The New York Knicks have an immediate opportunity for a royal revenge and repeat.
The Knicks get an instant opportunity to protect one of their most recent titles on Friday night, as NBA Cup play gets underway on the road. Repeating and revenge will define the day for the Knicks, as they’ll face the Philadelphia 76ers in the East Group B opener on the path to in-season glory.
New York has recovered fairly well after Philadelphia spoiled its championship commemoration on opening night: it dropped each of its first three but has since put up consecutive victories, the latest being a 133-127 triumph in Chicago on Wednesday night.
The Knicks enjoyed a Brunson breakout, scoring 38 points to help them erase a deficit that reached as high as 19. Brunson had 22 in the second and 14 in the fourth quarter alone, which saw the Knicks earn a 43-31 advantage. OG Anunoby added 23 points while Jordan Clarkson scored 18 off the bench.
Philadelphia has kept the momentum from opening night rolling, prevailing in four of its first five to take an early lead in the race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. The Sixers are fresh off a Wednesday comeback win of their own, defeating the Indiana Pacers by a 114-109 final. Tyrese Maxey capped off a 27-point performance with two big triples while both Jaylen Brown (20 points, 10 rebounds), Joel Embiid (21 points, 11 rebounds), and LeBron James (13 points, 10 assists) all had triple-doubles.
This will be the second of four meetings between the Knicks and Sixers this season, as Philadelphia took a 106-100 decision on opening night at Madison Square Garden. Maxey had 28 points to counter 21 from Brunson, affording the Sixers a measure of revenge for their second-round sweep at the hands of the Knicks in last year’s playoffs. The two teams will round out their divisional quartet with a couple in February.
The fourth annual NBA Cup is also set to get underway on Friday, with group play being staged across the Association. The Knicks, stationed in East Group B with Philadelphia, Cleveland, Indiana, and Miami, have earned plenty of in-season glory since its introduction: in addition to winning last year’s tournament (becoming the first team to simultaneously win the NBA Cup and Finals), New York is the only team to appear in every knockout round staged to date.
What To Know
What: New York Knicks (2-3, 0-0 NBA Cup) @ Philadelphia 76ers (4-1, 0-0 NBA Cup)
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video
Who’s Favored: NYK —1.5 (o/u 226.5)
Keep An Eye On: Karl-Anthony Towns
The Knicks’ early struggles allowed the tired Towns narrative to break out. But this week’s back-to-back could serve as a timely Towns turning point, one defying those who expect him to fail in Manhattan despite his new accessory.
When the Knicks fell victim to the Detroit Pistons’ Tuesday night bullying, head coach Mike Brown challenged Towns to step in the second half. Towns responded with not only a 27-point, 20-rebound double-double (part of a five-game streak to start the season, the longest of its kind in Knicks history since Julius Randle in 2019) but a complete shutdown of ringleader Paul Reed.
Towns appeared to succumb to a wrist injury the following night in Chicago but nonetheless broke out for another 19 points and 13 boards, albeit with tape adorning the hand in question.
As of press time, Towns is off the New York injury report, as Jose Alvarado (set to miss his fourth straight due to an ankle sprain) remains lonely among the medical maladies. That provides Towns with an instant opportunity for redemption against a team that’s set to be one of the most prominent threats to the Knicks’ repeat bid.
Towns recovered well enough to finish with 19 and 12, but early foul trouble partly prevented the Knicks from taking a commanding lead on the potent Sixers, who kept his understudy Andre Drummond well in check after a first-half breakout.
With the Knicks eager to get Towns more involved in the offense, the center needs to show what he learned from opening night in order to restore metropolitan sanity in the Atlantic Division.
Sixer to Watch: Anfernee Simons
James’ clubs are used to this concept by now, but a supposed superteam is only as powerful as its foundational depth. It was a veteran Ray Allen, after all, that arguably launched the most famous shot of the James era in Miami while former Knicks Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert were among those coming off the bench when James brought a long-awaited ring to Cleveland in 2016.
It appears that James took the point: the big swing for Brown may have somewhat handicapped the Sixers’ ability to make moves elsewhere, but James taking a minimum deal allowed Philadelphia to add complementary pieces like Simons, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Dean Wade.
Simons, so far, has been the most impressive of that reserve bunch thanks to a dangerous three-point game. The Knicks are already aware of what he can do to a game, as he sank a trio of clutch triples in the opening night victory. Simons then missed all but two of his next 13 but re-fired to the tune of a 6-of-10 performance from deep in Wednesday’s win over the Pacers.
Considering how the Knicks’ losses have featured a prowess with an extra point on the line, Simons is just one more weapon to contain in this budding rivalry.
They Said It
“His will is unbelievable. His determination, man, it’s second to none. You look at this guy, and he’s not 6-7, he’s not athletic, he’s not quick. I mean, you can go down the line in natural physical tools that a lot of guys have, but his determination, his spirit, his competitive spirit, his will, his toughness — especially his mental toughness, but his physical toughness, too, added with his skill set, it makes him an unbelievable basketball player, an MVP-caliber basketball player. I hope he gets recognition for that this year because his will is off the charts.” — Knicks head coach Mike Brown on Jalen Brunson’s Wednesday performance (h/t Stefan Bondy, New York Post)
“Well, we have an MVP over there. I’m not here to have a sustainable role at the five. We have Joel Embiid on the team, so I don’t see it being a sustainable role. But it’s a role that we know that we can tap into if we need it. I know I can play one through five, offensively and defensively, if needed. But having a sustainable role playing the five, I don’t think that’s … if I were to say I signed here to have a sustainable role at the five, I don’t think any of us actually want that.” — James on playing center (h/t Tony Jones, The Athletic)
Prediction
Nix the Six? Not so fast.
The Knicks have undoubtedly made some progress over the last two games, and it feels a little silly to say that they have something to prove after embarking on what was one of the more emphatic championship runs in recent NBA memory.
However, their struggles against the blundering Bulls still hint they have a bit to learn, and doing it against a Sixers group that has gelled handsomely early on doesn’t feel like the right place to do it.
Of course, the script could flip if Towns is able to play a clean 30-plus whether through his own clean-up or the will of the basketball gods. For the time being, let Philadelphia have its minuscule revenge.
76ers 120, Knicks 117
