Santa Claus’ elves may be the only ones who envy the New York Knicks’ workload just before Christmas.

Friday’s fracas with the Philadelphia 76ers wrapped up a busy week for the Knicks: the 116-107 defeat was their fourth game in seven days, which visited three different cities. The final yields were an NBA Cup victory that doesn’t count on the official ledger, a narrow win over the depleted Indiana Pacers, and just the second loss under Madison Square Garden’s iconic roof this season.

“We weren’t really looking too far ahead, so we didn’t realize how challenging [it would be to go into] the final game of the Cup and right into a back-to-back, then an earlier game on Sunday,” said Josh Hart in video from SNY. “We knew it’d be a challenge, so just got to make sure we get our bodies right, get some sleep, eat some good food, and try to get back at it on Sunday.”

The Knicks (19-8) are taking a somewhat muted approach to their NBA Cup triumph, namely through their refusal to display a banner commemorating the win.

Evidence of the victory, however, lingers on their schedule: Friday’s game was the latter half of a back-to-back and the Knicks less than 48 hours off before they return to Garden hardwood on Sunday against Miami (6 p.m. ET, MSG). In fact, the Knicks don’t have more than a day off until a Western swing in mid-January.

New Yorkers did what they could to downplay the effect that a suddenly-cramped schedule may have had.

“We’ve got to hold each to a higher standard,” said Knicks captain Jalen Brunson in video from SNY, holding no “grace” for such a loss. “I’ve got to hold myself to a higher standard. It’s not like we got blown out tonight, it was very winnable. But you’ve got to give them credit. They made plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

To Brunson’s point, the Knicks had ample opportunity to escape from New York with a win, never letting the Joel Embiid-less 76ers move ahead by more than seven. The Knicks outrebounded Philadelphia by 21 and took necessary precautions in terms of player management, as Hart, Robinson, and Karl-Anthony Towns all sat out of Thursday’s win in Indianapolis.

But a plethora of turnovers, 18 to be precise, doomed the Knicks’ chances, as did an off shooting night from some of their headliners. New York went 8-of-32 from three-point range, while Brunson tied with Towns for the team lead in scoring on 7-of-22 from the field. Hart and OG Anunoby were 3-of-16 from the field, including 1-of-7 with an extra point on the line.

Philadelphia (15-11) delivered the dagger shortly after Mikal Bridges, he of 21 points in defeat, sank the Knicks’ final three before the two-minute mark, one that created a three-point game. Andre Drummond earned a three-pointer the old-fashioned way (foul shot via Anunoby foul) before VJ Edgecombe tipped in a Tyrese Maxey misfire. Maxey would atone for it perfectly with a three that essentially erased a Towns double, allowing the Sixers to win by their largest advantage.

“We had 18 turnovers for 16 points compared to their 11 for two points. The game was lost in the turnover game, noted Knicks head coach Mike Brown, per TalkBasket.net. “Give Philly a lot of credit. They got up into us, and it bothered us a little bit.”

Despite the defeat, the Knicks’ recent busy stretch placed them in handsome territory on the NBA leaderboard: heading into the Christmas landmark, the Knicks firmly hold the second seed on the premature Eastern Conference bracket and are two games behind Detroit for No. 1.