On April 29, Beijing time, the first round of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs G4 continued, and a key battle in the East was staged, and the Philadelphia 76ers continued to host the New York Knicks. In the first three games, the Knicks led 2-1, and the 76ers reached the moment of a back-to-back battle. If the two teams can win this game, they will return to the same running line, and once the home loss will allow the Knicks to get the match point first, and the subsequent road trip will be more auspicious. In this game, both teams played with all their main forces, and the big battle was about to start.
In the first quarter, the Knicks created a lot of opportunities inside and outside, but they didn't feel good. Only 1 of 7 3-pointers from the outside, and the impact of the inside line also encountered the strong restrictions of the 76ers and frequently hit the iron, scoring only 17 points in a single quarter; But the firepower on the inside outperformed the Knicks, hitting the basket frequently and getting more service opportunities. Embiid scored 10 points in the first quarter, with six rebounds, four assists and one steal, leading the team to establish a 10-point advantage; Brunson scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first quarter, but the rest of his teammates scored a total of 5 points, unable to stop the 76ers from opening up the difference;
In the second quarter, the situation changed abruptly, and the Knicks' hand feeling warmed up in an all-round way, while the 76ers' shooting rate declined, and the point difference began to narrow; in this quarter, the Knicks only made 4 shots and 2 shots from the outside, and all the points came from the impact on the 76ers' hinterland of the restricted area, and the efficiency was quite high. Brunson continued to work hard in the quarter, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, along with two rebounds and six assists. The 76ers shot 4 of 7 from the outside in this quarter, shooting more than 5 percent, but the inside was a mess, with only 1 of 12 shots! At halftime, the Knicks only trailed by 2 points at 47-49;
Yibian fought again, and the scores of the two teams rose alternately in this section, and the score difference could not be opened. In this quarter, the Knicks continued to make efforts inside and outside, and continued to make 4 3-pointers, and the scoring momentum on the inside was still very strong, only conceding 4 shots under the basket, and scoring 30 points in a single quarter; Brunson scored 15 points in 5 of 11 in this quarter, and scored 38 points in the 3rd quarter! The 76ers were 3 of 9 outside in this quarter, and frequently got free throw opportunities inside, and the Knicks overtook 2 points 77-75 in the third quarter; Embiid only made 2 shots in this quarter, but scored 12 points in 7 of 8 free throws!
In the final quarter, the defensive intensity of both teams was very high. The Knicks made just 1 of 8 shots from the outside, which was cold to the touch, but the 76ers were not much better, shooting only 1 of 9. Both teams were inaccurate from the outside and both turned on the basket mode, but the Knicks were more efficient, conceding only three shots from the basket. In the end, the Knicks firmly held on to the lead, and the score was fixed at 97-92, and the big score was stretched to 3-1, taking the lead to get the match point. Embiid was invisible in the quarter, shooting 0-of-5 and scoring 1 point from the free-throw line. The core is dumb, and the other players of the 76ers do not have strong scoring points to lead the team to fight back, and in the end they can only swallow the bitter fruit of a loss.
Statistics:
In this game, Brunson scored 47 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists, setting a new career record for single-game scoring in the playoffs! Anunoby had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks, Hart had 4 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks, Hartenstein had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, DiVincenzo had 8 points and 2 boards, and McBride had 13 points and 4 boards;
On the 76ers' side, Embiid had 27 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, Harris had 10 points and 8 boards, Oubre had 19 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Maxey had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and Lowry had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.