PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had their chances on Sunday. The game was hanging in the balance in Game 4 with a chance to even the series before it shifted back to Madison Square Garden.
Then the second half and the fourth quarter went the Knicks’ way. New York star Jalen Brunson went for 24 of his franchise playoff-record 47 points after halftime. The Knicks also grabbed seven offensive rebounds for 11 second-chance points in the fourth quarter.
“34 shots,” said Kelly Oubre Jr. of Brunson. “He’s a great player — great, great player. I love playing against him. I love his game; he has a lot of fundamentals and skill set to his game, but anybody that shoots 34 shots who has skill, and is a great player, they’re going to be able to do well. Especially, when you get screens and you’re trying to find the right matchups and things like that. He’s a great player. He’s going to capitalize on those things.”
The Knicks ask a lot of Brunson. They ask him to play a lot of minutes, run their offense, shoot the ball a ton, and lead them on the offensive end. It’s a lot to ask, but he rises to the occasion.
“JB’s a great player,” Oubre added. “He’s been playing well and doing this all year long. So just because I say he shot 34 shots, it doesn’t mean he’s going to stop shooting them. That’s what they need him to do. At the end of the day, he’s just finding his groove. Thibs (Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau) is doing a good job of putting him in positions to get to his left hand and get into the paint.”
As far as the rebounding struggles are concerned, that has been an issue since Game 1 of this series. Heading into Game 5 with their season on the line, the Sixers have to resolve it.
OG Anunoby had 14 rebounds, Josh Hart had 17, Donte DiVincenzo got in there for a few big plays on the glass, and even Brunson has done a good job of rebounding the whole series.
“That’s what they do,” Oubre explained. “Like I said, Jalen is putting up all these shots, but at the end of the day, that’s what he’s supposed to do, and then everybody else is supposed to crash the glass like mad men. Josh, he’s a strong body. OG’s strong. Donte squeezes in a few. They just have guys that know that they have to get the misses, because that’s how they’ll eat. So at the end of the day, man, we’ve got to do a better job of hitting — also holding our hits, not holding them … and just blocking out better, and going and getting them.”
Game 5 is Tuesday back in New York City.
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