I'm seeing a lot of 76ers fans (understandably) unhappy with the last sequence. I'm sure people with bigger platforms will eventually break it down, but I don't think the 76ers can with a straight face complain about anything. I spent too much time at 3am PT fully breaking everything down.
There were 3 "missed calls" people are griping about:
1. The first "missed time out."
2. The Brunson "foul" on Maxey.
3. The second "missed time out."
Gonna dismantle each one:
1. You can clearly see Nurse's hands were both cupped, not calling for a timeout as the ball is on the baseline being held by Lowry. By the time he does call for the timeout, the ball is AT BEST on Lowry's fingertips in the process of being inbounded, and in reality it's been fully passed to Maxey. Not a missed timeout
2. During that inbound, Maxey CLEARLY pushes off on Josh Hart. No doubt about it, runs into Hart, extends both arms, and pushes off. Hart sells it a bit, but there was no call. Clear and obvious push-off foul that everyone seems to conveniently ignore. But, just for the Philly fans, let's give it to them and choose to ignore that foul. Did Brunson have his hands on Maxey's waist? Yes. Was there visible pulling to impede motion? I haven't seen an angle that definitively shows that. But let's say he did pull on Maxey and impede his motion. Maxey deserves a Razzy for that sell job, because he flings his arms out and tosses the ball in the air like he's a bride tossing a bouquet at a wedding. Brunson's hands are on his waist during the contact, and he sells it like there was a reach-in foul across his arms. Refs deserve plenty of criticism, but late in the game, marginal contact, and a horrendous sell? Of course they don't call it. Most fans would be furious if they called that in the second quarter of a November regular season game, let alone the last 30 seconds of a playoff game.
3. Nurse begins the motion to call for a timeout at 24.1 seconds when Maxey is fully on the ground. Again, he BEGINS THE MOTION to call it. Hands are fully up in a T position at 23.5 seconds. By that point, the ball is on the floor after Maxey swung it across his body to try to pass, and it is being grabbed & contested by Hart. How many times have people complained in the past that refs would give a team a timeout when the ball is clearly being contested? But even if it isn't contested, and we assume Maxey still has full possession, Nurse is just standing there expecting eyes to be on him as if this was still a dead ball out of bounds play. By the time Nurse begins to lean over to a ref and make his "Hey, I'm calling a timeout here" motion, it is 23.0 seconds, and the ball is fully in Hart's hands. Expecting a ref officiating a live ball situation where the ball is loose/being fought for in a scrum and everything takes place over 1.1 seconds and half that time the ball is either contested or not in the 76ers possession is... certainly something you could argue for.
All this to say, don't let ANYONE on Twitter, on National TV, or on Philly radio to take this away from the Knicks. They wanna complain about no-calls? Show them the above breakdown, and tell them that they can complain about no-calls before the last 30 seconds.
I was watching the fourth in stony silence and then yelled louder than I have ever yelled when that Divo 3 went in. You described it perfectly, Jon - the Brunson 3 goes in it’s like “oh that’s nice, there’s technically a chance now if they get a steal or something”, the Sixers don’t call timeout and the refs somehow don’t call a foul on the inbounds and Hart gets the ball “oh I guess technically we have a chance…”, Divo misses the 3 “welp… sigh”, Hartenstein skies for the board! He’s fouled! They’re not calling it! Wait he got the ball to OG! OG got it back to Divo! He’s wide open! He’s…. “YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS” and not to be lost was Harterstein’s incredible game saving block on Maxey. And OG grabbing that rebound and calmly sinking two free throws. Wow. What an amazing game. Triggering for all long term Knicks fans PTSD, but hopefully exorcising some of it.
I just watched your postgame recap, Jon. I was also at the game and like you, carry many years of PTSD, so much so that I didn’t start applauding until the final buzzer. I literally had to watch highlights on the train ride home just to digest the sequence where we took the lead. But even after Donte’s shot went down, I was conditioning myself for the loss. But it was our time. What a game. What a team. Let’s get game 3.
All year long, anytime the Knicks lost all we heard was the players owning it. Every postgame was filled with quotes like “I got to be better”, “we got to give more”, we didn’t do enough”. Brunson scored 61. Instead of talking about it, he spent his time saying how the Knicks have to be better to win the next game. The refs took the game from the Knicks against the Rockets. Complain? Never. Get in front of the cameras and talk about how the team has to be better? Yes. This is the culture of this team. This is the mentally of this team. Never complain, never blame. And then you have the Sixers… for Nurse and Embiid to speak the way they did after the game was pathetic. Nurse saying the refs didn’t give him 2 TOs he never called. Embiid saying they are the better team and should be up 2-0. I get it, it’s a long series thats not over, but still. To say those things is insane. And to file a grievance! Insanity.
Take it on the chest, put it on your shoulders, thats what the Knicks would do. Thats what guys with championship never say die mentalities would do.
