The Knicks knew Philadelphia would go after their big men, and Monday’s Game 1 opened exactly that way. Joel Embiid kept seeking contact, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson were whistled early, and third-string center Ariel Hukporti was trusted in the first quarter as New York tried to keep its rotation intact.
The numbers made the pressure plain. The 76ers got 34 free-throw attempts to the Knicks’ 17, with Embiid taking nine and Tyrese Maxey getting seven. Embiid drew five fouls in the first quarter, Maxey drew two, Towns picked up two fouls in the first six minutes and Robinson was called twice in the opening period.
That left the Knicks leaning on a player they did not expect to need this soon. Hukporti, in his first meaningful playoff minutes this year, held his own long enough to give New York a live body in a game that could have slipped further if the fouls kept piling up.
The setup was no mystery. The 76ers were expected to attack the Knicks’ bigs and make foul trouble part of the series plan, and Game 1 suggested they were ready to live at the line while doing it. New York’s offense was scorching, but that only matters if the Knicks can keep enough size on the floor to match Philadelphia’s pressure inside.
That is where Hukporti now enters the picture. With Philadelphia’s intentions made crystal clear, the Knicks will likely need extra attention from the staff on how they use him, because the margin on the front line can disappear fast against a team willing to turn every drive and post touch into free throws.
