Tyrese Maxey saves Sixers from elimination with huge finish in OT win that cuts Knicks' lead to 3-2
NEW YORK (AP) Tyrese Maxey made his Madison Square Garden memory, engineering a season-saving comeback with a rapid-fire flurry that evoked memories of Reggie Miller.
Not that he was thinking about his own legacy as those 3-pointers fell through the net.
“Going through my mind right there was just, find a way to survive,” Maxey said.
The 76ers did. Now they're thinking about advancing.
Maxey saved Philadelphia from elimination with seven points in the final 25 seconds of regulation, finished with 46 and led the 76ers to a 112-106 overtime victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Sixers trailed by six points with 28 seconds left in regulation before Maxey pulled out a comeback that had team trainer Kevin Johnson talking to him about Miller's eight points in nine seconds for Indiana in an out-of-nowhere comeback at Madison Square Garden in 1995.
Asked to describe the feeling, Maxey settled on “mandatory.”
“Like, we had to. Our season on the line,” he said.
The All-Star guard converted a four-point play with 25 seconds remaining to cut it to two, and after Josh Hart's free throw, pulled up from 35 feet to tie it at 97 with 8.1 seconds left in front of a stunned crowd that was set to celebrate the Knicks' second straight trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Joel Embiid finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for the Sixers, who will host Game 6 on Thursday night.
Jalen Brunson scored 40 points for the Knicks, who were thinking about a possible Game 1 of the second round at MSG on Saturday night. Instead, it could be Game 7 of this series, which seemed all but over.
“It was a tough way to lose because you get up six, eight and then we had a couple turnovers and we’ve got to just be better,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Play tougher with the lead, use good judgement. Fourth quarter is different, understand the difference. So we can do better and we will.”
It was the second desperate rally to avoid what seemed like certain defeat in what has been a razor-tight series between Atlantic Division rivals. The Knicks won Game 2 after trailing by five points with under 30 seconds remaining.
Embiid, who has been ailing and missed shootaround with a headache, didn’t score like usual after coming into the game with an NBA-leading 35 points per game in the playoffs. But Maxey picked up the load, making seven 3-pointers while adding nine assists.
“I think that considering that our No. 1 option was struggling, for him to say, ‘All right, I got to put this team on my back and go,’ I just kept encouraging him, like, to take his chances, take his shots, make plays,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “And he certainly did it and got in a rhythm and made a whole bunch of them.”
Maxey had the most points by a Sixers player in a win to stave off elimination, surpassing Hall of Famer Allen Iverson's 44 in a Game 7 win against Milwaukee in the 2001 Eastern Conference final.
Maxey's last 3-pointer got the 76ers on the board in overtime after Brunson scored the first five points. That triggered a 9-0 run that Embiid capped with a three-point play with 1:40 remaining for a 106-102 lead, and after Brunson’s 3 tied it at 106, Kelly Oubre Jr. made the tiebreaking basket with 1:02 to go and Tobias Harris followed with two free throws.
Harris had 19 points and Oubre scored 14.
Hart had 18 points and OG Anunoby 17 for the Knicks, who won Game 4 at Philadelphia and didn't appear like they were heading back there. But the Sixers' rally to win by six meant the No. 7 seeds have outscored the Knicks by two total points in the series.
Embiid was the target of the loud and long boos before the game even started, Knicks fans angry after his flagrant foul on Robinson in Game 3 in Philadelphia. They had plenty of chances to jeer him after Embiid also had nine turnovers in a sloppy performance.
But thanks to Maxey, Embiid might be playing in front of that MSG crowd one more time.
“It’s not hostile," Embiid said of the taunts that were frequently profane. “I mean, I love New York. New York is one of my favorite cities in the world. I have (had) a place here for the past five years. I just love New York. And then the fans, when you play against a team, they’re always going to pick that guy and they seem to have picked me, which is fun. I love it.”
Embiid shuffled slowly through the locker room a little more than an hour before the game, resting his head in his hand while he briefly sat before going to warm up. He may have lacked energy, but the 23-year-old Maxey, the winner of the NBA's Most Improved Player award, seems to have a limitless amount.
Robinson returned after missing Game 4 with a sprained left ankle, but the Knicks announced before the game that Bojan Bogdanovic would miss the rest of the playoffs and have surgery on the left foot he injured in Game 4.
