Third Quarter
The Sixers started the half on an 10-2 run which allowed them to briefly retake the lead. Maxey’s finishing, as it was all night, was crucial during this stretch. As expected, Tobias Harris was one of the best players for the Sixers. He stripped OG Anunoby and took it very slowly coast-to-coast for the basket.
Embiid did hit a couple midrange jumpers which looked to get him going, but a couple more sloppy passes bogged things down again. Philly started to struggle on the boards around this time too — the Knicks grabbed three offensive rebounds in the third.
The teams stayed on the seesaw as they traded baskets at the end of the quarter. The Sixers had a couple chances to take the lead with clean looks from three, but weren’t able to get them to fall as they went into the fourth trailing by one.
Fourth Quarter
After opening the quarter on a 5-0 run, the Sixers had the perfect chance to get Embiid some rest, but didn’t take it and they paid for it. Brunson went to the bench at the beginning of the quarter with the Sixers holding a four-point lead. If ever there was a chance to steal some minutes, it was there.
Embiid was not throwing good passes all night, but they really got worse once he was clearly gassed in the fourth. He kept trying careless one handers, most of them the Knicks didn’t even have to get a hand on turn it over. It got so bad Nick Nurse was forced to give Embiid a minute of rest at the six-minute mark.
There was one reason the Sixers were able to hang around at all and it was Tyrese Maxey. He continued to hit some incredibly difficult shots to keep the Sixers within arms reach. Even when things were really looking dead he completed a four-point play to give the Sixers a chance to tie the game on the last possession. Josh Hart split a pair of free throws and Maxey buried a logo three to send the game to overtime and momentarily save the Sixers’ bacon.
Overtime
The extra period started with a similar flow as a the rest of the game. Brunson scored the first five points which looked insurmountable until Maxey buried another deep three. Embiid made some great plays on both ends, stripping and blocking Brunson on two straight possessions, while also knocking down a big and-1 on the other end.
Embiid did get hit with a flagrant trying to block a Brunson layup, and the Knicks erased the entire four-point lead on that possession. Oubre took the lead back on a layup, and the Sixers were in a similar situation to Game 2 — up two with 18 seconds left. Tobias Harris made both of his free throws, and the Sixers were able to force a Brunson miss on the other end and that just about did it. The Sixers were able to close a game out like a normal team for once.
Well, look at that, we’re not done just yet. Game 6 of this series moves back to Philadelphia on Thursday, though the time is still to be determined whether the Bucks and Pacers series is still happening by then.
The Sixers came back to knock off the New York Knicks 112-106 in overtime to win Game 5 and save their season for at least another game.
Tyrese Maxey had the game of his life, scoring 46 points including a logo three to send the game to overtime.
Joel Embiid struggled all night, but made just enough plays in overtime. He finished with 19 points, shooting 7-of-19 from the floor with 16 rebounds and 10 assists but did turn it over nine times.
Tobias Harris gave the Sixers 19 points as well on 7-of-11 shooting.
Here are some thoughts from MSG.
First Quarter
It was an ideal start for the Sixers’ defense, as the Knicks missed their first eight shots of the game, two of those being blocked by Oubre and Embiid. Tobias Harris was the only player to score for the first four minutes of the game, knocking down a corner three and an elbow jumper.
Philadelphia’s interior defense appeared to ease up after the game’s first timeout. After the slow start, the Knicks went on to make seven straight shots from the field, many of those shots being easy looks around the paint.
A big reason their rim protection didn’t look great is because Embiid did not get off to a good start on either end of the floor. He missed his first four shots before hitting an elbow jumper, and split his only pair of free throws. Maxey on the other hand, had a very good opening quarter, hitting multiple floaters with a high degree of difficulty. Maxey went on to have a game-high 11 as the Sixers led by nine after one.
Second Quarter
The Sixers were able to win the couple minutes Embiid sat to close the first, but it was once again a struggle to generate offense without him in the second. They scored only one basket in the two and a half minutes he sat as the Knicks went on a run to take the lead. That continued when Embiid checked back in, as it ended up being an 18-2 New York run to start the quarter.
Whenever Philly got inside the arc, their offense felt pretty rushed and panicked. The Knicks were able to push them off their spots and that made them pretty hesitant. They were generating a lot of open threes out of Embiid’s double teams, the problem is those weren’t falling either. They shot 27% on 22 three-point attempts in the first half.
The Sixers were able to cobble together some baskets towards the end of the half, but didn’t get enough stops to put together a run. Another tough layup by Maxey cut the Knicks’ lead to six at the half.
Sixers Tyrese Maxey gets hyped up after hitting the game-tying 3 to force OT - Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
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