By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks tipped off their first round series tonight. Both teams trade blows throughout this contest. When it mattered the most the Knicks were able to out hustle the Sixers in this game. A Josh Hart fourth quarter explosion ended Philly’s comeback attempt as he hit three late game three-pointers. That pushed the Knicks over the Sixers 111-104. With the win they now have a one-to-nothing series lead.

The Sixers found their offensive rhythm early in this contest. They cashed in on their high-percentage shooting opportunities. The trio of Tyrese Maxey (33 points), Joel Embiid (29 points), and Kyle Lowry (18 points) combined for 80 of Philly’s 104 points. Embiid in particular scored 15 of his 29 points in the first quarter. He dominated his matchups and really took over this game. Before the Knicks could even settle into the game they were down by double digits. Philly was threatening to run them off the court. Unfortunately Embiid would re-aggravate his knee after completing a beautiful dunk on a self alley-oop. Once that happened it seemed like the air was sucked out of the Sixers.

A big adjustment the Sixers must make in game two is they have to limit the Knicks to one possession on the offensive end. Getting outrebounded by 25 is not a recipe for victory. Those 66 rebounds allowed the Knicks to overcome a double digit Philly lead. It gave them more opportunities to his shots and it unlocked Miles McBride. He kept the Knicks in this game by scoring 21 points and making five/seven three-pointers.  His scoring output is the reason the Knicks bench was so productive in this game. On a night where the Sixers held Jalen Brunson (22 points on eight/26 shots)  to a pedestrian night. That is a pretty big waste of a brilliant defensive strategy on Brunson.

Give the Knicks role players their credit they did enough to win this game. As this series tightens Brunson will have to give them more offense if they want to put away a game Sixers squad.

For Philly they need to get more rebounds, continue to limit Brunson, and get something from their bench and they can win on Monday night and take this series from the Knicks.

Despite the rebounding advantage and McBride scoring explosion this game was still winnable for Philly. It turned around in the third quarter where both Lowry and Maxey took over the game and erased a 14-point Knicks lead. Lowry’s veteran presence really calmed down an anxious team and although the Sixers did not win this game. If he can continue to score at least 10-15 points a game in this series. This game turned with the Sixers not being able to make their three-pointers late in this contest and Josh Hart hit three three-pointers to end this game. If they can start making their high-percentage shooting opportunities they can win game two and re-take the momentum in this series.

For game 2 it is pretty simple for the Knicks if they continue to outrebound the Sixers by 20 plus and continue to hit their shots. They can win both games on their home floor. The Sixers need to continue to cash in on their high percentage shooting opportunities, limit Brunson, grab rebounds, get more scoring from their bench unit, and win the non-Embiid minutes and they can win game two on Monday night.