Sixers’ offense flops in Tyrese Maxey’s return as the New York Knicks cruise at the Garden

NBA All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey scored 17 points in his first game back since being out with a concussion

Published March 12, 2024, 10:08 p.m. ET

NEW YORK — Nick Nurse acknowledged the 76ers’ two consecutive games against the Knicks felt a bit like game-planning during a playoff series. But the coach also knew the early minutes of Tuesday’s rematch would rapidly reveal the success of both teams’ adjustments.

That Nurse needed to call a timeout less than two minutes into the game epitomized as much. The Knicks jumped out to a dominant advantage, then cruised to a 106-79 victory Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“They were moving faster than we were,” Nurse said of the Knicks, who salvaged a split in the back-to-back games after the Sixers won Sunday, 79-73. “I thought their physicality on the ball was a big difference at both ends. They were in, and on, us hard … I told them after the game that it starts with competing and physicality and execution, and we did not start the game with any of those three things.

“You’ve got to have all three of them, especially against a team that’s [ticked] off that you just beat them.”

The win gave the Knicks a 3-1 regular-season series victory over the Sixers (36-29), which could loom large in the tightly packed Eastern Conference standings with 17 games to play. The Sixers’ loss dropped them from sixth to seventh place — the difference between a guaranteed first-round series or going to the play-in tournament — though the fourth-place Knicks (38-27) and eighth-place Miami Heat are separated by 2½ games.

And that lopsided result occurred with both teams as more complete versions of themselves Tuesday. Sixers All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, four assists) returned from a four-game absence due to a concussion, while Knicks defensive standout OG Anunoby (14 points, four rebounds) had been sidelined since Jan. 27 with an elbow injury.

When asked before the game for an update on Joel Embiid’s recovery from knee surgery, Nurse did not provide any details beyond that the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player has moved to some on-court work.

“I haven’t seen him for a few days,” Nurse said.

Following an offensively challenged Sixers victory on Sunday, the road team in this matchup failed to reach 80 points for the second consecutive game.

The Sixers trailed 26-14 after the first quarter, putting up an even lower opening-period point total than Sunday’s 15. The Knicks eventually extended that advantage to 21 points, on a corner three-pointer by All-Star and former Villanova star Jalen Brunson (20 points, nine assists) with less than a minute to go before halftime.

New York’s advantage ballooned to 83-55 on a steal and one-handed dunk by Anunoby with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter. It later reached 33 points in the final period, when both teams had begun emptying their benches.

Kelly Oubre Jr. added 19 points and six rebounds for the Sixers. Tobias Harris, meanwhile, went scoreless in the first half and finished with two points on 1-of-6 shooting in another poor performance during a stretch when the Sixers need some extra offensive punch with Embiid sidelined. The Knicks’ Josh Hart, another former Villanova standout, compiled his fourth triple-double, with 20 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Sixers will finish their three-game road trip at the Milwaukee Bucks against former coach Doc Rivers on Thursday (8 p.m., NBCSP).