
Jalen Brunson scored the first 8 points of Overtime to give the Knicks a cushion they rode to a 125-119 overtime win in Philadelphia on a Wednesday night.
Josh Hart was his sidekick, with big defensive play after big defensive play — rebounds, steals, and grabbing loose balls — willing the Knicks to the win at the end of regulation and OT — as were OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Precious Achiuwa.
The Knicks blew the win in regulation when they were up 109-107 with the ball and 7 seconds left — needing only to hit free throws as Philly would foul in desperation — but Tyrese Maxey poked the ball from away from Jalen Brunson from behind — stealing it, then hit a drive down the other end after a timeout to tie the game. OG Anunoby‘s game-winning jumper at the buzzer missed.
Brunson led the Knicks all evening with 38 points on 14-22 shooting (3-6 from 3) on a night when Karl-Anthony Towns was out to give his newly sprained thumb a night off. Joel Embiid has been out for Philly since early January and has only played 13 games this year.
Jericho Sims — who has been involved in trade rumors — started for NY, and Precious Achiuwa played great at center off the bench. Mikal Bridges added 23 pts, Anunoby had 17 pts, and Josh Hart had 10 pts, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Maxey led Philly with 33 pts while Paul George had 26.
Thibs’ Thoughts
“It was a hard-fought game; we knew it would be,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “They put a lot of pressure on us. I like the way we started the game; we played a really good 1st half. We took a punch in the 2nd half, and then we made tough plays down the stretch and obviously in overtime.”
“We knew they’d be a scrappy team,” added Thibs. “They’re good at collapsing on the ball then you got to make the right reads and trust the pass, and I think for the most part we did that. And I liked our activity today on defense; I though we got some easy baskets off turnovers.”
“I thought we got good center play from both Jericho and Precious,” continued Thibs. “I thought OG and Mikal were terrific; tough assignments with Paul George and Maxey. Timely shots and big plays. And Jalen was incredible with his shot making; didn’t let the game get away from us; when we needed a big bucket he got it. And what can you say about Josh? He willed that game at the end — his hustle plays saved the game for us. Big time hustle to tie it up; steal; tough rebound; loose ball; layup — those are big-time plays.”
NY improves to 27-15; Philly, coached by Nick Nurse falls to 15-24.
1. Knicks Get Out to Early Double-Digit Lead
New York was coming off a tough loss to red-hot Detroit at Madison Square Garden, after blowing out Milwaukee before that, and getting crushed by Oklahoma before that so the Knicks needed a win to get back their Mojo, over Philly which has had a tremendously disappointing season thus far, with Joel Embiid missing so many games.
And NY got off on the right track — on the attack from the get-go, and building a 16-6 lead at the start.
Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby started off the game by popping 3’s, then Josh Hart tipped in an offensive rebound, Bridges hit another 3 and Brunson hit a drive and NY was off to the races.
It was clear from the start that Bridges was fully out of his shooting slump that hit a nadir against Oklahoma (0-7 from 3) but he broke out of against Milwaukee.
Mikal Bridges is up to 5 3PM tonight π
π 2H underway
πΊ NYK-PHI on ESPN pic.twitter.com/l8ACcpxqXiβ NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2025
Jericho Sims was playing well at center, and Miles McBride came off the bench late in the period and added to the scoring with a deuce and a 3. McBride had his legs under him more firmly — this the 4th game back from being out with a pulled hamstring.
Precious Achiuwa came off the bench and was playing a very heady center — defensively and offensively — Josh Hart was ripping down every rebound and doing Josh Hart things, Bridges continued to hit 3’s from the corner, and Miles McBride hit a deuce and a 3 as NY pulled out to a 16-point lead in the 2nd quarter.
2. Maxey Goes Nuts in 3rd Quarter to Pull Philly Back In
NY had a 13-point lead at the half but in the 3rd quarter Tyrese Maxey went Nuts, at one point scoring 11 straight points for Philly to pull them to within 73-67 with 6:34 left in the quarter.
Eric Gorden and Kelly Oubre Jr. helped out, and at the end of the quarter Paul George got hot — hitting a drive, a 3, another drive, and a floater to pull Philly to within 83-82.
DEUCE WITH THE HUSTLE π€
Knicks/76ers in a CLOSE one in the final minutes on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/sAIXYVxAPv
β NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2025
Jalen Brunson fought back with a drive but Jeff Dowtin Jr. hit a desperation 3 at the buzzer to tie the game at 85 going into the 4th.
