Another nail-biter for our New York Knicks. This was a game you would expect the Knicks to take handily: at home, more days off than Philly, the physical and emotional toll of their Game 7 with Boston. And they did just that.

The starting lineup looked sharp to open the game on both ends. The defense was so suffocating the only effective offense that Philly could get was from the free throw line.

Joel Embiid tried his classic antics and flopping to get to the line and get our big men (Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns) in foul trouble. However, the Knicks were able to weather the storm behind 27 huge first half points for Jalen Brunson.

One of my major keys prior to the game were the wings on their perimeter weapons. They were absolutely as impactful as I believed they needed to be and could be.

Josh Hart winning his matchup with the rookie sensation, OG Anunoby’s pressure on Paul George, and Mikal Bridges turning the water off on Tyrese Maxey.

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The other most important aspect for the Knicks success would be KAT attacking Embiid, and he did just that.

Embiid did have him in foul trouble, but KAT was very active on the defense end and played another stellar game as the facilitating hub of this offense.

Towns played only 20 minutes with those four fouls as well as the game being out of reach, but was on triple-double watch once again with 17 points 6 rebounds 6 assists and 2 blocks.

This will be key going forward because the best defense this series will be their offense. They have to attack Embiid, Maxey, and George on the offensive end and force them to move those puppies and guard.

This is a tactic that Atlanta deployed against Brunson, which along with Daniels’ defense had Brunson struggling. This is definitely something that Philly let the Knicks off the hook with last night as they didn’t force Brunson into many actions on the defensive end.

This could be due to the fact that while the Sixers are top heavy, but lack a variety of offensive options. So when Brunson is guarding Kelly Oubre or Quentin Grimes with all these other stars on the floor; I don’t think Nick Nurse is looking to repeatedly work them into their actions.

The Knicks look so strong right now from all angles and are showing great problem solving skills on defense and offense. Mike Brown seems to be pushing all the right buttons to make this team go.

It is beautiful to see what the performance ceiling of this team looks like. That being said, they need to refocus because I expect Game 2 to be much tighter and it is the first to four, not one.

As always, Let’s Go Knicks!

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Game 1 Knicks Top Performers Recap:

-Jalen Brunson: 35 points 3 assists 2 steals 66.7 field goal percentage

-Josh Hart: 8 points 8 rebounds 6 assists 3 steals 1 block

-Karl-Anthony Towns: 17 points 6 rebounds 6 assists 2 blocks (20 minutes)

-OG Anunoby: 18 points 3 rebounds 2 three-pointers 1 block

-Mikal Bridges: 17 points 5 assists 2 rebounds 1 steal 70 field goal percentage

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