It had been a struggle and a slog all game.
The Knicks trailed after the first, second and third quarters. The 76ers were playing more freely without Joel Embiid. Jalen Brunson was having a clunker.
Then the NBA’s best fourth-quarter team emerged.
It’s something that had not been needed for some time. Two straight historic blowouts meant Knicks starters hadn’t played a single minute of the fourth quarter the past two games.
There were no records this time, no extended garbage time. It was the first late-game test for the Knicks since the middle of the first round. And they aced it.
With the game in the balance, the Knicks put their foot down and took over with a 108-102 win over the 76ers in Game 2 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Brunson drilled a stepback jumper to give the Knicks a two-point lead with 5:06 left. Josh Hart had tied the game with a 3-pointer two possessions prior. Brunson made another midrange jumper — pivoting and shimmying in both directions before fading away and firing — to give the Knicks a four-point lead with 3:46 left in the game. Mikal Bridges’ jumper extended the lead to six points with 2:56 left. Tyrese Maxey went 1-for-2 from the line to cut the 76ers’ deficit to five points with 1:33 left. Brunson drew a foul — on VJ Edgecombe — on the other end, drilled both free throws and extended the Knicks’ lead to seven points with 1:06 left.
By that point, it pretty much became a formality. There wasn’t enough time for the 76ers to provide any sort of answer.
And the Knicks largely did it without OG Anunoby, who was in the locker room down the stretch.
In total, the Knicks outscored the 76ers by seven in the fourth quarter, holding them to just 12 points in the quarter. Once the Knicks took the lead — which was the 25th lead change of the game, the most in a playoff game in 13 years — they never relinquished it.
And it was something unique so far this postseason. The Knicks had lost both close games they were in previously — Games 2 and 3 against the Hawks. All their wins had been blowouts. This marks the first close win so far in the playoffs.
Brunson scored eight of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. Maxey, who finished with 26 points for the 76ers, had just seven in the second half.
Karl-Anthony Towns was dominant — but the only thing that stopped him was himself. He picked up his second foul with 4:29 left in the first quarter. With no Mitchell Robinson, Ariel Hukporti checked in for Towns. And Towns picked up his third foul less than a minute after checking back into the game to start the second quarter. He scored 10 of the Knicks’ first 16 points to open the second half, but they could not get stops on the other end to establish any sort of sustainable lead. And then Towns picked up his fourth foul with 4:31 left in the third quarter and checked out. He finished with 20 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists.
Anunoby, before exiting late, continued his terrific postseason with 24 points.
