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In what ended up being the wildest first round series, things started off just like that in game 6.
The Knicks completely blitzed Philly in the first quarter building out a 22 point lead on the road.
But the arena was about to explode when the Sixers stormed out to a huge comebacK led by none other than Buddy Hield.
In an improbable turn of events, the guy who didn’t play for the entire series stayed ready and was blistering hot. 5 of 7 from downtown in the first half as it seemed that everything he threw up went in.
Nick Batum once again stepped up and these 2 bench guys helped Embiid in completely turning this game around, as the crowd could feel the momentum building on their end, and started thinking about game 7 and a possible 3-1 comeback.
This sets up an epic fourth quarter where no team would back down.
The Knicks offense completely relied on Jalen Brunson who had another iconic game of 41 points including 14 in the fourth. The rest of the guys just watched him do his magic.
And Philly had Maxey carry the load as Embiid was kind of passive for the entire fourth quarter.
But New York went on a mini run at the end, and things escalated with this…
At this point, jumping up and down in my living room at 5 in the morning, I thought that I can finally exhale, it’s over. But maaan I could not have been more wrong.
OG misses the free throw and here come the Sixers…
Unbelievable! In just about 90 seconds, the Sixers make it a 1 point game. And now it’s chaos.
Brunson would use this however to sell another one of his tricks to Oubre and get the bucket plus the foul.
Buuut he fails to make it a 2 possession game as he misses the free throw and then…
Oh my goodness…Not only is it a foul, but the refs review the play and call a goaltending on the block, so now Maxey gets an and-1 with a chance to tie the game. And he does it.
The pressure is through the roof now, and the Knicks have to score, otherwise Philadelphia will have a chance to win the game. So what do they do?!
What a colossal shot from Josh Hart to give the Knicks a 3 point lead in the final seconds.
I can not believe that I’m rewatching the same movie from last game. For the love of God, whatever you do, please do not allow the 3.
Thankfully they don’t and this turns into a free throw shooting contest with Philly trying to extend the game. But both Divincenzo and later on Brunson stayed ice cold at the line with the weight of this series being on them, keeping this a 3 point game.
So in this final sequence, there is one last shot for the Sixers to tie this game.
Finally it’s all over. The Knicks advance to the second round, barely making it alive out of this absolute war. With my hands still shaking I immediately opened up RateGame to give my thoughts, and I rated it only an 8.6 which I’m not sure if I was even thinking clearly when I did it.
What a game and what a series. The total points ended up being 650 to 649 for the Knicks. That’s how close it was. Unbelievable. Anyway, moving on from this one,
In Indiana everything was ready for celebration, as the Pacers needed one more win to advance into the 2nd round for the first time in a decade. However, Damian Lillard, emphasizing the importance of this game, decided to play, and Milwaukee jumped to a 10-3 lead at the start, as they desperately wanted to prolong the series and give Antetokounmpo a chance to maybe come back for game 7.
But, Rick Carlisle pulled the Joker out of his sleeve early on by inserting T.J. McConell and boy did he ever. Indy went on a 24 to 11 run to turn this game around and secure a 9 point lead after 12 minutes of play.
The 2nd quarter was a quiet one, in which the Bucks shot miserably, 7 of 22 from the field and just 1 of 6 from downtown. And when nothing goes your way offensively, at least try to protect your own basket. Look at how easy Haliburton got this putback dunk. This is not how you play defense in an elimination game. The Pacers on the other end, slightly increased their lead by making some important timely shots. (NESMITH 3KA - Filer)
After the break, here comes the Indiana bench again, as this time Obi Toppin was the one making the most damage.
The Pacers went into the final period with a 15 point lead, and then it was T.J. again delivering the final blow and sending the arena into delirium. Indiana’s bench outscored Milwaukee’s 50 to 10 securing the big win at home.
This was exactly my thought on RateGame, the app that I’m a part of. I gave this one a 6.3 which was seemingly way too generous, but I was glad that this young team was able to move on to the second round.
Another disappointing postseason for the Bucks, where things got ugly at the end with Pat Bev having an altercation with the fans. Thing is it may get even uglier in the off season with Giannis as I’m not sure that he fully believes in this team.