NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers were in the exact same position they were Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks that they were a round earlier against the Boston Celtics: down 1-0 in the series, coming off a rout in the opener and with Joel Embiid out with an injury.
And like Game 2 against Boston, Philadelphia found itself with a lead midway through the fourth quarter, and an improbable series-tying victory sitting within its grasp.
That, however, is where the similarities ended.
Instead of closing Game 2 with clutch shotmaking, which Philadelphia did in equaling its series with Boston a couple weeks ago, the 76ers instead went almost six minutes without a basket, as the Knicks scored nine consecutive points over a more than four-minute stretch in the fourth quarter to allow New York to pull ahead and claim a 108-102 victory and take a 2-0 lead in this best-of-7 affair.
“I commend their effort,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “I just wish that a couple of those really good [looks went in]. All we needed was one or two … we just needed one or two to kind get the thing to at least get it down to the end where we had a chance.”
When the 76ers ruled out Embiid — after he’d been previously listed as probable — with both a right ankle sprain and right hip soreness about six hours before tip, it seemed all but certain this series would be headed back to Philadelphia for Game 3 Friday with the 76ers in an 2-0 hole and needing to defend home court to even the series.
But the 76ers got off to a hot start and stayed right in the game through to the end, as the two teams traded the lead back and forth 25 times — the most in any playoff game in over a decade.
Unlike in Game 2 against Boston, however, the 76ers just couldn’t get a shot to fall in the final few minutes, as Philadelphia missed 11 of its final 12 3-pointers and Jalen Brunson, a former Clutch Player of the Year winner, buried a couple of huge shots over 76ers forward Dominick Barlow that put the Knicks ahead for good.
“It’s going to be like this for the rest of the series,” said Tyrese Maxey, who had 26 points and played all but 72 seconds, while also jamming his right pinkie finger, one that already had been bothering him for some time, during Game 2. “I don’t expect anything less. However long the series is, I feel like every single game is going to be like it was tonight. You know what I’m saying?
“It’s going to be extremely physical, extremely competitive, and it’s going to come down to who makes the play at the end of the game.”
The 76ers will be hoping going forward that they’ll have Embiid as part of the mix. He was brilliant in Philadelphia’s comeback from down 3-1 against the Celtics, and then was part of a team-wide flop in Game 1 Monday, one so bad that Nurse wound up punting midway through the third quarter.
Embiid had been receiving treatment for both his ankle and hip injuries leading up to Wednesday’s game, but after he was unable to participate in shootaround Wednesday the team opted to have him sit out, in the hopes of playing Friday back in Philadelphia in Game 3.
Nurse said before the game that it was fair to treat Embiid’s status as day-to-day going forward.
Embiid has played five games in these playoffs since returning from an emergency appendectomy April 9, a couple of days before the end of the regular season. The seven-time All-Star is averaging 25.2 points, 8 rebounds and 5.8 assists across the postseason.
Embiid played 38 games during the regular season, after just 19 the year before, and averaged 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds.