3. Knicks Take Control in Final 5 Minutes
Precious Achuiwa and Josh Hart owned the offensive boards at the beginning of the 4th quarter, as the Knicks took control.
Achiuwa grabbed a huge offensive rebound off a Hart miss, and put it home for a 93-89 Knick lead with 8:47 left.
Deuce McBride hit a 3 a minute later and NY had a 7-pt lead at 96-89.
Dogfight
Justin Edwards brought Philly right back with a drive and a 3 for a 2-pt game — but Josh Hart got a Huge steal off Paul George and ran the court for a drive and NY was up 4 with 5:35 left. Jalen Brunson followed with a drive and NY was up 6.
Tyrese Maxey answered with a drive and a 3 for a 1-pt game; Brunson answered with a drive by Justin Edwards hit another 3 and the game was tied with 3 minutes left.
Dogfight.
Josh Hart Time
It was Josh Hart time. He stole the ball from Oubre and dunked for a Knick lead, then stole the ball from Maxey and fed OG Anunoby for a 3 and NY appeared to have the game at hand — up 107-102 with 1:26 left.
HART OF THE CITY HAS A TRIPLE-DOUBLE
10 PTS | 14 REB | 11 AST
Vote Knicks #NBAAllStar βοΈ https://t.co/ZaYEPRZwLl pic.twitter.com/2oitfvZfa9
β NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 16, 2025
“You canβt teach what Josh Hart brings,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “It all starts with playing with a purpose, playing for others,taking no play for granted which leads to beating you on the glass by wanting it more, turning 50/50 balls into 20/80 balls, finding the open man, defending while playing his role.”
4. Philly Steals a Tie in Closing Seconds
But Philly would not quit.
- Maxey hit a drive-and-1 to pull Philly to within 2; but Brunson answered with a drive and floater for a 109-105 Knick lead with 18 seconds left.
- Maxey drove and got free throws to pull Philly back within 2 with 7 seconds left.
- But NY had the ball and all they would have to do is hit their free throws as Philly would need to foul. Bridges got the ball in to Brunson, but Maxey poked the ball away from behind and Philly had the ball.
MAXEY CLUTCH ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR! https://t.co/FO6MItT7xs pic.twitter.com/worQlyXw0X
β NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2025
- After a timeout, Maxey drove for a tie game — Precious blocking the shot but it was a clear goal tend.
- NY had 3 seconds to try and win it; after a timeout, OG missed a jumper from the top of the key for OT.
5. Brunson Takes Over in OT
Jalen Brunson made up for being picked at the end of regulation by coming out with a vengeance in overtime and taking over.
First a pass to OG Anunoby for a dunk, then a Jalen 3, then fouled while taking a 3 and hitting all 3 free throws, and then 2 more free throws after being fouled on a drive following an Oubre dunk.
Jalen Brunson put together ANOTHER high-scoring performance in New York’s overtime win!
π 38 PTS (113 PTS in last 3 games)
π 5 REB
π 4 AST
π 3 3PM
π 2 STL pic.twitter.com/Pe8YKNQf2rβ NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2025
NY 119 Philly 111 with 2:14 left.
Guerschon Yabusele hit a 3 out of nowhere but Precious Achiuwa came up big again with a drive inside off an OG pass and then reciprocated with a pass to Anunoby for a dunk after good Knick D and another Hart rebound — and NY had a 9-pt lead at 123-114 with a 1:09 left.
And then Josh Hart capped it off with a steal off Yabusele and feed to Bridges for a dunk and NY was up 11 with a minute left. Ballgame.
Josh Hart’s 4th steal & alley-oop seals the OT win for the Knicks πͺ
New York fends off the comeback effort and gets a tough road victory! pic.twitter.com/65lWYFr7EP
β NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2025
Odd Ending
Nick Nurse’s team played the last minute oddly — Paul George hit a 3, the Knicks worked the clock, then Edwards stole the ball from Brunson and fed Maxey for a deuce and Philly was down by 6 with 27 seconds left.
But Philly didn’t foul and let NY run out the clock — the game seemingly over — Josh Hart let the 24 second clock run out out of sportsmanship — holding the ball on the outside as the game clock reached 4 seconds left.
Philly fans were screaming for Philly to foul.
But then Philly called a timeout — and out of the time out Justin Edwards and missed a 3. Bizarre ending as Philly fans booed and NY fans — which were strongly present in the arena — cheered.
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