Led by KAT, Jose Alvarado & Mitch — Knicks DESTROY 76’ers. NY 138 Philadelphia 89

February 14, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
KAT dominated early, and Jose Alvarado increased the amplification to BLOW OUT level. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

The Philadelphia 76’ers — playing without Joel Embiid — scored the first 2 points of the game. After that it was ALL KNICKS — as NY jumped out to a 14-4 lead en route to obliterating the 76’ers — going up by 30 points at the half and leading by 52 points in the 4th quarter — for a 138-89 win in Philly on a Wednesday night.

Karl-Anthony Towns Dominated early, taking it to the rim with power moves and scoring at will. He finished with 22 pts on 8-13 shooting (1-1 from 3) with 11 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and a steal with a +29 in only 28 minutes. Mikal Bridges (22 pts and a +32) was a sniper early too.

And then Mitchell Robinson started to dominate on defense and on the boards (11 pts, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks in only 15 minutes), and Jose Alvarado took the destruction to another level — hitting 8 (eight) 3 pointers (4 in the 1st half, 4 in the 4th quarter) for 26 pts and picking up 5 steals with a +35.

Jalen Brunson hit two 3’s early and then didn’t have to do much more than facilitate — he finished with 8 pts on 3-6 shooting (2-3 from 3), 4 assists, and a +21 in 30 minutes.

Tyrese Maxey got his (32 pts) but the Knicks were able to stifle VJ Edgecombe, who had hurt them in earlier games this year. Edgecombe finished with only 14 pts on 6-16 shooting (0-5 from 3). Landry Shamet (9 pts on 4-6 shooting) and Josh Hart (6 pts, 7 reb, 9 assists and a +32) shared duties taking out Edgecombe.

NY was playing its 2nd game in 2 nights, having lost an overtime game to Indiana the night before.

“We knew this was a big game for us in the standings,” said Jose Alvarado afterwards. “So we just had to come back — obviously the game yesterday didn’t go our way — but we had to be us and come back and get a win tonite.”

NY improves to 35-20 and remain .5 behind Boston and 6 behind Detroit. Philly drops to 30-24.

1. KAT & Bridges Dominate Early — Knicks Jump Out to 16-4 Lead

Philly’s Adem Bona got the first bucket of the game, but Mikal Bridges answered with consecutive buckets to put NY up 4-2, and then after VJ Edgecombe tied it 4-4 it was ALL KNICKS — as Jalen Brunson scored on a drive off a KAT assist, and then KAT started to DOMINATE by taking it to the rim against the small 76’er front line that was missing Embiid.

Philly starting front line was Bona who is 6’10, Dominick Barlow who is 6’9, and Kelly Oubre Jr. who is 6’8. Andre Drummond sits on their bench and only came in for 11 minutes (and didn’t do much — 2 pts, and 4 rebounds in 11 minutes).

So Karl-Anthony Towns attacked and attacked and attacked, and Mikal Bridges zephered — and NY went up 20-8 off of 3 KAT drives including a drive-and-1, and 3 more buckets by Bridges including a 3 and 2 mid-range jumpers).

Mitchell Robinson came in and scored inside off feeds from Brunson, and Josh Hart was intercepting passes and feeding teammates for scores.

2. Alvardo & Mitch Add to the Obliteration — NY Up 72-42 at the Half

The Knick 2nd team increased the pressure at the start of the 2nd. Landry Shamet fed Mohamed Diawara for a corner 3 early in the period that put NY up 39-23.

And then Jose Alvarado started to make a pain in the ass out of himself — hitting consecutive 3’s — one off a steal by Landry Shamet, and the next off a steal by KAT (playing with the 2nd team) and NY was up by 19 at 45-26.

When he wasn’t hitting 3’s, Alvarado was playing aggressive defense, coming from behind and slapping the ball away for steals, or intercepting passes.

“When Jose Alvarado steps on the floor he’s going to defend hard the entire possession and make you earn everything,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Create his own and create for others, turn 50/50 balls into 20/80 balls, play his role, never quit on a play all while playing for the name on the front of his jersey.”

Meanwhile KAT continued to take it to the bucket, and then Mitchell Robinson came in and played beside him and the Knicks owned the floor. In a 3-minute period:

  • KAT dunked inside off an Alvarado assist,
  • KAT hit a 3 off a Hart assist,
  • Mitchell Robinson dunked off a Bridges assist,
  • KAT scored on a drive off a Shamet assist,
  • Mitchell Robinson scored inside off an Alvarado assist, and
  • Alvarado hit a 3 — and NY was up by 27 pts at 59-32 with 6:30 left in the half.

Bridges continued to get buckets, as did Shamet and Brunson — and NY took a 30-pt lead (72-42) at the half.

3. Mitch Hits His Free Throws to Defeat Hack-a-Mitch

Philly — down big — went to the Hack-a-Mitch strategy late in the 3rd quarter — and it failed miserably too as Mitch went 1-2 from the line, and then 2-2 from the line in consecutive possessions to put NY up 95-63.

The Knicks maintained their 30-pt lead throughout the 3rd quarter — and remember this was in Philly, with a ton of Knick fans in attendance.

4. Alvarado Goes Nuts in 4th — NY Goes Up by 52 Pts

NY entered the 4th quarter up 104-73 and Jose Alvarado went absolutely nuts — hitting 3’s, stealing the ball, intercepting passes, and hitting more 3’s.

Alvarado hit 4 more 3’s in the quarter to finish 8-13 from 3 for the game.

NY brought the 3rd team in for the last 10 minutes of the game — Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson, Kevin McCullar Jr., Ariel Hukporti, and Dillon Jones — and they continued the assault as NY absolutely pasted Philly, running their lead up to 52 pts.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810635

 

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