Brooms in the stands, 144 points on the board: The Knicks’ Philly takeover ends in a sweep

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Knicks fans raised their brooms outside the arena and pumped up the volume once inside. They poured in by the thousands and serenaded the may-as-well-be home team in the waning moments of another lopsided playoff victory with chants of “Knicks in four! Knicks in four!

” Here's a more substantial number than four for the Knicks: Try winning in the playoffs by almost 20 points a game. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns — you too, Deuce McBride and Landry Shamet — have stretched New York's steamroll through the postseason into the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year. The 76ers were but a pesky speed bump for the Knicks as they rolled to a series sweep and their seventh straight postseason win overall under coach Mike Brown.

Perhaps the only drawback from the Knicks soundly thumping the 76ers 144-114 on Sunday is the expected lengthy layoff before New York gets a crack at either Cleveland or Detroit in the conference finals. Detroit leads Cleveland 2-1 in the series with Game 4 set for Monday. “Yeah, you like the rhythm that you're in,” Brown said.

“But if we expect to be who we're capable of being, we'll find a way to stay consistent with what we're doing, whether it's the energy level, the effort level, or embracing-slash-focusing on the details that we have to be able to understand in order to get a win. ” The Knicks, as the kids say, understood the assignment and refused to let Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the rest of a Sixers team brimming with confidence after rallying from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round to beat Boston ever pose a serious threat at pulling off a second straight upset. As for the time off, the Knicks could use a few extra days of rest, especially for injured forward OG Anunoby.