Knicks dominate on both ends, cruise to 137-98 Game 1 win over 76ers

The Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 137-98 in Game 1 of their second round matchup on Monday at MSG. Here are some takeaways... - The Knicks had a bit of a scare just minutes into this one, as Karl-Anthony Towns went down in significant pain after taking a hard fall coming down from an offensive rebound attempt, but he ended up being okay after staying down for a few moments and remained on the floor following a TV timeout.

Joel Embiid was also able to get both Towns (two) and Mitchell Robinson (two) into early foul trouble. - With Towns sitting, it was Jalen Brunson who carried the load for the Knicks' offense in the early going. It was a mainly back-and-forth opening frame, but the All-Star point guard put together one of his signature barrages scoring nine straight New York points and dishing an assist on a Miles McBride three to make it a four-point game.

OG Anunoby found his touch late, as well, scoring all of his seven points to close the first quarter up by eight. - Finally back on the floor, Towns got into a rhythm for the first time opening the second. The dominant big man was able to take advantage of Embiid resting after playing the entire first quarter, quickly pushing both his point total and the Knicks' lead all the way out to double-digits.

- New York's defense was tremendous and they continued to get whatever they wanted on the other end. The Garden was rocking and the home team had all of the momentum as they carried their largest lead of the half into the break (23) following Brunson's deep three at the buzzer. - The captain was taking advantage of Embiid and Philly's defense in the pick-in-roll, scoring the teams last 11 points to bring his total out to 27, which is the second-most in any playoff half by a Knick in the play-by-play era.