The championship hangover is very much real, and the New York Knicks’ first test against one of the beasts of the East ultimately was a failure.
On a night in which they raised their championship banner and received their rings, the Knicks’ largest contributors came up small in a 106-100 opening-night loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
“I understand we’re human,” head coach Mike Brown said about the letdown from an emotional pregame ceremony. “For me, it’s about trying to keep taking steps up and climbing forward and not giving any excuses. We had to lace ’em up and play, and we didn’t get the job done.
Forced to play catch-up in the fourth quarter after a miserable showing in the third, the Knicks were able to get within touching distance of the Sixers, but could not find the last piece to get over the hump.
Trailing by as much as nine with 10:26 to go, an 8-1 run sparked by a Jose Alvarado steal and three brought the Knicks to within two with 8:07 to go. But two misses from Karl-Anthony Towns allowed Philadelphia to re-open a seven-point cushion.
Back came the Knicks with a 7-3 run, a Towns three-pointer cutting the deficit to one at 96-95 with four-and-a-half minutes to go, but two straight misses from Jalen Brunson sank the hosts back down five.
Another Towns three with two-and-a-half minutes remaining once again got it within two, but the 76ers reeled off four straight fueled by a Tyrese Maxey steal of a dangerous cross-court pass by OG Anunoby to ice it.
“If [Brunson] hits those shots down the stretch and we win, as a coach, there’s something inside of me that wished it didn’t happen because you’re almost playing with fire and winning that time without any water and none of the fire blankets to cover the fire,” Brown said. “For us, it’s about the process and making sure that every possession, we’re trying to handle the process the right way, and the end result will take care of itself.”
The majority of the Knicks’ starting five struggled mightily after receiving their rings. Despite 21 points, Brunson shot 6-of-19 from the field. OG Anunoby went 3-of-12, and Mikal Bridges went 2-for-8.
Andre Drummond had the best showing for New York in his team debut, dropping a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds to go with four assists and two blocks while coming off the bench for Towns, who battled foul trouble all night.
Philadelphia’s two big debutants did enough to support Maxey, who led all scorers with 28 points. LeBron James, starting his 24th NBA season with his fourth different team, dropped 14 points with nine rebounds and seven assists, and Jaylen Brown, acquired from the Boston Celtics over the summer, dropped 19 points.
“[The Sixers] have at least four perennial All-Stars,” Brown said. “When you have that type of talent, you’re going to be able to win some games.”
Drummond eclipsed the double-double mark with 10 points and 10 rebounds in just under 11 minutes of play, leading a second unit that led the pivotal stretch of the first half — an 11-2 run in just 1:33 to give New York a 38-28 lead with 8:09 left in the second quarter. Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet accounted for eight of those points in that stretch.
Bench contributions were vital in keeping the Knicks afloat in the first half, as 10 different men scored. Outside of Brunson’s 15, the rest of the starting five of Towns, Josh Hart, Anunoby, and Bridges combined for just 18 points.
While the 76ers hung around, mostly thanks to the 16 points from Maxey, the Knicks limited James to just five points in 17:38 of action in the first half to hold a slim four-point advantage, 58-54, at the break.
An abysmal third quarter in which the Knicks shot 5-of-21 from the field opened the door right back up for the Sixers. After going 1-of-10 from the field in the first five minutes, a personal 6-0 run by James gave Philadelphia its first lead since late in the first quarter.
The Sixers eliminated a Knicks 9-2 run with a 14-2 spurt of their own to end the third quarter, capped off by a Brown fadeaway three at the buzzer to open up a seven-point lead headed into the final stanza.
“Our transition defense was not good with our starting group in the third quarter,” Brown said. “All throughout the game, we looked like we were running in mud, whether it was in the frontcourt or in transition, we were not getting to our spots and putting pressure on Philadelphia the right way.”
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