Big bounce backs for Sunday afternoon’s road underdogs. New York zig-zagged from a 125-114 loss in Philadelphia Thursday night. The Los Angeles Clippers did the same from a 101-90 loss in Dallas Friday night. Knicks covered by 9.5, Clips by 11.
Let’s run the numbers and see how it happened…
New York (+4.5) 97, Philadelphia 92
2-point Pct: New York 51%, Philadelphia 41%
3-pointers: New York 7/27 (26%), Philadelphia 9/33 (27%)
Free Throws: New York 16/26, Philadelphia 25/29
Rebounds: New York 52, Philadelphia 42
Turnovers: New York 12, Philadelphia 8
Estimated Pace: 94 possessions
Huge regression from that wild 125-114 shootout in G3. Sixers dropped from 48% on treys (15/31) to 27%. Knicks dropped from 43% to 26%. Pace was the same (!), but 50 fewer points were scored!! Only 16 made treys this time, down from 28. That’s 36 of the fewer points right there. Great performance from NY in the “playoff basketball” stuff. Won 2-point shooting 51-41%, then plus 10 in rebounds. Turnovers were a bit of a problem, but not enough to spike the other edges. Knicks are +30 in rebounds for the series. Embiid just isn’t healthy enough to be the force Philly needs in ALL the ways that he can be a force.
New York leads the series 3-1, and has two home games if needed.