Jalen Brunson Leads Knicks Past 76ers 144-114, Finish 4-0 Sweep — Knicks Cavs
The knicks cavs story ended with New York running Philadelphia out of the series, 144-114, on Sunday to complete a 4-0 sweep. Jalen Brunson controlled the offense, Miles McBride scored 25 points, and the Knicks finished a first-round job in four games.
Brunson and McBride
McBride started in place of OG Anunoby, who was sidelined with a right hamstring strain, and responded by making his first five three-point attempts. He led the Knicks with 25 points. Brunson added 22 points and kept New York moving while all five starters scored in double figures.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Josh Hart had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Mikal Bridges scored 12. New York did not need a single shot-maker to carry the night; it spread the work across the lineup and kept the pressure on from the opening minutes.
Philadelphia start, New York surge
The opening stretch decided the game before halftime. New York made 15 of its first 20 shots, hit 11 of its first 12 three-point attempts, and built a 43-24 lead after one quarter. By the break, the Knicks were up 81-57, already in control of the pace and the scoreboard.
The lead kept climbing in the second half. Brunson’s reverse layup and a three-pointer pushed New York ahead 99-70, the biggest margin of the night. Philadelphia never answered with a run that changed the game.
Embiid and the Sixers
Joel Embiid scored 24 points and made all eight of his field-goal attempts for Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey added 17 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 10, and Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined to shoot 1-for-13 from three-point range.
Nick Nurse had seen enough of Brunson’s control to spell out the problem after the game: “The biggest thing is just his skill and attention to detail,” He added, “A lot of it is the footwork, things that he does in just reading however you play the screen he makes it a very quick read, he hardly ever makes mistakes on his own footwork to where he wants to go, no matter what you throw at him. He continues to make adjustments on that stuff as you go along the series, too. Shot making has been good, his assists have been good, too. His physicality has been good, too. When it’s one-on-one he bumps and pushes off and creates space and he’s hit most of those.”
The crowd in Philadelphia was about two-thirds Knicks fans, and the result matched the noise. New York left with the sweep, the series, and a performance strong enough to keep it in the title conversation if it repeats this level again.
