The Sixers missed Joel Embiid, quiet second half from stars, and more from a 108-102 loss in Game 2

The 76ers lost a hotly contested thriller, 108-102, in Game 2 of their second-round series against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

After being run off the floor in Game 1, the Sixers didn’t give an inch against the Knicks until the final moments of the fourth quarter. The game featured 25 lead changes, 14 ties, and neither team had a lead larger than seven points.

But the Knicks’ experience and cohesiveness was too much to overcome for the Sixers. Jalen Brunson knocked down a shot over Dominick Barlow, whose defense helped buoy the Sixers in the fourth. Mikal Bridges followed with a midrange make. The Sixers made a last-gasp effort, but couldn’t recover after quiet second-half performances from Tyrese Maxey and Paul George.

» READ MORE: David Murphy: Sixers gave everything they had in Game 2 loss to the Knicks, but find themselves in familiar straits

Maxey scored 26 points, but cooled after dropping 19 in the first half. George’s production set the tone early as he had 11 in the first quarter, but he finished with 19 and only made two shots in the second half. VJ Edgecombe added 17 points and stellar defense on Brunson.

The Sixers will head to Philly for Games 3 and 4 with an 0-2 deficit and Joel Embiid’s health in doubt after he missed Game 2 because of right ankle and hip injuries. Here’s more of what we learned.

The Sixers are at their best when Embiid is at the center of the offense, scoring at will and orchestrating traffic.

The Sixers had their moments in the first half on Wednesday, but were missing a steadying force. When things go haywire, this teams knows it can throw the ball in the post to Embiid and get a score, free throws, or an open look. Embiid only played 38 regular season games, so that wasn’t always the case, but it certainly was as they emerged from a three-games-to-one deficit to defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games.

Embiid was spent in the Sixers’ Game 1 loss — and so were the rest of his teammates — but even at 70%, the Sixers’ center gives this team a better chance to win. They’ll need everything he has in order to come back from another series deficit.

“My clip was jammed last series,” Oubre told the ESPN broadcast, describing a tough seven-game stretch against the Boston Celtics. Well, that truth extended to Game 1 of this series for Oubre and several other Sixers. They shot 41% from the field Monday night.

That wasn’t the case Wednesday night as the Sixers shot 45% from the field and 38% from the three-point line. They were hot early, with George knocking down three shots from long range in the first half. Oubre added two three-pointers, while Maxey scored with an array of looks at all three levels in the first half.

» READ MORE: The Sixers must rediscover their defensive intensity in order to compete with the red-hot Knicks

That shooting helped the Sixers keep pace with a healthy Knicks team that was only without big man Mitchell Robinson. The Sixers needed every bit of that marksmanship without Embiid, but his absence showed down the stretch.

The Sixers needed another horse as Maxey and George faded. Edgecombe tried, but came up short on a number of open looks. The Knicks also did a good job of forcing the ball out of the Sixers’ stars hands. A number of disjointed late possessions ended with Quentin Grimes and Barlow with the ball, or resulted in tough shots for Maxey, George and Edgecombe. The Sixers shot 48.8% in the first half, but that dropped to 41.1% in the second. And their 18 turnovers made matters worse.

You’ve seen the clip by now where Edgecombe loses he balance while defending Celtics star Jaylen Brown during Game 7. Instead of falling, the Sixers rookie steeled himself, drove his feet backward in an unorthodox fashion to keep pace, then contested a missed shot. It was a signature moment in a rookie season full of them.

He added another solid defensive effort on Wednesday night as he took the tough assignment against Brunson. He hounded the Knicks star all night, forcing his way over screens and playing tight defense without fouling. That meant a slow start for Brunson, who reached the final three minutes of the first quarter without a field goal. Brunson overcame the slow start to finish the half with 16 points, some of which came when Edgecombe took a breather. The Knicks star guard totaled 26 points, but shot 9-for-21 from the field and was 1-for-5 from three.

That first half outburst didn’t mean the night got easier for Brunson. He failed to take advantage of the Knicks’ effort to place Barlow in switches on pick-and-roll sets. Barlow defended Brunson on an island with success until that final decisive possession. So did Grimes.

This had the potential to be a big night for Karl-Anthony Towns. Embiid was out, Adem Bona and Andre Drummond got in foul trouble and the Sixers played critical fourth quarter minutes with Barlow at center.

But Towns was rarely on the court himself because of four fouls, including three in the first half and two in the final minutes of the first quarter. He ended up with a fairly pedestrian night for him given the circumstances, totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.

But where Towns stumbled, OG Anunoby shined. He quietly scored 24 points and was a plus-12 in the game, which was nearly double any other Knick.