The Sixers traveled home empty-handed, knowing all their hard work was for naught Wednesday night.
In contrast to the opener of their second-round playoff series with the Knicks, the Sixers’ competitive spirit and defensive diligence were stellar in Game 2. However, they missed all sorts of shots in the fourth quarter of a 108-102 loss without Joel Embiid (right ankle sprain and right hip soreness).
“We played good enough defense to win that game,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said, “especially in the fourth (quarter). What was it, 19 points (for the Knicks) in the fourth? You’ve got to hope you can score more than 20 in a quarter.”
The Sixers scored a mere 12 points in the fourth, shooting 4 for 19 from the floor and 1 for 10 from three-point range.
They felt capable of far better jump shooting down the stretch. Paul George had a fantastic start to the game but went scoreless and missed all five of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. VJ Edgecombe shot 0 for 4 in the fourth, Tyrese Maxey 2 for 7.
“Good looks,” George said in the visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden after his 19-point night. “I thought we just ran out of gas. We got a little flat. We got some pretty good looks, for the most part. We just didn’t knock ‘em down.”
As George noted, the Sixers’ lack of juice in the final minutes was evident. Maxey played 45 minutes in the Sixers’ Game 7 win over the Celtics and nearly 47 on Wednesday. At 36 years old, George logged 43 minutes in Game 2. Edgecombe and Kelly Oubre Jr. were both at 40.
Nurse’s norm is to play his best players unless the circumstances force him to do otherwise. Another bench player or two like Justin Edwards might have lightened the load a bit on the Sixers’ stars, but the philosophy tends to be fair enough in the playoffs. And depth has not been one of the Sixers’ strengths since president of basketball operations Daryl Morey dealt away Jared McCain and acquired no players at the trade deadline.
“I don’t know,” Nurse said when asked about whether the extreme minutes load impacted his top players late in the fourth quarter. “It may have. But I look at it and those guys are wanting to stay in there. They really are committed to fighting through the game. You look at Tyrese, he played almost the entire game and he’s a plus-minus of zero in a six-point loss. So even the minute and 15 seconds he was out obviously weren’t very good.
“Those guys, not only did they play lots of minutes, but they played hard at both ends. And there was a lot going on, a lot of pressure on them and stuff, and I commend their effort. All we needed were one or two (wide-open makes). … Just one or two to at least get it down to the end where we’d have a chance.”
Maxey’s rest day plans were simple ahead of Friday night’s Game 3 in Philadelphia.
“Probably a whole bunch of nothing,” he said. “Treatment, sitting down, relaxing.”
Besides the off-target jumpers, Maxey’s turnovers stung at the end of the night. He posted 26 points on 9-for-23 shooting, six assists and six giveaways. The Sixers’ All-Star guard had some sharp, decisive moments against the Knicks’ blitzes but wasn’t pleased overall with how he handled New York’s defense.
“They did a good job of taking away certain passes that I like to make when I get trapped,” Maxey said. “And then there were a couple of times we didn’t execute our trap offense. The trap came, I tried to advance pass it, and the advance (outlet) didn’t come up, and now I’m stuck in the air.
“I’ve got to do a better job of just dragging it out and being more poised. They trapped me aggressively. It wasn’t like a soft trap. … It was my fault a lot of those times. I’ll be better with that.”
For what it’s worth, the film shows only one Maxey turnover that stemmed directly from a trap.
There was a haywire sideline out-of-bounds play, two ill-advised passes in the Sixers’ half-court offense, and two times he lost the ball on drives. Maxey’s maintained a low turnover rate throughout his career and will expect to play a cleaner Game 3.
Dominick Barlow was a second-half bright spot in Game 2, entering at center with both Andre Drummond and Adem Bona in foul trouble.
An intelligent, versatile, can-do sort of player, Barlow had six points on 3-for-3 shooting, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 16 minutes. Whatever Embiid’s status is for Game 3, Barlow made a strong case to remain a key rotation piece, including at center.
“I’ve been in situations where I haven’t played before,” Barlow said. “I know sometimes that things are random. They told me I was probably going to play tonight. It came at a spot that I didn’t know, obviously. But I thought I played (well). Made some mistakes … but I thought defensively, we were good at the end of the game and gave ourselves a chance.”
That opportunity slipped away with a flurry of fourth-quarter misfires.
“We had a chance to steal a game here,” George said. “They did a good job. Our job is to go home and win on our floor, keep the series alive. We do understand that at some point, we’re going to have to steal one here.”
| # | Наименование новости | Тональность | Информативность | Дата публикации |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Observations after Sixers start Round 2 of playoffs with 39-point loss to Knicks | -2 | 6 | 04-05-2026 |
| 2 | Sixers ‘stuck in mud' for Game 1 vs. Knicks, aim to repeat Celtics series script | -2 | 6 | 05-05-2026 |
| 3 | Observations after Sixers slide to 3-0 series deficit with home loss to Knicks | -2 | 7 | 08-05-2026 |
| 4 | Edgecombe at MSG, Embiid's message to fans and more Sixers-Knicks series thoughts | 0 | 5 | 03-05-2026 |
| 5 | Observations after Sixers get swept out of playoffs by Knicks with massive Game 4 blowout | -3 | 4 | 10-05-2026 |
| 6 | Sixers star Joel Embiid to miss Game 2 against Knicks with ankle, hip injuries | -2 | 6 | 06-05-2026 |
| 7 | Embiid out for Sixers-Knicks Game 2 with ankle and hip injuries | -1 | 5 | 06-05-2026 |
| 8 | Embiid, Anunoby, Hart all listed as questionable for Sixers-Knicks Game 3 | 0 | 6 | 07-05-2026 |
| 9 | Embiid returns for Sixers vs. Knicks Game 3, Anunoby sits | 0 | 5 | 08-05-2026 |
| 10 | Maxey selected to All-NBA 3rd Team for 2025-26 season | 0 | 7 | 24-05-2026 |
