Knicks complete 4-game sweep of 76ers, advance to Eastern Conference final

The Knicks did not just beat Philadelphia. They flattened the series. New York won Game 4, 144-114, on Sunday, May 10, to finish a 4-0 sweep and move back into the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year. The score matters, but the shape of the game matters more — this was over almost immediately, and it looked like the Knicks had solved the matchup completely by the end. ### How bad was Game 4? Pretty bad for Philadelphia, and pretty absurd for New York. The Knicks hit 25 threes, which tied the NBA postseason record for a single game, and they were up 20-6 before the Sixers had really settled in. New York ended with a 30-point win, and the only real suspense was how many shooting records it might touch on the way. ### Why did this turn into a blowout so fast? (nba.com) Because the Knicks came out bombing and never cooled off. They made 11 threes in the first quarter alone, tying the playoff record for most in any quarter, then got to 18 by halftime. That meant New York scored 54 first-half points just from deep — almost matching Philadelphia’s entire first-half offense by itself. (nba.com) ### Who swung the game? Miles McBride was the surprise hammer. He started because OG Anunoby was out, then drilled seven threes and scored 25 points. He hit four threes in the first quarter, which gave the Knicks instant separation and changed the feel of the afternoon. Jalen Brunson added 22, while Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 each, so this was not one guy going nuclear — it was lineup-wide pressure. (nbcnewyork.com) ### Was this just one hot shooting night? Not really. The shooting was the loudest part, but the series had already tilted hard toward New York. The Knicks won the four games by a combined margin that worked out to 19.4 points per game, the largest average margin through two playoff rounds since the NBA expanded to a 16-team postseason in 1984. Basically, Game 4 was the most extreme version of a trend that had been building all week. (nba.com) ### What changed from last year’s Knicks? The coaching switch is part of it. New York reached the conference finals last year, lost there, then moved on from Tom Thibodeau and hired Mike Brown. Brown now has the team on a seven-game playoff winning streak, dating back to the end of the Atlanta series, and this group looks a little freer offensively without losing its edge. (nba.com) ### Why does the sweep matter beyond the bracket? Rest. A sweep means the Knicks get a long break while the other East semifinal keeps going. The official playoff bracket showed New York waiting on Cleveland-Detroit, with the Pistons leading that series 2-1 when the Knicks advanced. In May, that kind of schedule edge can be huge — especially for a team leaning on heavy minutes and physical defense. (nba.com) ### And what about Philadelphia? This is the ugly part. The Sixers were not just eliminated — they were overwhelmed on their own floor, with Knicks fans again taking over large chunks of the arena. When a road team sweeps you and your building sounds tilted toward them, that lands as more than a basketball loss. It feels like organizational failure. ### Bottom line? (nba.com) The Knicks are not sneaking anywhere anymore. They just posted their first playoff sweep since 1999, tied a postseason three-point record, and reached the East finals looking sharper than they did a year ago. If the big question before this round was whether New York had enough offense, the answer just came back very loud. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2)