The 76ers do not need motivation after Game 1. They need a plan. The Knicks opened the series with a 137-98 win at Madison Square Garden, and the game was basically over before the fourth quarter started. Jalen Brunson controlled the first half, the Knicks hit everything, and the 76ers looked like a team still carrying the weight of a seven-game fight against the Celtics. Game 2 is Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, and it already feels like the first real test of whether this series can be competitive.
Brunson finished Game 1 with 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 27 in the first half. OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns combined to shoot 21-of-29, including 8-of-12 from three. The Knicks finished with a 74.4% effective field goal percentage, the third-highest single-game mark in NBA playoff history. On the other side, Paul George led the 76ers with 17 points, Joel Embiid had 14 on 3-of-11 shooting, and Tyrese Maxey had only 13 points.
Injury Report
Knicks
No players listed.
76ers
Joel Embiid: Probable (right ankle sprain)
Tyrese Maxey: Available (right finger tendon strain, splint)
Why The Knicks Have The Advantage
The Knicks have the advantage because Game 1 gave them a repeatable offensive pressure point. It was not just hot shooting. The Knicks hurt the 76ers with Brunson’s pick-and-rolls, scoring six straight times from the same basic action in the first quarter. That forced the 76ers into different matchups, different coverages, and eventually panic. None of it slowed Brunson.
The key for Game 2 is not overreacting to the blowout. The Knicks will not shoot 63.0% from the field every night, and they cannot assume the same defensive mistakes will be there. But the structure should stay the same: Brunson attacking the middle, Towns spacing Embiid away from the rim, Anunoby punishing closeouts, and Bridges giving them quick decisions instead of holding the ball.
The 76ers also had no real answer for the Knicks’ pace after stops. Once the Knicks got clean rebounds, they moved into offense before Embiid could settle near the paint. That is important for Game 2. If the Knicks can make Embiid defend in space again, they can test his conditioning and make Maxey work on both ends.
The one thing to clean up is fouling. The 76ers got Towns and Robinson into early foul trouble in Game 1, and that is still their best path to changing the game. The Knicks survived it because Ariel Hukporti gave them real minutes, but they should not want Game 2 decided by emergency frontcourt depth.
Why The 76ers Have The Advantage
The 76ers’ best argument is that Game 1 was too extreme to be fully trusted. They were coming off a Game 7 win over the Celtics with almost no recovery time, and their starters did not have to play heavy second-half minutes once the game got out of hand. The shorter Game 1 workload could help their stamina for Game 2.
The first adjustment is obvious: get Maxey moving before the defense is set. He had only nine shots in Game 1. That cannot happen again. If Maxey is not attacking early, the Knicks can load up on Embiid and stay connected to George. The 76ers need more early drag screens, more off-ball movement, and more Maxey touches before Brunson and the Knicks can hide weaker matchups.
Embiid also has to punish the Knicks differently. He got fouls, but he did not control the game. If the Knicks send a second defender, Embiid has to move the ball quickly. If they stay with single coverage, he has to finish through contact. Game 2 cannot become a night of slow post-ups that end in contested jumpers.
Defensively, the 76ers need to make Brunson see more bodies earlier. The 76ers tried multiple defenders and even some zone in Game 1, but nothing worked. The answer is not just changing the primary defender. It is changing the timing. Brunson cannot be allowed to dance into the middle before the help is ready.
X-Factors
Mitchell Robinson is the Knicks’ first X-factor. His screening created problems in Game 1, but his free-throw shooting also gave the 76ers a possible counter. If the 76ers use intentional fouls again, Robinson has to make enough to keep the Knicks’ offense in rhythm.
Mikal Bridges matters because the 76ers will be more aggressive with Brunson. Bridges had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 3-of-5 from three in Game 1. If he keeps making quick reads, the Knicks can beat pressure without forcing Brunson to create every shot.
VJ Edgecombe is the 76ers’ pressure piece. He had 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting in Game 1, but the 76ers need more defense and rim pressure from him. If Edgecombe can bother Brunson for stretches and attack before the Knicks load up, the 76ers get a much different game.
Paul George has to stay aggressive. He was the 76ers’ best scorer in Game 1 with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-6 from three. That efficiency has to continue, but he also needs more on-ball responsibility if Maxey is being denied early touches.
Prediction
The 76ers should be better. They have too much talent to look that flat again, and Maxey should be more involved from the first quarter. But the Knicks found a clean pressure point in Game 1, and their depth, spacing, and Brunson’s control all feel more stable right now. I expect a closer game, not a full reset.
Prediction: Knicks 116, 76ers 107
