NEW YORK ― Kelly Oubre Jr. blew a kiss to the Knicks’ bench after hitting a fourth-quarter three-pointer. Tyrese Maxey then sank another of his trademark floaters to give the Sixers a four-point lead with less than three minutes to play.
And then Jalen Brunson went to work.
The Knicks’ All-Star point guard out of Villanova calmly sank two free throws. He slithered into the lane for a layup. He rattled home a tie-breaking three-pointer. And he sealed a dicier-than-expected New York victory at the foul line.
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Brunson’s 34 points — including an eye-popping 15-of-16 mark from the free-throw line — and seven assists propelled New York to a 110-105 win Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, and handed the Sixers their ninth consecutive loss despite a valiant comeback effort.
“It’s tough defending him, because he’s so crafty,” Sixers wing Paul George said of Brunson. “He does a great job of being physical, which makes you play physical. And because you play physical, you end up with the foul. He’s got that figured out: how to be aggressive, how to attack and put pressure on you, put pressure on the officials
“It’s like [a] pitbull. … we knew the ball was going to get to him, we tried to make it as tough as possible. We tried to live with him shooting [midrange jumpers], but he was able to get a little bit of everything tonight.”
The result — along with the fact that the Knicks’ 38-20 record is the exact reverse of the Sixers’ 20-38 mark — further illustrates the gap that has formed between these two teams since last spring’s wildly competitive and entertaining first-round playoff series.
The Knicks sit in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, and restabilized themselves after getting thumped by the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers and defending champion Boston Celtics in their previous two games. The Sixers remain 2½ games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Yet the rally attempt was encouraging from the Sixers, who trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and were down 83-74 entering the final period. It came following an embarrassing Monday loss to the Bulls, a game they trailed by 50 points in the second half and that left coach Nick Nurse calling for more professionalism and George saying his team has “shown no signs” of contending for the playoffs.
“We played hard as hell,” Maxey said of the Sixers’ approach against the Knicks. “We guarded [the] ball. We played together. Played fast. Made shots. Got to the paint and scored. That’s how you play basketball.
“Everybody competed. Nobody was scared. Nobody cared about what the score was. We competed to the end and competed our behinds off.”
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Maxey finished with 30 points but went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc — and acknowledged his sprained right pinkie finger is still impacting his shooting and dribbling — in his first game at the Garden since dropping 46 during Game 5 of that playoff series. Oubre, whom Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called one of the NBA’s most underrated players before the game, scored 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting. George added 25 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
Unsurprisingly, the other “‘Nova Knicks” also were heavily involved in Wednesday’s victory. Bridges’ 19 first-quarter points were his most in one period this season, and he finished with 28 on 12-of-18 from the floor. Josh Hart grabbed 17 rebounds to go along with seven points and four assists.
The Sixers played their 39th game this season without star center Joel Embiid, though there was no update from coach Nick Nurse on next steps for Embiid following further imaging he was scheduled to undergo on his ailing left knee on Tuesday. Reserve big man Guerschon Yabusele also missed the game with injuries to both eyes, including a scratched cornea. Knicks All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) was also out.
Defense was again at the center of the Sixers’ early woes, allowing the Knicks to shoot 59% from the floor in the first half to build their cushion. The Sixers shot 38.7% before the break. New York led, 33-21, at the end of the first quarter. That advantage reached 48-30 when Precious Achiuwa threw down a dunk with just over five minutes remaining in the second.
The Sixers cut the deficit to 67-57 on a George jumper at the 7:30 mark of the third. But Brunson answered with a pull-up three-pointer, before Achiuwa followed with an underneath finish and Mikal Bridges hit a jumper to push that advantage back out to 75-60.
The Knicks’ lead dwindled again, to 84-78, on a George driving layup with 10:46 remaining. Then, a Bridges tough jumper and layup book ended an OG Anunoby driving conversion to make the score 90-81 with less than nine minutes to play before the Sixers’ final push.
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The Sixers return home for a Saturday matchup against the Golden State Warriors, who recently traded for former Sixers star Jimmy Butler.