On April 26, Beijing time, the first round of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs G3 was in full swing, and Philadelphia returned to the home court with a score of 0-2 to face the visiting New York Knicks. The first 2 games of the 76ers must have been depressed, especially the second game. In this game, Embiid and Maxey combined for 69 points, and in the last 14 seconds of the game, they were still 5 points ahead of the Knicks, and finally the opponent chased 6 points in a row to complete the reversal. The chaos in the final moments and the referee's disregard annoyed the 76ers. But you can't turn back time, you can only look forward. The starting lineups of both teams remain the same, will the 76ers pull one back, or will the Knicks continue to pull away?
The 76ers players obviously came on the court in the first quarter with a wave of anger, and the game was played intermittently and closely. Embiid's mentality was obviously a little anxious, and not long after he ate a technical foul, he was sentenced to a first-degree malicious foul after falling to the ground! The Knicks' defensive intensity against Embiid was very high, and it was also very effective, and the emperor only scored 6 points in the first quarter, and no one in the team scored a double-double. The Knicks performed well inside and outside, making 4 of 6 3-pointers and hitting more than 5 percent from the field. At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks led by 2 points at 29-27;
In the second quarter, Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer first, Batum responded with a 3-pointer, and then Embiid scored 4 points in a row, but a subsequent offense was whistled for a foul, and the 76ers chose to challenge. In the end, the challenge failed, and Embiid committed 3 fouls. The 76ers came back from a timeout and brought on Maxey and Oubre, but Embiid remained on the court. The two teams went back and forth in this section, and the game was still deadlocked. At halftime, the Knicks led by four points at 58-55;
The 76ers hit nine 3-pointers in this quarter, and the inside line resolutely hit the basket, almost without missing the shots, and the whole team scored 43 points in a single quarter; the Knicks felt cold on the outside in this quarter, and only shot two 3-pointers, but fortunately, the interior efficiency was not low. Embiid played the best performance of the playoffs in this quarter, shooting 7-of-8, including 4-of-4 3-pointers and scoring 18 points! At the end of the third quarter, the 76ers led by 13 points at 98-85;
In the final quarter, Achiuwa scored a dunk, Maxey scored 4 points in a row, and the difference continued to widen! At the critical moment, Brunson made a force, broke through the rebound and responded, McBride continued to score 3 points, and Hatten made a basket, and the difference came to single digits! Embiid made 3 free throws and 3 hits, Oubre made a layup, Embiid scored 3 points and hit again, and the 76ers opened up the gap again! But the Knicks played very tenaciously and continued to return a wave of small climaxes to chase down only 8 points again. The 14 seconds and 6 minutes in the last game are still vivid, and the 76ers cannot relax in the slightest! At the critical moment, the veteran Lowry scored four points in a row to stabilize the situation, and finally the Knicks failed to perform a miracle again, and the 76ers pulled one back 125-114, with a big score of 1-2.
Statistics:
In this game, Embiid completely broke out in the second half, scoring 50 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, setting a career playoff single-game scoring record!Maxey 25 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, Oubre 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, Lowry 9 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, Harris 8 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block, Payne 11 points, 1 board, 3 assists and 2 blocks;
On the Knicks' side, Brunson had 39 points, 2 rebounds and 13 assists, Hart had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal, Anunoby had 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, Hatten had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, DiVincenzo had 5 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and McBride had 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.