Knicks take 3-0 series lead

The Knicks are doing this the hard way — and that’s exactly why this 3-0 lead feels real. They beat Philadelphia 108-94 on Friday, May 8, in a game where the 76ers came out hot, the building was loud, and New York still walked them down and shut the door late. (espn.com) Jalen Brunson was the closer again. The bigger story, though, is that the Knicks now look like a team that can win in more than one style. (nba.com) ### How did Game 3 actually swing? Philadelphia led by 12 early and had the cleaner first quarter, but the Knicks took over in the second and never really let the game drift back out of reach. (espn.com) New York won that second quarter 33-21, then kept answering every little Sixers push after halftime. By the fourth, the pattern from this series showed up again — the Knicks defended harder, got the bigger shots, and made the game feel smaller for Philadelphia. ### Why was Brunson the center of it? Because this is what he does when playoff games get sticky. Brunson finished with 33 points and 9 assists, shot 11-for-22 from the field, and hit the late buckets that turned a tense finish into a comfortable win. (espn.com) He wasn’t just scoring. He was deciding the pace of the game — when New York needed to settle down, he did that too. ESPN also noted that he passed Walt Frazier for the most 30-point, 5-assist playoff games in Knicks history. ### Who gave him the help? Mikal Bridges did the clean secondary-star thing — 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting, plus two steals and no turnovers. (espn.com) Landry Shamet gave the Knicks a real bench jolt with 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns only scored 8, but his 12 rebounds and 7 assists mattered because they kept possessions alive and helped New York move the defense around instead of just playing Brunson isolation ball. ### So what was the real edge? Extra possessions. Basically, New York won the game on the margins and then let Brunson finish the job. The Knicks grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to Philadelphia’s 9 and won the overall rebounding battle 49-33. (nba.com) That’s a huge gap in a playoff road game. When one team is already more organized late, giving that team extra shots is like spotting a good closer another out. ### What happened to the Sixers late? They ran out of clean offense. Joel Embiid had 18 points, Tyrese Maxey had 17, and Kelly Oubre Jr. led them with 22, but none of it bent the game when it mattered most. (nba.com) Philadelphia scored only 18 points in the fourth quarter. That followed a 12-point fourth in Game 2, which is the kind of repeat problem that stops looking random and starts looking structural. ### Does OG Anunoby matter here? Yes — because the Knicks did this without him. NBA playoff coverage listed Anunoby out for Game 3 with a right hamstring strain suffered in Game 2. (nba.com) That matters because it makes the win feel less fragile. New York didn’t need a perfect night or a full-strength rotation to control the game. ### Why does 3-0 feel bigger than 3-0? Because the Knicks are now one win from a second straight trip to the Eastern Conference finals, which the franchise hasn’t done since 1999 and 2000. And this wasn’t some fluky shooting binge. It was defense, rebounding, patience, and a star guard who keeps owning the last five minutes. (nba.com) That travels. ### Bottom line The Knicks didn’t just take control of the series. They showed the shape of a contender — tough on the glass, calm late, and built around a lead guard who keeps making the biggest decisions correctly. (nba.com) One more win, and this stops being a nice run and starts looking like a real Eastern Conference power move. (espn.com) (nba.com)