Brunson's 33-point masterclass puts Knicks on brink as Sixers fall 3-0
Jalen Brunson scored 33 points and made every late-game decision for the New York Knicks on Friday night, leading his team to a tense victory and a 3-0 stranglehold over the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The All-Star guard delivered the dagger with under a minute remaining, splitting two defenders for a tough mid-range jumper that put the Knicks ahead by four and silenced the Wells Fargo Center.
The Knicks won 110-106 in a game that swung on possession-by-possession defense in the final quarter. Madison Square Garden's travelling contingent erupted as Joel Embiid's last-gasp three rimmed out, sealing only the second 3-0 lead in any Knicks postseason series since 1994. Coach Tom Thibodeau called Brunson's fourth-quarter command "the kind of stretch you build a championship run around."
Brunson finished 12-of-23 from the floor with seven assists and four rebounds, posting his fourth 30-point game of these playoffs. He scored 14 of his 33 points after the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter, repeatedly attacking screens set by Karl-Anthony Towns to draw doubles before kicking out for open looks or finishing through contact.
OG Anunoby added 19 points and held Tyrese Maxey to 4-of-15 shooting in long defensive stretches; Towns chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mikal Bridges, criticized earlier in the series for passive offense, scored 14 with three steals. New York's bench was outscored 32-21, but the starters' plus-39 differential carried the night.
For Philadelphia, Embiid managed 26 points and 10 rebounds despite visible discomfort with his surgically repaired right knee. The MVP candidate hit only 2-of-9 from three and was outscored by Brunson 14-7 in the fourth. Maxey's quiet 13 points on 17 shots, combined with a foul-trouble-limited six minutes for Paul George, left coach Nick Nurse short of options as the lead slipped away.
The decisive sequence began with 2:48 to play and the score tied at 100. Brunson drew a charge on Embiid at the rim, then immediately pulled up over Andre Drummond for a 17-foot jumper. After a 76ers timeout, he iced the game with two free throws and the contested mid-range pull-up that has become his playoff signature.
New York can close the series at home on Sunday night. No NBA team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit; Philadelphia's only consolation is that they have pushed every game to within five points in the final two minutes. "We're playing them as well as we can," Nurse said afterwards. "It still isn't enough. He's beating us by himself in the moments that count."
Brunson, traded as a college sophomore and once seen as a stop-gap point guard before signing his four-year, $104 million deal in 2022, is on the cusp of his second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. His usage rate of 36% in this series is the highest of any player still alive in the playoffs. He has played 41 of a possible 48 minutes across three games.
Across the bracket, the Boston Celtics took a 2-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the day, meaning a Knicks-Celtics finals rematch is now overwhelmingly probable. Boston eliminated New York in last spring's conference finals; Brunson missed the deciding Game 6 with a hand fracture. "We owe them," Anunoby said with a thin smile when asked about the looming opponent.
Game 4 tips off at MSG on Sunday with the Knicks one win from their first conference final on home soil since 2000. Embiid said he expects to play through pain. Thibodeau, asked if he would manage Brunson's minutes with elimination on the line, was blunt: "He told me he wants to play 48. I'll think about it."