Sixers push Knicks to the brink, but the Eastern Conference’s oldest playoff rule comes back to haunt them

In the Eastern Conference, home-court advantage has traditionally carried enormous weight. Playing at home gave teams an edge, while playing on the road was a major challenge. That was how the playoffs were fought on the other coast of the United States, where the level of basketball was notably lower than in the West: draining every last ounce of energy, battling endlessly. And pushing back against that, against all odds, the Sixers had overcome a first-round series against the Celtics without home-court advantage, winning two of their final three road games and breaking the mold, Boston’s favored status and every statistic that pointed toward Joe Mazzulla’s team, who were forced to pack up and go home against all expectations.

Sixers vs Knicks Game 2: road challenge at Madison Square Garden

And so, against the Eastern Conference’s home-court tradition, the Sixers faced a new challenge against the Knicks. Joel Embiid was clear after eliminating the Celtics and called on Philadelphia fans to make plenty of noise when the series arrived there. But to win it, they had to take a game at Madison Square Garden, where they were completely overwhelmed in the opener, 137-98, by a Knicks team that, along with them, forms a new classic rivalry – historic within the East in particular and the NBA in general. Still, the Sixers had also started the first round with an emphatic defeat before eventually emerging. Now they were looking for another surprise in one of basketball’s great temples, against an opponent chasing its first Finals appearance since 1999. And with everything so wide open, they could do it.

Joel Embiid injury update: Sixers struggle without star center

In the end, Joel Embiid injury update became decisive: he did not play, and that buried the Sixers’ chances. They improved, but fell 108-102 in Knicks vs Sixers Game 2, despite more than one major effort. The center, who has not played more than six consecutive games since 2023, has knee and hip issues. In other words, he appears exhausted after the effort he has put in, and it was decided that resting him was better than forcing him, giving Philadelphia more options in the home games. The Knicks still had to grind through it: 25 lead changes, 14 ties, a maximum lead of seven points for either team, three extremely tight opening quarters, with the score 90-89 entering the final 12 minutes, and a 19-12 closing run for the home side that finally allowed the crowd, led by Spike Lee, to breathe.

Even then, winning was torture: 96-96 with seven minutes remaining, with the lasting sense that 10 lifetimes could pass without the tie being broken. With six minutes left, it was 99-99. Then the Knicks cracked the game open: a 6-0 home run made it 105-99, and an 8-1 burst stretched it to 107-100, creating a gap that seemed insurmountable. A Tyrese Maxey basket pulled the Sixers within five with a minute to go, 107-102. It was the final field goal by either team, who then traded a huge number of misses before Miles McBride hit a lone free throw to set the final score. Knicks vs Sixers Game 2 result ultimately came down to execution and crowd energy.

Knicks vs Sixers stats: Brunson, Towns and Anunoby lead Game 2 win

Without Embiid, Paul George finished with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, while Kelly Oubre Jr added another 19. VJ Edgecombe reached 17, and Tyrese Maxey stats stood out in a titanic effort: 26 points and six assists, though he shot 9-for-23 and committed six turnovers. For the Knicks, everything revolved around three players: Jalen Brunson stats (26 points, six assists), Karl-Anthony Towns (20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists), and OG Anunoby (24 points, five rebounds, two assists, four steals and a block). The latter left injured with what appeared to be a hamstring issue after jumping while attempting a dunk, and the true extent of the forward’s injury, if there is one, will be known in the coming hours. He is one of New York’s pillars on both ends of the floor. The Sixers will travel to Philadelphia down 2-0 with plenty still to say, but with the question of whether they will be able to say it. After all, without Embiid, there is no chance.

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New York Knicks

Stats

5 Jose Alvarado
8 OG Anunoby
25 Mikal Bridges
11 Jalen Brunson
0 Jordan Clarkson
4 Pacôme Dadiet
51 Mohamed Diawara
3 Josh Hart
55 Ariel Hukporti
13 Tyler Kolek
2 Miles McBride
44 Landry Shamet
20 Jeremy Sochan
32 Karl-Anthony Towns

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
5 Jose Alvarado	7	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0/0	0/1	1/1	0	2
8 OG Anunoby	37	24	5	2	3	2	0	4	1	4/4	7/10	2/7	0	3
25 Mikal Bridges	37	18	5	1	4	2	0	1	1	0/0	9/11	0/2	0	1
11 Jalen Brunson	40	26	1	0	1	6	3	1	0	7/8	8/16	1/5	0	1
0 Jordan Clarkson	8	6	5	3	2	0	1	0	0	2/2	2/3	0/1	0	0
4 Pacôme Dadiet	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
51 Mohamed Diawara	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
3 Josh Hart	43	5	7	0	7	6	4	3	0	0/0	1/1	1/5	0	3
55 Ariel Hukporti	6	2	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/3	0/0	0	4
13 Tyler Kolek	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
2 Miles McBride	21	4	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	1/2	0/1	1/4	0	2
44 Landry Shamet	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
20 Jeremy Sochan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
32 Karl-Anthony Towns	27	20	10	2	8	7	3	1	0	7/9	5/7	1/1	0	4

Philadelphia 76ers

Stats

25 Dominick Barlow
30 Adem Bona
22 Johni Broome
1 Andre Drummond
77 VJ Edgecombe
11 Justin Edwards
8 Paul George
5 Quentin Grimes
7 Kyle Lowry
0 Tyrese Maxey
9 Kelly Oubre Jr.
14 Dalen Terry
33 Jabari Walker
12 Trendon Watford

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
25 Dominick Barlow	15	6	2	0	2	0	2	1	2	0/0	3/3	0/0	0	1
30 Adem Bona	16	2	7	6	1	1	2	0	2	2/4	0/0	0/0	0	5
22 Johni Broome	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
1 Andre Drummond	14	6	8	2	6	1	0	1	0	2/2	2/2	0/0	0	4
77 VJ Edgecombe	39	17	5	2	3	3	4	1	0	2/4	3/6	3/7	0	3
11 Justin Edwards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
8 Paul George	42	19	6	1	5	4	2	2	2	0/1	2/5	5/13	0	4
5 Quentin Grimes	23	7	3	0	3	3	1	1	0	4/4	0/2	1/2	0	3
7 Kyle Lowry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
0 Tyrese Maxey	46	26	3	0	3	6	6	1	0	7/9	8/17	1/6	0	1
9 Kelly Oubre Jr.	39	19	5	0	5	2	1	1	0	4/4	3/6	3/6	0	2
14 Dalen Terry	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
33 Jabari Walker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
12 Trendon Watford	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0