In the long, 78-year history of the New York Knicks franchise, few moments and few games exceed the drama, shock and euphoria that the final 47.1 seconds of Game 2 of their opening round, best-of-seven, Eastern Conference playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night engendered.
Trailing 101-96, the Knicks appeared headed for a loss and destined to go to Philadelphia tied 1-1 after taking Game 1 on Saturday at the Garden 111-104. Instead, by the time the humongous overhead scoreboard hovering above the court showed the game had officially ended with the Knicks winning 104-101, the building literally vibrated from the crowd’s collective thunderous shouts of exhilaration. Now they head to Philadelphia up 2-0 before Game 3 tonight (7:30 p.m.). Let’s recap how the tables turned: A 23-foot, 3-pointer from near the left corner in front of the 76ers bench by Jalen Brunson with 27.1 seconds remaining; a steal by Josh Hart at 16.1, muscling the ball from the 76ers fallen Tyrese Maxey, who was lying on his back on the 76ers ensuing in-bound pass by Kyle Lowry, leading to a go-ahead 25-foot, 3-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo from behind the top of circle with 13 seconds left; two ice-cold, pressurized foul shots by OG Anunoby at 6.1 seconds; and a missed, potential game tying 3-point attempt by 76ers center Joel Embiid as time expired.
Instant classic!
“We don’t give up. I think there are a lot of teams that probably would have given up in that situation,” said Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein, who had a critical offensive rebound to give DiVincenzo another chance to put the Knicks up after his first 3-point try was off target seconds before his decisive basket.
“It starts with Thibs (head coach Tom Thibodeau). He always believes no game is ever safe, so he instills it in us. It starts with him and the whole team had a belief that we could come back and it worked out.”
Thibodeau, who was a Knicks assistant from 1996-2003, placed Game 2 among the most memorable he has been a part of.
“Well, there have been some pretty wild finishes but that was right up there with the best of them,” he recalled. “That just shows you what the playoffs is all about. Oftentimes it’s a hustle play here, a hustle play there, just find a way to win…We got a lot of contributions from different people.”
With All-Star guard Jalen Brusnon laboring to counter the 76ers, physical, swarming defensive scheme being employed against him, shooting just 16-55 combined in Games 1 and 2, no Knick has embodied their will to win more than Josh Hart. The guard-forward has been tenacious and relentless on both ends of the court, posting team highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1 followed by an indelible 21 points and 15 boards on Monday.
“He gives the team toughness, real toughness,” Thibodeau said of Hart. “It’s a big part of the fabric of this team.”
Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia at 1:00 p.m.
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