VJ Edgecombe finished with a series of layups and trips to the foul line that kept the Philadelphia 76ers in control late in their 106-100 win over the defending champion New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. The Knicks’ defense focused on Tyrese Maxey, blitzing him off a high ball screen late in the fourth quarter, but Maxey found Edgecombe open near the rim.
Edgecombe, who averaged 16 points per game as a rookie and converted 61 percent of his point-blank attempts, capitalized on the Knicks’ defensive choices. “If I can score like that the whole game, I’m perfectly fine with that,” Edgecombe said after the game.
The Knicks had reason to be cautious. Maxey was the standout player for most of the night, slicing through defenses on multiple occasions. But when the Knicks pressured Maxey, he slipped a pass to Joel Embiid, who had set the screen and was ready for the feed at the foul line. Embiid, the league’s former Most Valuable Player, remains one of the most dominant offensive players when healthy.
The Knicks’ strategy to stop Embiid involved pinching in from the corners to protect the paint, but those corners were occupied by Philadelphia’s new acquisitions: Jaylen Brown and LeBron James. Brown scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished six assists in his debut for the Sixers after arriving in a blockbuster trade from the Boston Celtics this summer. James added 14 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
“You don’t want to leave either of those guys alone,” the Knicks’ defensive dilemma showed. That left Edgecombe open for the kind of inside scoring that helped Philadelphia hold the Knicks at arm’s length during the final minutes.
Brown said, “That’s what we wanted to do, be a little spoiler. Obviously, what the Knicks accomplished is great. But it’s a new season, new year.” The Sixers’ offseason changes have added offensive firepower and defensive versatility to a team that has struggled to get past the second round of the playoffs since 2001.
Guards Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope combined for five three-pointers, helping the Sixers break through a slow start. Head coach Nick Nurse praised their impact: “Those were incredibly huge tonight. I thought we were generating a bunch of wide-open threes and just nobody could throw one in. And those guys kind of broke through on that and moved the scoreboard for us.”
The first quarter was a test of shooting for both teams. The Knicks shot just 37 percent from the field and the Sixers managed 40.9 percent. Combined, they missed 15 of their first 19 three-point attempts. The game featured stagnant possessions, fouls, and free throws rather than fast-paced scoring.
Philadelphia trailed by four at halftime but picked up their intensity after the break. In the third quarter, the Sixers made 12 field goals on 27 attempts, all assisted. Nurse said the players were “just trying to read where the ball’s supposed to go” and praised the passing, mentioning Embiid, James, and Maxey.
Defensively, the Sixers held the Knicks to 18 points on 5-for-21 shooting in the third quarter. They closed the quarter with a 14-2 run, capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Brown, carrying a seven-point lead into the fourth. The Sixers maintained the lead through the final period, keeping Jalen Brunson, Karl–Anthony Towns, and the rest of the Knicks at bay.
Embiid noted, “That third quarter, that just gives you an outlook on what we can become.”
After halftime, the Sixers limited the Knicks to just 14 points in the paint. They forced 14 turnovers, converting them into 22 points, often scoring quickly off steals. According to Cleaning the Glass, Philadelphia scored 1.8 points per play in transition and an impressive 2.2 points per play off steals, an efficiency that helped compensate for a shaky shooting night.
The Sixers’ defense rotated effectively, closed out hard on shooters, and disrupted drivers. Their pressure and unselfish offense helped them claim a win over the reigning champions in their first meeting of the season.
According to Yahoo Sports.
