Knicks 108, 76ers 102: “no Matter Who Wins, This Is Such A P*** Poor Reffed Game.”

To quote SwissCheez, “another no call, surprising.” And Knicksyism: “No foul…” And rcnt123: “No matter who wins, this is such a piss-poor reffed game.” Excessive complaining about lopsided officiating is generally considered uncouth, especially if your team wins. Hence, we apologize for what follows.

New York made history on Monday. In defeating Philadelphia by 39 points, they became the first NBA team to win three straight playoff games by 25 or more. Tonight, a not-so-invisible hand seemed to be at work, ensuring that Game Two of the Eastern Conference semifinals would keep eyeballs glued longer. The skeptics among you will retort that Philly collected three more fouls tonight, but the whistles didn’t even out until well into the second half. Yet despite the thumb on the scale, the hosts trailed by only one point at halftime, 62–61, and by one after three quarters, 90–89. The game had 25 lead changes, but down the stretch, New York’s talent shone through, the Cheesesteaks were gassed, and the Knicks won, 108–102.

Each team was down a big man tonight. Philly started Andre Drummond in place of Joel Embiid, nursing a sore ankle/hip, and illness sidelined New York’s Mitchell Robinson. Both players underwhelmed in the previous game. Both will surely play larger roles as this series grinds on.

Through the initial frame, the score swung back and forth. The hosts inched ahead, but poor long-range shooting and one-and-dones allowed the guests to mount an 8-0 run. New York responded with a 10-2 stretch. And so on.

All-Star veteran Paul George (19 PTS, 5-13 3PT), playing his 123rd playoff game, scored 11 of Philly’s first 13 points. Meanwhile, one of New York’s All-Stars, Karl-Anthony Towns (20 PTS, 10 RBS), took his lumps. First, Towns knocked knees with VJ Edgecombe (17 PTS), and then Kelly Oubre, Jr. (19 PTS) karate-chopped him on a drive. The whack was reviewed and deemed a flagrant foul in a rare gesture of goodwill by the umpires. (KAT made a free throw and then cashed in the possession with a finger-roll layup.)

Philly’s coach Nick Nurse schemed to put Towns in foul trouble and succeeded. Picking up his second at the 4:30 mark, Karl was swapped for Ariel Hukporti. Nurse had a scheme for Jalen Brunson (26 PTS, 9-21 FG, 41 MIN), too. The captain scored 14 points in the first quarter of Monday’s blowout; tonight, Oubre and Edgecombe took turns guarding him and held the captain to nine points in the opening period. After multiple contested misses, Jalen finally connected on a field goal (a 25-foot pull-up) with 1:30 left.

Before the quarter ended, Hukporti collected his third foul (in four minutes). Mike Brown had to dust off Jeremy Sochan, who mercifully kept his hands to himself. At the break, the guests led 33-31 thanks to making 6-of-9 from downtown.

Just when we thought Karl was cured. . . . In the first minute of Q2, Towns committed a forehead-slapping foul on Tyrese Maxey (26 PTS, 9-23 FG, 47 MIN). That sent the Knick to the bench again, right after scoring on a sweet floater. Josh Hart (7 RBS, 6 AST, 3 STL) replaced him, giving New York a center-less, small-ball lineup.

The refs definitely worked hard to keep this game competitive in the first half. Tony Brothers et al. whistled 14 fouls on New York and 10 on Philly. On one damnable sequence, the Knicks grabbed two offensive boards while missing three shots, and in that muddy mess, Drummond committed at least one foul that went uncalled. Close games are better for business, obviously.

Even with Maxey cooking, the Sixers sinking treys at an efficient clip, and the refs playing favorites, the Knicks kept the game close. When Hukporti recorded foul number four (at the 4:47 mark), Brown had to go small again with Brunson, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges (18 PTS, 9-13 FG), Hart, and OG Anunoby. This quintet promptly scored six points and knotted up the game at 54 apiece. Anunoby, playing the best playoff basketball of his career, finished with 24 points, five rebounds, four steals, a block, and a team-high +12.

On a subsequent possession, Josh got clobbered, yet managed to sink his layup (no whistle). Then, Brunson got whomped by Adem Bona and missed a layup (not a chirp). When Bona steamrolled Brunson with four seconds left, Jalen took New York’s first free throws of the second quarter. Read that again.

At intermission, Philly held a one-point lead. Through the half, the Knicks had made 53% of their shots, despite hitting just 25% from deep. Their biggest advantage was in the paint, where they were winning 38-16. The Sixers had hit 49% and 47%, taken 20 free throw attempts to New York’s 12, and outrebounded the Knicks 22-16. They’d also coughed up the rock 10 times (to New York’s six) and managed just six fast-break points.

In Game One, Maxey scored 13 points total on 3-of-9 shooting. By midgame tonight, he had shot 6-of-14 for 19 points (15 in the second quarter) and made 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. For the Knicks, Brunson had 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

To start the second half, the refs wasted no time calling Hart’s third foul, for what appeared to be a clean strip. My grandmother used to say, “The only way to beat a crooked ref is to make your shots and crash the glass.” The Knicks did their best to follow those instructions. It did feel like supernatural forces were working against them, however. Continuing a no-call theme, Brunson got fed through a wood chipper on a drive that tied the game at 79. Adem Bona (Drummond’s back-up) had to literally bonk Towns on the head to be penalized. Towns made one of two, putting the good guys up again. That was Karl’s last point of the quarter, though, as he got tagged for a foul immediately after and returned to the pine.

In the highlight of the night, Drummond used a broom handle to try four times to poke a stuck ball free. Towns calmly took the broom and bopped it free. That got the loudest cheer of the night.

Late in the quarter, Hart collided with OAKAAKUYOAK Quinten Grimes (7 PTS, 1-4 FG, 23 MIN), suffered a thumb injury, and had to leave the court. With Hart injured and Towns and Hukporti both carrying four fouls, the Knicks were disadvantaged and down 90-89 heading into the final frame.

No sweat. A warrior to the core, Hart returned to the court to start the fourth. At the midway point, with Philly answering every Knicks score, it was Hart’s three-pointer that tied the game at 99. A minute later, fellow former Wildcat Jalen Brunson drilled a 17-footer for the lead. Dominick Barlow provided a lift off the bench, and Philly had their chances, but bricks by Maxey (two), Edgecombe (two), and Oubre kept them down. Captain Clutch swished a turnaround jumper, and after a broken-up, sloppy sequence, the oft-maligned Mikal Bridges hit a long fadeaway to give New York a six-point lead, their largest yet. (Bridges deserves his flowers for his play in the series so far.)

Maxey played all but one minute of the game. It showed. He had hit 36 straight postseason free throws before missing one in the first half. In crunch time, the exhausted guard missed at the stripe, and Towns—the biggest man in the lane—easily wrangled the rebound to preserve a five-point advantage. At the other end, Cap made two freebies. Up seven, one minute left.

Also tired? Paul George. After hitting so many threes in the playoffs so far, he airballed from deep with his team down by five. Mike Brown called a timeout with 25 seconds left. After Miles McBride made a free throw, Maxey missed from 25 feet, and Brunson chased down the ball to close out the game.

Up Next

The series reconvenes on Friday in Philly. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.

Box Score