Excellent as always Jon. You perfectly captured what it felt like in The Garden as I was there with my oldest son. I remember looking at him down 5 and said to him, “We need a miracle to win this”. Then the divine happened - in a span of 15 seconds we Reggie Millered the Sixers. In 15 seconds the pain of the Reggie Millers 8 seconds, Ewings finger roll, and Charles Smiths four missed putbacks and Melos block by Roy Hibbert evaporated from my memory. The pain is gone and I proudly said to my son “I give you not your father’s Knicks, but your Knicks.” Amazing and I never had a doubt that DiVine-cenzo’s second three wasn’t going down.
Regarding Jalen playing poorly, as others have commented, while the 76ers defense has been good and geared at stopping him, and while, he seems to be missing shots he normally makes, I also think he's got a little too caught up calling his own number trying to personally outshine Embiid and Maxey and win the game himself. JB is the PG. At a certain point, if he doesn't have it going, because everything the 76ers do is geared to stopping him, he can pass the ball. I thought DDV had it going from the beginning of the game and, including the 2 last 3PA's, only got 10 shots. JB took 29 shots. Obviously, the last one was critical, but if he's not going right, maybe 5 or so less for him and 5 or so more for DDV could have helped.
Anyway, also think the team felt pressure from the home crowd to win. I anticipate that they may, oddly, be more comfortable playing on the road. Confident JB will figure it out moving forward.
That was a HUGE block by I-Hart to preserve the W on one of the fastest guys in the NBA and his NO DOUBT ABOUT IT rebound that led to Donte’s second, wide open 3 point shot.
Also want to clarify that the Knicks were up four (not the five noted in Jon’s initial write up) when Lowry wasn’t the line late. Still very close to a GAME OVER situation with 47 seconds left and an 84% vet shooting two FTs.
Finally, that Brunson front of the rim, bounce very high three really had no business falling through the hoop.
What a game . This has to be the most Thibs team imaginable never quits ! Embid must realize the end is near for him you are the reigning MVP get a rebound ! Guy only plays one side of the floor and he is guaranteeing victory what a joke . Keep pressure on and let’s close this out in Philly
Great post Jon. I am still amazed that they won. You probably saw after the game how Embid guaranteed that they are still going to win the series. I think that is still very possible unfortunately. The Knicks have to devise a way of Brunson not getting smothered by a big all over the court. I don't believe they can win the series with Brunson hitting 25% or less of his shots. I also believe OG has to become a bigger offensive factor, whether that be by calling plays for him or in other ways. I think he has to average around 20 the rest of the series especially with no Randle.
I'm seeing a lot of 76ers fans (understandably) unhappy with the last sequence. I'm sure people with bigger platforms will eventually break it down, but I don't think the 76ers can with a straight face complain about anything. I spent too much time at 3am PT fully breaking everything down.
There were 3 "missed calls" people are griping about:
1. The first "missed time out."
2. The Brunson "foul" on Maxey.
3. The second "missed time out."
Gonna dismantle each one:
1. You can clearly see Nurse's hands were both cupped, not calling for a timeout as the ball is on the baseline being held by Lowry. By the time he does call for the timeout, the ball is AT BEST on Lowry's fingertips in the process of being inbounded, and in reality it's been fully passed to Maxey. Not a missed timeout
2. During that inbound, Maxey CLEARLY pushes off on Josh Hart. No doubt about it, runs into Hart, extends both arms, and pushes off. Hart sells it a bit, but there was no call. Clear and obvious push-off foul that everyone seems to conveniently ignore. But, just for the Philly fans, let's give it to them and choose to ignore that foul. Did Brunson have his hands on Maxey's waist? Yes. Was there visible pulling to impede motion? I haven't seen an angle that definitively shows that. But let's say he did pull on Maxey and impede his motion. Maxey deserves a Razzy for that sell job, because he flings his arms out and tosses the ball in the air like he's a bride tossing a bouquet at a wedding. Brunson's hands are on his waist during the contact, and he sells it like there was a reach-in foul across his arms. Refs deserve plenty of criticism, but late in the game, marginal contact, and a horrendous sell? Of course they don't call it. Most fans would be furious if they called that in the second quarter of a November regular season game, let alone the last 30 seconds of a playoff game.
3. Nurse begins the motion to call for a timeout at 24.1 seconds when Maxey is fully on the ground. Again, he BEGINS THE MOTION to call it. Hands are fully up in a T position at 23.5 seconds. By that point, the ball is on the floor after Maxey swung it across his body to try to pass, and it is being grabbed & contested by Hart. How many times have people complained in the past that refs would give a team a timeout when the ball is clearly being contested? But even if it isn't contested, and we assume Maxey still has full possession, Nurse is just standing there expecting eyes to be on him as if this was still a dead ball out of bounds play. By the time Nurse begins to lean over to a ref and make his "Hey, I'm calling a timeout here" motion, it is 23.0 seconds, and the ball is fully in Hart's hands. Expecting a ref officiating a live ball situation where the ball is loose/being fought for in a scrum and everything takes place over 1.1 seconds and half that time the ball is either contested or not in the 76ers possession is... certainly something you could argue for.
All this to say, don't let ANYONE on Twitter, on National TV, or on Philly radio to take this away from the Knicks. They wanna complain about no-calls? Show them the above breakdown, and tell them that they can complain about no-calls before the last 30 seconds.
