PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Josh Hart hesitated for just a moment after Jalen Brunson passed the ball from the left side as the Philadelphia crowd roared for defense, but Hart knew the 76ers were on his own. I noticed that I didn't give it a D.
Hart, left alone at the top of the arc, let it fly.
“I was able to stay solid and shoot an open, unbeatable shot,” he said.
With 24.4 seconds left, Hart raised his arms and extended three fingers on each hand for the go-ahead 3-pointer, leading the New York Knicks to a 118-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 on Thursday night and advancing to the finals. I decided. 2nd round of the playoffs.
Brunson had 41 points and 12 assists to lead the Knicks, who will face Indiana in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pacers defeated Milwaukee in six games to advance to the second round for the first time in 10 years.
Game 1 will be played Monday night in New York.
The Knicks haven't advanced to the second round in consecutive years since the 1992-2000 postseason, but no player in that series has scored more than 40 points in each of the final three games like Brunson. He became the first Knick and first NBA player to accomplish that since Bernard King 40 years ago. Finish the series by scoring 40 points or more Since Michael Jordan in the 1989 game between Chicago and Cleveland.
In a series characterized by close games, Hart hit a clutch shot to make it 114-111 and once again say, “Here we go, Knicks!” Let's go Knicks! ” chants echoed throughout Philadelphia's home court. Joel Embiid made a bucket but fouled out on the next possession. Donte DiVincenzo made two free throws to seal the victory for New York.
“The fourth quarter was just a series of big plays,'' Knicks manager Tom Thibodeau said.
Unsurprisingly, the former Villanova Wildcats trio of Hart, DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson saved the Knicks from a first-half collapse that nearly forced a Game 7. DiVincenzo had 23 points and Hart had 16 points in 48 minutes.
Hart made amends for missing a free throw late in Game 5 that would have given the Knicks a four-point lead. Tyrese Maxey protects a 3-point lead pulled from a height of 35 feet to tie The score was 97 with 8.1 seconds left, giving the Sixers the victory.
“I felt a sense of loss weighing heavily on my shoulders,” Hart said. “It took me a day and a half to think about it. That's really all I thought about.”
The 76ers trailed by 22 points in the first half and took a 54-51 lead at halftime, but they will spend the long summer thinking about another wasted season of Embiid's prime.
Embiid scored 39 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Buddy Hield had 20 points. Maxey, who dropped 45 points in Game 5, had no impact in the first half and finished with 17 points.
“This series probably could have gone completely the other way,'' 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “But that wasn't the case.”
Despite Philadelphia's best efforts To keep raucous Knicks fans at home, Wells Fargo Center sounded like a fading Madison Square Garden. Knicks fans gathered near the New York tunnel after the game, holding their phones aloft to capture video of their favored team heading to the locker room.
“Was it hostile?” Thibodeau said when asked about the atmosphere.
It was a match that naturally made you want to skip until the very last moment. After all, since the 1996-97 season, there have been five playoff games in which a team trailed by five or more points with 30 seconds left in regulation and won, two of them in this series.
In Game 2, the Knicks came back and won 104-101.
In Game 5, the 76ers came from behind to win in overtime, 112-106.
It was exhilarating and exhausting, but there was more to come.
Sixers fans took back the building and were cheering in the closing minutes just after 9 p.m., only to roar back as the Knicks led 33-11. Just last season, the 76ers held a 3-2 series lead against Boston in the East semifinals, only to lose Game 6 at home and Game 7 in Boston. The Sixers lost Game 6 and East semifinals at home to Miami in 2022.
Only in Game 6 did the Sixers show some energy.
Hield almost saved the season because Maxey couldn't make a shot. Hield, acquired at the trade deadline, lost his starting spot due to poor performance late in the season. He missed all four 3-point shots in the first three games of the series and did not play in the final two games. Hield hit the ground running in Game 6, making five threes in the second quarter to give the Sixers a 34-11 lead.
His fifth 3-pointer gave the Sixers a 54-51 lead going into the half.
Maxey hit a 3 in the third to make it a 10-point lead, but then two wild misses from beyond the arc sparked a Knicks rally. OG Anunoby closed out New York's third quarter with a tying 3, and he started the fourth quarter with a 1 to give him an 86-83 lead. With the game tied at 95-all, Brunson hit a step-back three and then another three to make it 101-95.
With 2:43 remaining, Anunoby's dunk gave the Knicks an eight-point lead and it looked like it would be a decisive victory. However, the Sixers scored one more point. As with much of the empty postseason thus far, it wasn't enough.
___
APNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
