Knicks complete 4-0 sweep of 76ers, 144-114 in Game 4 rout

Basketball blowouts can feel random. This one didn’t. New York walked into Philadelphia on Sunday, May 10, and ended the series before the game had really settled in. The Knicks beat the 76ers 144-114, finished a 4-0 sweep, and got back to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year. (nba.com) ### How did it get out of hand so fast? The first quarter basically decided the night. New York hit 11 threes in the opening period — an NBA postseason record for a quarter — and turned the game into a shooting drill. By halftime, the Knicks had already made 18 threes and built a lead that made the second half feel like cleanup. (ny1.com) ### Who actually drove the avalanche? It wasn’t just one guy getting hot. Miles McBride started for the injured OG Anunoby and detonated early, hitting four threes in the first quarter and finishing with 25 points on seven made threes. Jalen Brunson also scored 25. Josh Hart added 22. That balance is the scary part — Philadelphia couldn’t load up on Brunson because the damage was coming from everywhere. (abcnews.com) ### Why does the McBride part matter so much? Because this is what changes a playoff ceiling. Everyone expects Brunson to bend a defense. The swing factor is whether New York’s role players can punish the help. McBride did exactly that in Game 4, and he did it while filling in for a missing starter. That’s the kind of depth that turns a good playoff team into one that can survive injuries and still bury somebody. (abcnews.com) ### What did Philadelphia do wrong? A lot of it was structural. The 76ers never got control of the arc, and once New York started spraying threes, the game sped up in the Knicks’ direction. Joel Embiid scored 24 points and didn’t miss a shot from the field, which sounds absurd in a 30-point loss, but that’s the point — Philadelphia got efficient scoring from its star and still had no answer for the volume and pace coming back the other way. (youtube.com) ### Was this just one hot night? Not really. Hot shooting was the headline, but the sweep is the real story. New York didn’t steal one game and then catch fire in another. The Knicks won four straight in the second round and now have back-to-back trips to the East finals. That says something bigger than “they got hot” — it says their formula is holding up deep into May again. (nba.com) ### What record did the Knicks actually set? There are two numbers to keep straight. The Knicks set the postseason record with 11 made threes in the first quarter. They also finished with 25 made threes for the game, which tied the NBA playoff record. So the opening punch was historic by itself, and the full-game shooting held up as one of the best playoff perimeter performances the league has seen. (ny1.com) ### What changes now? New York moves on and waits for the winner of the Cleveland-Detroit series. Philadelphia goes home with the uglier kind of questions — not just why it lost, but why it got overwhelmed so completely on its own floor in an elimination game. The crowd angle mattered too, with multiple recaps noting how loud the pro-Knicks presence was in Philadelphia. That’s embarrassing, but mostly symbolic. The real problem was on the court. (nbcnewyork.com) ### Bottom line The Knicks didn’t just advance. They made a statement about how dangerous they are when Brunson has enough shooting and support around him. Philadelphia got swept. New York looked deeper, cleaner, and much more ready for what comes next. (nba.com)