PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Brunson scored 33 points and sealed the game with big buckets late to the delight of roaring Knicks fans, leading New York to a 109-94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night for a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.
With 2016 and 2018 Villanova national championship banners hanging in the rafters, the so-called Nova Knicks all took turns taking the fight out of the Sixers in the fourth quarter, turning a four-point lead into another double-digit victory
Josh Hart had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Mikal Bridges added 23 points, pushing the Knicks and first-year coach Mike Brown within one victory of their second straight conference finals appearance.
The Knicks have the luxury not to rush back forward OG Anunoby, who’s averaging 21.4 points per game in the postseason. He sat out with a strained right hamstring and remains day to day.
Joel Embiid scored 18 points for the Sixers in his return after he missed Game 2 with a sprained right ankle and a sore right hip.
Embiid’s return from an appendectomy helped spur the Sixers’ rally from a 3-1 deficit in the opening round to stun the Celtics.
Beating the Knicks four straight times — including twice in New York — seems like a much harder hill to climb for Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 22 points and Maxey added 17.