Knicks rout 76ers, 63.1% shooting

The Knicks didn’t just beat the 76ers in Game 1. They blew the doors off the series and made the whole thing feel tilted before Philadelphia could settle in. New York won 137-98 on Monday, May 4, and the scary part for the Sixers is that this didn’t look fluky. It looked organized, repeatable, and ruthless. Brunson was brilliant, the spacing was wide open, and every defensive moment. ### Why was this more than a normal blowout? Because the score was huge, but the process was even worse for Philadelphia. New York led 74-51 at halftime, won every quarter, and pushed the margin to 40 at its peak. That usually happens when one team gets hot for a few minutes. This was four quarters of the Knicks getting where they wanted, when they wanted. How did they do so well? Basically everything that makes an offense impossible to guard. The Knicks shot 63.1% from the field, 51.4% from three, and piled up 34 assists on 53 made baskets. That tells you the whole story — this wasn’t one guy bailing them out late in the clock. The ball kept moving, the paint kept collapsing, and Philadelphia kept giving up the next pass. How good was Brunson? He set the tone early and never really let the game breathe. Brunson finished with 35 points on 12-for-18 shooting and went 8-for-8 at the line. More telling — 27 of those points came in the first half, when the Knicks were building separation instead of protecting it. When your lead guard is scoring like that and still keeping the offense on schedule, the defense starts choosing which problem it wants to lose to. ### Was it only Brunson? Not even close. OG Anunoby scored 18 on 7-for-8 shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 6 assists. Mikal Bridges added 17 on 7-for-10. Even the bench joined in, and all 14 Knicks who played made at least one field goal. That’s what made the game feel avalanche-like — every time Philadelphia tried to narrow the problem to one matchup, another Knicks player punished it. ### What went wrong for the Sixers? Their stars never controlled the game. Joel Embiid had 14 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Tyrese Maxey scored 13 on 3-for-9. Paul George led Philadelphia with 17, but that came in a game where the team shot 41.1%, turned it over 19 times, and generated only 15 assists. The Sixers didn’t just miss shots — they looked disconnected, like every possession started a beat late. ### Why does the 63.1% matter so much? Because numbers that high usually need weird shot-making luck. The Knicks got there without living on nonsense. They created dunks, layups, kick-out threes, and short pull-ups — the diet you want in the playoffs. So the big number is really a sign of shot quality. New York wasn’t surviving tough possessions. New York was winning them early. Is there bigger playoff context here? Yes — and it’s the part that should worry Philadelphia most. This was the Knicks’ third straight playoff win by at least 25 points, the first such streak in NBA postseason history. That doesn’t guarantee anything in Game 2, but it does tell you New York isn’t just edging through rounds. Right now, the Knicks are steamrolling people. ### Bottom line Game 1 said something simple. The Knicks are not just hot — they look sharp, deep, and fully in command of how they want this series played. Philadelphia still has time to answer, but after a 39-point loss, the first question isn’t strategy. It’s whether the Sixers can make this feel competitive again.