Kristian Winfield: Everyone’s better than the Knicks until it’s time to be better than the Knicks
PHILADELPHIA — With 3:37 left in the second quarter of Game 3 between the Knicks and 76ers at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday, Tyrese Maxey’s shoulders did all the talking, and it was easy to read the words his body relayed that his mouth held back. “We’re cooked. ” The Sixers had already thrown their best punch.
They scored nine points before the Knicks scored once. They led 17-8 five minutes into the opening period and held a 27-18 lead with just under four minutes left in the first. They had Joel Embiid on the court in a game the Knicks didn’t have OG Anunoby.
The Sixers had momentum — a chance to steal (yes, steal) a game against a far (yes, far) superior Knicks team and salvage what was left of their playoff hopes after ceding the first two games of the second-round series at Madison Square Garden. The Sixers, however, hadn’t considered the circumstances, the stakes, the resilience of an opponent with far bigger fish to fry than a second-round obstacle. Because the Knicks are prize fighters.
They show up when it matters most. And after the Sixers landed their early punch — with 15 first-quarter points from Paul George to show — the Knicks threw back. Haymaker after haymaker.
A flurry the Sixers couldn’t weather. The kind of storm leaving Maxey resigned to the very idea of defeat before the halftime break. The 76ers led by 12 midway through the first quarter.
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