Off and Running

It didn't come easy - because when does it ever? - but the Knicks came out of the break with a big win against a division rival.

Good morning! We Back!!!!

Game 56: Knicks 110, Sixers 96

In a New York minute…

The Knicks shot out of the All-Star break from a cannon, getting out to a 15-3 lead behind a run & gun offense that wasted no time finding its groove. Philly hung around for a while until a Bogey barrage in the second quarter blew the game open - or so we thought. Down 23 at the half, the Sixers upped their defensive intensity and parlayed an off night from Jalen Brunson into a methodical comeback that had them within six early in the fourth. From there though, New York put on its own defensive clinic, and made just enough shots to bring home an important win.

Three Things

1. Resilience. Under nine minutes to go in the fourth, and boy oh boy, are things not going our way.

By this point in the game, with a 26-point lead down to six, on the road, with Philly’s All-Star outplaying New York’s All-Star and all the momentum in the Sixers’ favor, nothing that happened in the first 40 minutes mattered anymore. If anything, the comeback by the home team made Philly the favorite to pull out a dub.

It’s the textbook definition of gut-check time.

Thankfully, over the last few years, New York has been re-writing their woeful 21st century record when it comes to that particular subject.

Of all the compliments you can pay this iteration of Knicks basketball, the fact that they’ve come to specialize in resilience as perhaps their primary organizational currency is as high as any of them.

Sure enough, after it got to 92-86, New York went on a 10-2 run to take all the air out of Philly’s balloon. The Sixers would score only 10 points the rest of the way.

At this point, it’s hard to be surprised. That’s what this group is: a collective of gym rats who do whatever is needed to pull out a victory.