make the right play, just move the ball, finish, make the shots they're supposed to take. That's all we ask.”