I was watching the fourth in stony silence and then yelled louder than I have ever yelled when that Divo 3 went in. You described it perfectly, Jon - the Brunson 3 goes in it’s like “oh that’s nice, there’s technically a chance now if they get a steal or something”, the Sixers don’t call timeout and the refs somehow don’t call a foul on the inbounds and Hart gets the ball “oh I guess technically we have a chance…”, Divo misses the 3 “welp… sigh”, Hartenstein skies for the board! He’s fouled! They’re not calling it! Wait he got the ball to OG! OG got it back to Divo! He’s wide open! He’s…. “YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS” and not to be lost was Harterstein’s incredible game saving block on Maxey. And OG grabbing that rebound and calmly sinking two free throws. Wow. What an amazing game. Triggering for all long term Knicks fans PTSD, but hopefully exorcising some of it.
NO QUIT, ALL GRIT, CLOSE-KNIT, AWWWWWW SHIIIIT!"
Can someone please see if Nick Nurse would like some cheese to go with that whine?
I just watched your postgame recap, Jon. I was also at the game and like you, carry many years of PTSD, so much so that I didn’t start applauding until the final buzzer. I literally had to watch highlights on the train ride home just to digest the sequence where we took the lead. But even after Donte’s shot went down, I was conditioning myself for the loss. But it was our time. What a game. What a team. Let’s get game 3.
All year long, anytime the Knicks lost all we heard was the players owning it. Every postgame was filled with quotes like “I got to be better”, “we got to give more”, we didn’t do enough”. Brunson scored 61. Instead of talking about it, he spent his time saying how the Knicks have to be better to win the next game. The refs took the game from the Knicks against the Rockets. Complain? Never. Get in front of the cameras and talk about how the team has to be better? Yes. This is the culture of this team. This is the mentally of this team. Never complain, never blame. And then you have the Sixers… for Nurse and Embiid to speak the way they did after the game was pathetic. Nurse saying the refs didn’t give him 2 TOs he never called. Embiid saying they are the better team and should be up 2-0. I get it, it’s a long series thats not over, but still. To say those things is insane. And to file a grievance! Insanity.
Take it on the chest, put it on your shoulders, thats what the Knicks would do. Thats what guys with championship never say die mentalities would do.
I still can’t believe we won that game
Excellent as always Jon. You perfectly captured what it felt like in The Garden as I was there with my oldest son. I remember looking at him down 5 and said to him, “We need a miracle to win this”. Then the divine happened - in a span of 15 seconds we Reggie Millered the Sixers. In 15 seconds the pain of the Reggie Millers 8 seconds, Ewings finger roll, and Charles Smiths four missed putbacks and Melos block by Roy Hibbert evaporated from my memory. The pain is gone and I proudly said to my son “I give you not your father’s Knicks, but your Knicks.” Amazing and I never had a doubt that DiVine-cenzo’s second three wasn’t going down.
Jon, this is the best. Thanks for letting us all soak it in. What an amazing moment! And I'm glad you got to see it in-person.
Great postgame. Great writeup.
Regarding Jalen playing poorly, as others have commented, while the 76ers defense has been good and geared at stopping him, and while, he seems to be missing shots he normally makes, I also think he's got a little too caught up calling his own number trying to personally outshine Embiid and Maxey and win the game himself. JB is the PG. At a certain point, if he doesn't have it going, because everything the 76ers do is geared to stopping him, he can pass the ball. I thought DDV had it going from the beginning of the game and, including the 2 last 3PA's, only got 10 shots. JB took 29 shots. Obviously, the last one was critical, but if he's not going right, maybe 5 or so less for him and 5 or so more for DDV could have helped.
Anyway, also think the team felt pressure from the home crowd to win. I anticipate that they may, oddly, be more comfortable playing on the road. Confident JB will figure it out moving forward.
That was a HUGE block by I-Hart to preserve the W on one of the fastest guys in the NBA and his NO DOUBT ABOUT IT rebound that led to Donte’s second, wide open 3 point shot.
Also want to clarify that the Knicks were up four (not the five noted in Jon’s initial write up) when Lowry wasn’t the line late. Still very close to a GAME OVER situation with 47 seconds left and an 84% vet shooting two FTs.
Finally, that Brunson front of the rim, bounce very high three really had no business falling through the hoop.
We deserve this.
Our Time indeed. The craziest finish of any sporting event I’ve ever witnessed in person. Let’s goooooo!
What a game . This has to be the most Thibs team imaginable never quits ! Embid must realize the end is near for him you are the reigning MVP get a rebound ! Guy only plays one side of the floor and he is guaranteeing victory what a joke . Keep pressure on and let’s close this out in Philly
Great post Jon. I am still amazed that they won. You probably saw after the game how Embid guaranteed that they are still going to win the series. I think that is still very possible unfortunately. The Knicks have to devise a way of Brunson not getting smothered by a big all over the court. I don't believe they can win the series with Brunson hitting 25% or less of his shots. I also believe OG has to become a bigger offensive factor, whether that be by calling plays for him or in other ways. I think he has to average around 20 the rest of the series especially with no Randle.
That was unbelievable