DEFENSE & Brunson Carry Knicks in 4th Quarter. NY 108 Philly 102

May 7, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
Jalen Brunson was CLUTCH down the stretch in the 4th, scoring 8 pts in the final 5 minutes to gain the Knicks a win. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

In a heart-stomping game that featured 25 lead changes — the most in any postseason game in 11 years — the Knicks used DEFENSE and Jalen Brunson to win out over the 76’ers in the final minutes, 108-102 at an Electric Madison Square Garden on a Wednesday night, to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

NY outscored Philly 19-12 in the 4th quarter — with Brunson scoring 8 of those points, on 3-4 shooting and 2-2 in free throws, all in the last 5 minutes to give NY a lead and keep it.

Read that line again: the Knick DEFENSE allowed Philly only 12 pts in the 4th quarter. Tyrese Maxey was shut down by Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — and scored only 3 pts in the 4th, on 1-4 shooting with a turnover (Hart stole the ball from him). VJ Edgecombe was shut down too — scoring 0 pts on 0-4 shooting.

The only bad news for NY was that OG Anunoby left the game with a few minutes to go, and headed to the lockerroom after apparently bruising his thigh colliding with Maxey’s knee. There were no reports after the game about how severe the injury was; Knick fans held vigils on line.

Joel Embiid was out for the game, as was Mitchell Robinson (with a virus). Without Embiid, Philly distributed the ball better on offense and played better defense than in the 1st game, a Knick blowout.

Brunson led NY with 26 pts; Karl-Anthony Towns had a phenomenal night with 20 pts, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists; Mikal Bridges (18 pts on 9-13 shooting, a steal and a block) was on fire offensively and played Great D; Josh Hart (3 steals) played phenomenal D; and some said OG was the MVP of the game with 24 pts, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block.

After the game, Knick fans concerns centered on OG.

“I haven’t talked to anybody,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards when asked about OG. “He looked like he was hopping. I have not talked to medical yet.”

The series now shifts to Philly, NY holding a 2-0 lead. Philly was down 3-1 to the Celtics in the prior round, and were blown out by 30+ points in 2 of the games — but came back to win the series.

1. Refs Call Early Fouls on KAT

With no Joel Embiid, the Knicks looked to have a field day inside with Karl-Anthony Towns on their side.

And he started cooking early — scoring inside and hitting up Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby for buckets.

But the refs weren’t going to see it that way it seemed — hitting KAT with an offensive foul call, and then a ticky-tack defensive foul and just like that KAT was to the bench with 2 fouls. Ariel Hukporti came in while Philly had Adem Bona guarding the middle, replacing Andre Drummond the starter.

OG, Bridges, and Brunson continued to score for NY while Paul George was hitting 3’s, and Maxey, Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and Kelly Oubre Jr. were scoring for Philly in a tight 1st quarter — the 76’ers taking a 33-31 lead after 1 on a Grimes 3 with 10 seconds left.

KAT Picks Up 3rd Foul Seconds Into 2nd Quarter

KAT was back on the court to start the 2nd quarter — and made a bucket inside — before immediately getting called for his 3rd foul with 11:14 left in the quarter on an inadvertent play where Maxey ran into him.

Knick fans at MSG (and at home) were howling at the officiating.

The Knicks went small — bringing in Hart for KAT, instead of Hukporti — and would stay small most of the evening when KAT wasn’t on the court. Hukporti only played 7 minutes; KAT played 27 minutes.

The Knicks were able to play small when KAT wasn’t on the court because Philly was forced to play small: Drummond was slow on defense — and only played 15 minutes, but did grab 8 rebounds. Bona got into quick foul trouble early in the 2nd quarter, and only played 16 minutes, with 5 fouls.

2. Bridges and OG Huge for NY in 2nd Quarter

Mikal Bridges was in form and on fire; he and OG Anunoby carried the Knicks in the 2nd quarter, along with Josh Hart and Jose Alvarado at the start of the quarter, and Brunson later on.

The game went back and forth — Paul George continuing to hit 3’s, and Maxey getting buckets — but OG and Mikal firing back for NY.

3. KAT & OG Dominate in 3rd

KAT finally came back into the game to start the 3rd quarter (nursing 3 fouls) and immediately took control. He attacked the basket relentlessly, hit 3’s, and passed — a triple threat.

KAT was so hot he even won the internet by helping Andre Drummond fetch a ball that got lodged at the top of the basket — a video snippet that went viral on several twitter accounts.

And OG was all over the place — stealing the ball on Defense, hitting 3’s, and driving to the basket for buckets.

“OG Anunoby not only defends hard the entire possession making you earn yours, competes hard, moves with a purpose but as you see here defenders are forced to close so he puts you at his mercy,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “He catches, quick 1st step, no wasted dribbles, jump stop, use of strength then use of glass.”

An OG 3 put NY up 89-86 with a minute left in the 3rd — but the lead changed again — Dominick Barlow dunking off a QGrimes assist and then Grimes hitting free throws with 30 seconds left to put Philly up 90-89 entering the 4th.

4. DEFENSE & Brunson Down the Stretch for the Win

Barlow got the first bucket of the 4th — and Philly had a 3-pt lead at 92-89.

The Knicks came back to tie it, and an OG bucket inside put NY ahead by 2 with just under 8 minutes left.

But Kelly Oubre Jr. hit free throws and then a 3 to put Philly back on top at 99-96 with 6:52 left.

Josh Hart hit a HUGE 3 to tie the game at 99, and then the Knick D and Jalen Brunson took over.

Brunson hit a pullup to give NY a 101-99 lead.

Next time down Brunson hit the shot of the night — fancy footwork and a turnaround jumper for 103-99 Knick lead with 3:46 left.

Next time down KAT pulled down an offensive rebound and fed Bridges for a midrange money jumper and NY was up 105-99 with 3 minutes left.

Philly then employed a blitz defense at half court — trapping Brunson several times — forcing a turnover — and causing Mike Brown to use 3 timeouts in the closing minutes to make sure there weren’t more turnovers. But in the end Philly was forced to foul and Brunson and McBride hit free throws (Brunson 2-2 and McBride 1-2) for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401871160

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