Knicks torch 76ers, 63.1% shooting

The Knicks did not just beat the 76ers in Game 1. They flattened them. New York won 137-98 on Monday, May 4, at Madison Square Garden, and the score(espn.com) Brunson had 35 points in 30 minutes, the starters barely needed to sweat late, and the Knicks opened the second round looking less like a nice playo(nba.com)has slowed down yet. (espn.com) ### Why did this feel over so early? Because the Knicks grabbed contro(nba.com)arter, then blew the game open with a 41-point second quarter to take a 74-51 lead into halftime. By the time the third quarter settled, the only real question was how soon both teams would empty the bench. (espn.com) ### What was the actual offensive trick? Basically, the Knicks got whatever shot they wanted. They finished at 63.1% from the field, which set a franchise playoff record, and they(espn.com)ar hot streak. The ball moved, the paint opened, and Brunson kept dragging defenders into impossible choices — help on him and somebody else gets a clean look, stay home and he walks into his own shot. (nba.com) ### How good was Brunson? He was the tone-setter and the closer before halftime. Brunson scored 2(espn.com)ll. The important part is not just the total. It is how easy he made it look. He got downhill, he controlled pace, and he never seemed rushed, which is a bad sign for a defense trying to make a series ugly. (espn.com) ### Was this just Brunson going nuclear? No — that is the scary part for Philadelphia. Brunson led it, but the whole Knicks machine was humming. The game turned into one of t(nba.com)other one. When a team shoots over 63% in a playoff game and wins by 39, that usually means the star was brilliant and the structure around him worked too. (nba.com) ### What went wrong for the 76ers? They never imposed their style. Philadelphia scored 98 points, which was fewer than 100 for just the seventh time i(espn.com)se could not get enough stops to slow the avalanche. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were out with more than six minutes left in the third quarter and never returned — that tells you how quickly this moved from playoff game to damage control. (nba.com) ### Why does the history matter here? Because this is now bigger than one blowout. The Kni(nba.com)ee straight postseason games by at least 25 points. That kind of streak does not happen by accident. It suggests New York is not just beating teams — it is dictating terms and breaking games open before opponents can adjust. (cincinnati.com) ### So what should we take from Game 1? The cleanest read is th(nba.com)runson as the engine, enough shot-making around him, and the confidence of a team that expects runs to keep coming. Philadelphia still has time to respond in the series, but the catch is that Game 1 did not look like random variance. It looked like New York's current level. (nba.com) The bottom line is(cincinnati.com) operating on normal terms. (espn.com)