Knicks complete 4‑game sweep of 76ers behind 25 three‑pointers

The Knicks didn’t just close out the 76ers. They detonated the series. New York beat Philadelphia 144-114 on Sunday, May 10, to finish a 4-0 sweep in the second round and get back to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season. The number everyone will remember is 25 — that’s how many threes the Knicks made, tying the NBA playoff record and turning a road elimination game into target practice. ### How bad was it, exactly? Pretty bad right away. The Knicks scored 43 points in the first quarter, hit 11 threes in that period alone, and led by 24 at halftime. By the time the third quarter ended, they had 122 points and the game was basically over except for the formalities. ### Who drove the shooting avalanche? Miles “Deuce” McBride was the surprise headliner. (abcnews.com) Starting again because OG Anunoby was out with a hamstring injury, McBride scored 25 points and drilled 7 of 9 from deep. Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart helped set the tone, but McBride was the guy who turned every small Sixers mistake into three more points. ### Why did 25 threes matter so much? Because that number changes the math of the whole game. New York shot 25-for-44 from three — 56.8% — while Philadelphia went 8-for-35. That’s a 51-point gap from behind the arc alone. You can survive a hot team for a quarter. You usually can’t survive that kind of spread for 48 minutes. (usatoday.com) ### Was this just one hot night? Not really. The Knicks had already hammered the Sixers in Game 1, 137-98, and looked like the deeper, cleaner team for most of the series. Game 4 was the loudest version of the same theme — New York generating open looks, playing faster, and forcing Philadelphia to chase from behind. ### What does this say about the Knicks? (foxsports.com) It says this run is not a fluke. New York is back in the conference finals again, but the path looks different now. Last year’s group leaned more on grind and survival. This version can still do that, but it also has enough shooting to bury a team before the game gets tense. That makes the ceiling higher — and the margin for error bigger. (espn.com) ### What does it say about Philadelphia? It says the same old problem still hasn’t gone away. The Sixers had home court in Game 4 and still got run off their own floor. A second-round sweep is the kind of loss that doesn’t just end a season — it restarts all the questions about roster construction, playoff resilience, and whether this core can actually hold up deep into May. That part is inference, but it’s a pretty obvious one after a 30-point elimination loss at home. (abcnews.com) ### Who’s next? The Knicks are waiting on Cleveland-Detroit in the East finals. That pause matters. Extra rest helps any team, but especially one that just played a high-energy, shot-making series and is dealing with at least one key injury in Anunoby. ### Bottom line? This wasn’t a squeaker, and it wasn’t random. The Knicks walked into Philadelphia, tied a playoff record with 25 threes, won by 30, and made it clear they’re not just hanging around the bracket — they’re one of the last real threats left in it. (cbsnews.com) (abcnews.com)