For the second year in a row, the New York Knicks reached the finals of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs by dominantly knocking out the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round with a 4-0 win, in the fourth game played on Sunday in Philadelphia, it was convincing 144-114 for the Knicks.
From the very beginning the meeting was one wayprimarily due to incredibly good outside shot of the guests. The Knicks hit as many as 11 three-pointers in the first quarter, which is tying the record for the most 3-pointers made by a team in one quarter in playoff history. The fact that they only missed once in that cannonade gives added value to that data. Therefore, the Knicks already had a 20-point advantage after the first 12 minutes, they went to the break with an 81-57 lead, and later the difference grew to 44 before the home team mitigated the disaster a little.
The Knicks ended the game with 25 three-pointers thus tying the league record in the playoffs, and they were led by an unexpected hero Miles McBride with 25 interceptions, including seven three-pointers. Jalen Brunson added 22 for the Knicks, while Joel Embiid with 24 and Tyrese Maxey with 17 are the only ones worth mentioning for the home team.
After losing to the Atlanta Hawks 1-2 in the first round, This is the seventh consecutive victory for the Knicksand four of those seven were by at least 29 points.
In the finals of the East, New York will play against the winner of the duel Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers in which the current record in victories is 2-1 for Detroit.
Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the Western Conference evened the ratio in victories at 2-2 against San Antonio Spurs defeating them at home with 114-109 in the fourth game. A very important event in that match was the dismissal of Spurs’ best player Victor Wembanyama after three and a half minutes of play in the second quarter. Then the Frenchman elbowed Naz Reid in the head, which is why the referees sent him off after reviewing the video.
Although without their best player, the Spurs, driven by De’Aaron Fox and “rookie” Dylan Harper, had a 94-86 advantage at the beginning of the last quarter, but in the very end of the duel, the stars of the home team, Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, played the right moves and led their team to a crucial victory.
Edwards led the Wolves with 36 points, Reid added 15 with nine rebounds, while Fox and Harper each scored 24 for the Spurs.
The fifth game of these teams will be played in San Antonio on Tuesday.
(Hina | Photo: New York Knicks)
