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Not all games are going to go as expected and none of them are ever easy, even if one team has more talent than the other. Coming into tonight, the 76ers were trying to strengthen their hold on their playoff spot and for a while, the Knicks made it a bout.
It was a sloppy affair, full of some careless turnovers and lazy defense, the two biggest reasons for the 76ers struggles this year. On top of that was Joel Embiid having a pretty “average” night by his standards (which was still 17 points and 6 boards). Yet after allowing the Knicks to stick around through 3 quarters, Philadelphia behind a rambunctious, TRIPLE-DOUBLE, effort from TJ McConnell, our resident Knick killer, came roaring the fourth quarter and put the Knicks away by a pretty hefty margin.
It wasn’t pretty at junctures and yet the 76ers flipped the switch and put the Knicks away when it mattered. It’s weird to think we’re at a point where the 76ers can just show up and get wins if they give a C+ effort against some teams. Furthermore, we get upset when the 76ers are ONLY up by 7 when in years past we just hoped that they’d keep the game within single digits. Oh, how far we have come!
There’s a lot to unpack and I unfortunately got tied up right as I was going to write up a proper recap. A more comprehensive review will be up later tonight or early tomorrow morning, but until then, please celebrate and discuss below!