As expected, the first chapter of the series between Knicks and Sixers turns into a battle, with the two teams protagonists of partial and counter-partial, overtaking and counter-overtaking. In the end the home team prevailed, first finding a surprising Miles McBride and then in the 4th quarter two glacial triples from Josh Hart (22 points and 13 rebounds) which marked the decisive break. In Philadelphia, the good performances of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were not enough to win Madison Square Garden.
On an evening in which the team’s star Jalen Brunson struggled to shoot (22 points with 8/26 from the field), Miles “Deuce” McBride took the spotlight, scoring 13 points in the 2nd quarter alone, dominated by the Knicks (one more than those sent to the scoreboard by all the Sixers in a single quarter). In the end he will close at 21 with 5/7 from three and the fans who praise his nickname by shouting “Deuceee!”.
New York’s defense is by no means one of the easiest to face and the atmosphere for Game 1 at Madison Square Garden is red-hot, but Maxey still takes the Sixers’ attack on his shoulders. Despite failing to lead his team to victory, the Philadelphia point guard finished with 33 points and 4 assists.
In the 2nd quarter of game 1 the world around the Sixers seems to collapse, because Embiid is forced out due to what seems like a flare-up of the left knee problem and the team sinks. Fortunately, the Philadelphia star will return after the long break.