Ugly Delicious

The Knicks didn't win pretty, but they're comfortable in the muck.

Good day, friends. Let’s relive the joy together.

Game 1: Knicks 111, Sixers 104

In a New York minute…

Buckle up.

The Sixers couldn’t have had a more picture perfect beginning to this one, with an 18-7 start fueled by Joel Embiid looking like Joel Embid and Jalen Brunson succumbing to an onslaught of defensive attention. The Knicks held the line until their bench checked in though, which is when the story of the game began to unfold. Spurred by a trio of reserves, New York outscored Philly 33-12 in the second. With Embiid off to the locker room after a scary fall, things were looking up.

Right up until they weren’t. The Sixers punched back with a massive 36-point third, poking holes in the home defense as swiftly as any team has this season. Once again, it was the bench to the rescue. With Mitchell Robinson holding Embid without a field goal in the fourth and Josh “Game 6 Klay” Hart knocking down every big shot late, the Knicks took the opening battle of this war.

Three Things

1. Board men. The Philadelphia 76ers are a bear in so many ways. The Embiid & Maxey two-man game puts more pressure on opponents than anything this side of the Rocky Mountains, and their length poses real problems for opposing offenses, as we saw on full display with Jalen Brunson last night.

But for all their size - five of their top seven rotation players are at least 6'7" - rebounding is not a strong suit. This season they ranked 22nd in rebound rate, and an even worse 25th in defensive rebounding.

We saw what happened when the Knicks faced a bottom-10 rebounding team last postseason, and how that dynamic changed the entire series. Against Cleveland, they had some truly inspiring efforts on the glass, grabbing 51 boards in one game, out-rebounding the Cavs by 18 in another, and three times grabbing 17 of their own misses.

Last night, New York exceeded all of those totals. Fifty five total rebounds. Twenty three on the offensive glass. And by limiting the Sixers to just 33 rebounds, a rebounding margin of twenty two.

The usual suspects were at it. Mitchell Robinson had nearly as many offensive rebounds (seven) as Philly’s entire team (nine). New York’s centers combined for nearly as many total rebounds (25) as the Sixers’ starting five. Five different Knicks had at least seven rebounds, including their 6'2" point guard, who found other ways to contribute on an off night.

This discrepancy didn’t involve any X’s or O’s or very much game-planning. Just will. No potential rebound, ever, will go to the other team without a fight.

The work on the offensive glass was really the difference in the game. The 23 OREB’s were the most by a Knick team in the playoffs in 30 years, when Patrick Ewing pulled down 11 of New York’s 28 in a Game 7 victory over the Pacers, including maybe the most famous offensive rebound in franchise history. That’s the company this team is in.

In terms of offensive rebounding margin, the plus-14 is the fourth highest ever by a Knick playoff team, and ties the sixth highest differential by any playoff team in the least five years.

Winning by any means necessary, on full display in Game 1.