Knicks sweep 76ers, end Philly run

The Knicks didn’t just eliminate the 76ers. They blew the doors off the series on the way out. Game 4 was a 144-114 demolition in Philadelphia on Sunday, May 10 — the kind of closeout that tells you this matchup was over before the handshake line. New York tied the NBA playoff record with 25 made 3-pointers and posted a franchise playoff record with 144 points. That sent the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year, while the 76ers headed into another summer of hard questions. ### How bad was the closeout? Pretty bad, fast. New York set the tone by drilling 11 threes in the first quarter alone, which set a new NBA postseason record for a quarter. By the end, the Knicks had turned a road playoff game into something that sounded like a home crowd, with plenty of Knicks fans in the building and almost no drama left on the floor. (nba.com) ### Who actually carried New York? That’s part of what makes this scary for the next opponent — it wasn’t just one guy going supernova. Miles McBride led the Knicks with 25 points and hit 7 of 9 from deep. Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart were central again, and the whole thing looked less like a star rescue act and more like a machine that already knows where every shot is coming from. (ny1.com) ### Why does the shooting number matter so much? Because 25 made threes isn’t just “hot night” territory. That ties the NBA playoff record. It means the 76ers weren’t getting beaten by a few lucky stretches — they were getting buried by volume, spacing, and a team that kept creating clean looks over and over. When a defense gives up that many threes, the math gets ugly in a hurry. (usatoday.com) ### Was this series close at all? Not really. The Knicks opened the round by smashing Philadelphia 137-98 in Game 1, and that set the tone for everything after it. By the end of Game 4, New York had won seven straight playoff games overall, and this particular matchup never really found suspense. The sweep was the headline, but the bigger story is how little resistance the Knicks saw once the round started. (msn.com) ### So what does this mean for the Knicks? It means New York looks like a real East contender, not just a nice playoff story. Back-to-back trips to the conference finals matter on their own, but the way this team got there matters more. The Knicks are defending, shooting, and getting contributions beyond Brunson. That’s usually what separates a dangerous team from one that just survives rounds. (nba.com) ### And what does it mean for Philadelphia? Basically, the same old questions are back, only louder. Joel Embiid’s health is still the center of the conversation. The roster still doesn’t look close enough to the best teams when the games tighten — or, in this case, when they never even get the chance to tighten. Another early exit in the Embiid era makes every summer decision feel heavier, from supporting pieces to the bigger question of whether this core has already shown its ceiling. (cbssports.com) ### Why does this one sting more? Because it wasn’t a coin-flip series or a heartbreaking Game 7. It was a sweep, and the final game was a 30-point loss. There’s a difference between losing and getting shown the gap. Philadelphia got shown the gap. The bottom line is simple — the Knicks look built for a longer run, and the 76ers look stuck in another offseason where “what now?” is the only question anyone wants answered. (nba.com) (sports.yahoo.com)