Jalen Brunson’s mid-range jumper put the Knicks ahead for good in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, and New York held on for a 108-102 win over the 76ers at Madison Square Garden to take a 2-0 lead in the second-round playoff series. The game stayed tight from start to finish, with no team leading by more than seven points over 48 minutes and Philadelphia carrying a one-point edge into the fourth.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had just hit a pair of free throws, and Dominick Barlow had blocked a corner three, before Josh Hart tied it with a three-pointer and Brunson delivered the shot that flipped the night. Tyrese Maxey missed a corner three and later turned the ball over. VJ Edgecombe missed two open three-point attempts. Paul George then missed an airball that sealed the Sixers’ fate.
The result mattered because Philadelphia had treated Game 2 like a chance to reset the series, but the Knicks kept making the last play. The Sixers came in with a renewed spirit, yet they were still operating without Joel Embiid and with a rotation that had already been thinned by roster decisions at the trade deadline. That left them leaning heavily on a short group just days after a punishing seven-game series against the Boston Celtics.
That fatigue showed most clearly in the fourth quarter. The Sixers were competitive for most of the night, and they were not overrun by New York so much as worn down by the pace of a game they could not finish. After the loss, one account of the game described it plainly: the Sixers did not play a bad game, but they made too many mistakes and took too many chances for granted. It also said the fourth quarter was the moment they ran out of gas.
That line fit what unfolded in the final minutes. Philadelphia had enough to keep pushing, but not enough to finish cleanly when the Knicks tightened the screws. The absence of Embiid remained the biggest missing piece, and the choice to move Jared McCain at the trade deadline loomed in the background as the sort of roster decision that leaves no margin when a series gets this physical. New York now has control, and Philadelphia must find a way to answer a problem that is as much about legs and depth as it is about shots.
