Knicks beat 76ers at Madison Square Garden, take 1–0 Eastern semifinals lead
- New York hammered Philadelphia 137-98 in Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, with Jalen Brunson scoring 35 as the Knicks seized a 1-0 lead. - The game was basically over by halftime — New York led 74-51, while Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined for just 27 points. - It matters because the Knicks kept rolling after a blowout first-round finish, while Philadelphia suddenly has to solve New York’s size and pace.
The Knicks didn’t just win Game 1. They steamrolled the 76ers 137-98 and made the Eastern semifinals look lopsided before the series had any chance to settle in. That matters because second-round games are usually about counters and adjustments — not one team looking ready by halftime and the other looking stunned. New York came in hot after closing the first round with a blowout, and on Monday night at Madison Square Garden it looked even sharper. ### Why did this feel over so early? Because the Knicks buried Philadelphia in the second quarter. New York won that period 41-26 and took a 74-51 lead into halftime, capped by another huge scoring night from Jalen Brunson, who already had 27 by the break. In a playoff game, that kind of halftime margin changes everything — rotations shorten, confidence dips, and the tone shifts. ### What did Brunson actually do? He was the tone-setter. Brunson finished with 35 points in just 31 minutes and never let Philadelphia settle into the kind of half-court game the Sixers wanted. The useful detail here is not just the point total — it’s that he got most of his damage done before the game got messy. New York didn’t need a desperate superstar rescue late. It got command early. ### Was this only about Brunson? No — that’s the scary part for Philly. The Knicks had a full-team night, with multiple starters in double figures and enough shot-making that the Sixers couldn’t load up on one guy. New York has been built to survive different game scripts, and Game 1 showed the version where Brunson starts the fire and everyone else keeps feeding it. That’s how you get to 137 in a playoff game. ### What went wrong for Philadelphia? The stars never bent the game. Joel Embiid scored 14 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Tyrese Maxey had 13. That combo is the engine of the Sixers’ offense, and it just never got going. Philadelphia shot 41% as a team, and once the deficit ballooned, the whole thing tilted from “bad offensive night” into “pull the starters and move on.” ### Why is Embiid’s line the big red flag? Because 14 points on 11 shots from Embiid is not normal playoff math for Philadelphia. If he’s drawing doubles, living at the line, or forcing the Knicks to reshape their defense, the Sixers can build counters off that. But if New York can keep him inefficient without breaking its structure, that works. ### Is one blowout enough to define the series? Not by itself. Blowouts can be weird — one hot shooting night, one dead-legged opponent, one quarter that snowballs. But the catch is that this wasn’t a random 8-point game that got stretched late. The Knicks controlled it from the second quarter on and kept extending the margin. That makes the result feel more structural than fluky. ### What does Philadelphia need before Game 2? A totally different shot profile and a much better Embiid-Maxey game. The Sixers also need to slow New York down and keep the Knicks out of that early avalanche mode. Game 2 is Wednesday, May 6, back at Madison Square Garden, so the turnaround is quick — which is good if you want to flush a disaster, but bad if the matchup problems are real. ### Bottom line? The Knicks opened this series looking bigger, faster, and far more comfortable. One game doesn’t end a semifinal. But a 39-point playoff win that starts with Brunson cooking and ends with Philly waving it off is a very loud way to grab control.
