In the second of a back-to-back, the Knicks jumped out to a 16-point lead in the 2nd quarter, but Philly took command in the 3rd quarter and stomped the Knicks in the 4th in Philly on a Wednesday night. The game was the second of a back-to-back — the Knicks having blown a victory in the closing 5 minutes the prior Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Oddly enough the scores of the two games were nearly identical — Philly 125 NY 109 on Sunday in a game that was close until the Knicks collapsed in the final 5 minutes; and Philly 123 NY 108 in this one, in a game that was not close in the 4th quarter.
The rematch had less foul calls than the previous game, when James Harden and Joel Embiid went to the free throw line continuously. But Philly still won — commandingly this time. Philly was 28-33 from the free throw line in this one (39-44 the previous game); NY was 22-32 from the free throw line (22-35 in the prior game).
“We didn’t close the 2nd well; we started the 3rd, got back on our heels — tried to recover after the first 2 or 3 minutes; and then the end of the 3rd was problematic for us,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “I thought we played very well in the 1st half. We didn’t play well in the 2nd half. I’m more concerned about our defense than our offense. We got plenty of points.”
1. Barrett Leads Knicks Again
RJ Barrett led the Knicks again; he had 30 points on 10-23 shooting (3-8 from 3 and 7-8 in free throws).
STRONG DRIVE RJ 💪 pic.twitter.com/FXfabzyALQ
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 3, 2022
2. Randle Cleans Up His Game
Julius Randle played a strong game — shaking off the poor shooting of his two post-All Star break performances against Miami on Friday (2-15 from the floor) and Sunday vs Philly (4-13 from the floor). Randle attacked the paint and hit jumpers for 24 points on 9-21 shooting (0-2 from 3; 6-8 in free throws), 6 rebounds, 3 assists.
.@J30_RANDLE PERCOLATING pic.twitter.com/C2yVHmTnob
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 3, 2022
3. Robinson vs Embiid
Mitchell Robinson played Joel Embiid much better than he did on Sunday — but Embiid came on in the 2nd half and got his — 27 points on 7-15 shooting (11-13 in free throws), 12 rebounds, 2 blocks. In the prior game Embiid was 23-27 from the free throw line en route to 37 pts.
Way to be there @23savage____ 👏 pic.twitter.com/zFSXsdDzAx
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 3, 2022
Mitchell Robinson had 10 points on 5-6 shooting and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes (4 fouls). Jericho Sims played 13 minutes (4 fouls), and this time coach Tom Thibodeau deployed Taj Gibson for 14 minutes (5 pts, 3 rebounds, and a +9).
GREAT pick & roll between RJ and Mitch pic.twitter.com/ZerG2Y7A1d
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 3, 2022
4. Quickley vs Maxey
Former Kentucky teammates Immanuel Quickley and Tyrus Maxey faced off against each other for the 2nd straight game.
Maxey had 25 points on 7-12 shooting (4-6 from 3), killing the Knicks in the 3rd and 4th quarters especially. Quickley shot well — 4-7 (1-3 from 3) for 11 points in 20 minutes.
4. Fournier & Burks Shoot Blanks
The Knicks got no support from starters Evan Fournier (1-8 shooting, 0-5 from 3 for 3 points in 27 minutes), and Alec Burks (2-11 shooting for 9 points and 4 assists in 31 minutes as the point guard).
Harden meanwhile, had 26 points (8-10 in free throws), 9 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Cam Reddish got 23 minutes of action off the Knicks bench and looked pretty good — 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-3 from 3).
.@camreddish steal ➡️ @RjBarrett6 bucket pic.twitter.com/KGlxVXeCUZ
— KNICKS ON MSG (@KnicksMSGN) March 3, 2022
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