The Knicks, who have flourished when Embiid is resting in the series, started a 22-5 run while he was out in the second quarter and went up by 10 points in the period. They were ahead 70-69 going to the fourth.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
12:00 | Joel Embiid vs. Isaiah Hartenstein (Tyrese Maxey gains possession) | |||
11:37 | Kyle Lowry misses two point driving floating jump shot | |||
11:34 | Isaiah Hartenstein defensive rebound | |||
11:30 | Kelly Oubre Jr. blocks Donte DiVincenzo's three point running jump shot | |||
11:26 | Tyrese Maxey defensive rebound | |||
11:20 | Donte DiVincenzo blocks Kelly Oubre Jr.'s two point layup | |||
11:18 | Kelly Oubre Jr. offensive rebound | |||
11:18 | Isaiah Hartenstein blocks Kelly Oubre Jr.'s two point putback layup | |||
11:17 | 76ers offensive rebound | |||
11:11 | Donte DiVincenzo personal foul (Kelly Oubre Jr. draws the foul) | |||
11:01 | +3 | Tobias Harris makes three point jump shot (Kyle Lowry assists) | 3-0 | |
10:36 | Josh Hart misses two point driving floating jump shot | |||
10:34 | Joel Embiid defensive rebound | |||
10:26 | Joel Embiid misses two point jump shot | |||
10:22 | Tobias Harris offensive rebound | |||
10:20 | Joel Embiid misses three point jump shot | |||
10:17 | Jalen Brunson defensive rebound | |||
10:13 | Jalen Brunson misses three point running pullup jump shot | |||
10:10 | Kyle Lowry defensive rebound | |||
10:07 | Kelly Oubre Jr. misses three point running jump shot | |||
10:03 | OG Anunoby defensive rebound | |||
9:58 | Jalen Brunson misses two point running pullup jump shot | |||
9:56 | Joel Embiid defensive rebound | |||
9:51 | Tyrese Maxey misses three point jump shot | |||
9:46 | Isaiah Hartenstein defensive rebound | |||
9:26 | Joel Embiid blocks Donte DiVincenzo's two point pullup jump shot | |||
9:24 | Joel Embiid defensive rebound | |||
9:24 | Donte DiVincenzo personal foul (Joel Embiid draws the foul) | |||
9:13 | +2 | Tobias Harris makes two point stepback jump shot | 5-0 | |
8:53 | Tobias Harris blocks OG Anunoby's two point turnaround jump shot | |||
8:51 | Tyrese Maxey defensive rebound | |||
8:48 | Tyrese Maxey misses two point running layup | |||
8:45 | OG Anunoby defensive rebound | |||
8:31 | Donte DiVincenzo misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
8:29 | Joel Embiid defensive rebound | |||
8:17 | Kyle Lowry misses three point jump shot | |||
8:14 | Donte DiVincenzo defensive rebound | |||
8:00 | OG Anunoby misses two point driving layup | |||
7:57 | Joel Embiid defensive rebound | |||
7:46 | Tyrese Maxey misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
7:41 | Isaiah Hartenstein defensive rebound | |||
7:36 | Kyle Lowry shooting foul (Isaiah Hartenstein draws the foul) | |||
7:36 | +1 | Isaiah Hartenstein makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 5-1 | |
7:36 | +1 | Isaiah Hartenstein makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 5-2 | |
7:18 | +3 | Tyrese Maxey makes three point jump shot (Joel Embiid assists) | 8-2 | |
7:00 | Jalen Brunson turnover (lost ball) (Kyle Lowry steals) | |||
6:55 | +2 | Tyrese Maxey makes two point running layup (Kyle Lowry assists) | 10-2 | |
6:49 | Knicks 60 second timeout | |||
6:30 | +2 | Isaiah Hartenstein makes two point jump shot | 10-4 | |
6:11 | +2 | Tobias Harris makes two point cutting layup (Kyle Lowry assists) | 12-4 | |
5:58 | +2 | Jalen Brunson makes two point driving layup | 12-6 | |
5:47 | Joel Embiid turnover (lost ball) (Isaiah Hartenstein steals) | |||
5:40 | +2 | OG Anunoby makes two point dunk (Jalen Brunson assists) | 12-8 | |
5:11 | +2 | Tyrese Maxey makes two point driving floating jump shot | 14-8 | |
5:03 | Kelly Oubre Jr. personal foul (Jalen Brunson draws the foul) | |||
4:55 | +2 | OG Anunoby makes two point stepback jump shot | 14-10 | |
4:29 | OG Anunoby blocks Joel Embiid's two point driving layup | |||
4:27 | Jalen Brunson defensive rebound | |||
4:26 | Jalen Brunson turnover (traveling) | |||
4:08 | Joel Embiid misses two point hook shot | |||
4:06 | Donte DiVincenzo defensive rebound | |||
4:03 | +2 | Josh Hart makes two point running layup | 14-12 | |
4:03 | Nicolas Batum shooting foul (Josh Hart draws the foul) | |||
4:03 | +1 | Josh Hart makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 14-13 | |
3:45 | +2 | Tyrese Maxey makes two point driving finger roll layup (Joel Embiid assists) | 16-13 | |
3:30 | +2 | Josh Hart makes two point cutting layup (Isaiah Hartenstein assists) | 16-15 | |
3:19 | +2 | Joel Embiid makes two point pullup jump shot (Tyrese Maxey assists) | 18-15 | |
3:02 | +2 | Donte DiVincenzo makes two point pullup jump shot (Isaiah Hartenstein assists) | 18-17 | |
2:55 | 76ers 60 second timeout | |||
2:47 | Miles McBride shooting foul (Joel Embiid draws the foul) | |||
2:47 | Joel Embiid misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
2:47 | 76ers offensive rebound | |||
2:47 | +1 | Joel Embiid makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 19-17 | |
2:28 | Jalen Brunson misses two point fadeaway jump shot | |||
2:27 | Mitchell Robinson offensive rebound | |||
2:27 | Joel Embiid shooting foul (Mitchell Robinson draws the foul) | |||
2:27 | Mitchell Robinson misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
2:27 | Knicks offensive rebound | |||
2:27 | Mitchell Robinson misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
2:25 | Nicolas Batum defensive rebound | |||
2:18 | Mitchell Robinson personal foul (Kelly Oubre Jr. draws the foul) | |||
2:10 | Nicolas Batum misses three point jump shot | |||
2:08 | Mitchell Robinson defensive rebound | |||
1:55 | OG Anunoby misses three point jump shot | |||
1:51 | Cameron Payne defensive rebound | |||
1:43 | Kelly Oubre Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
1:40 | Joel Embiid offensive rebound | |||
1:38 | +3 | Cameron Payne makes three point jump shot (Joel Embiid assists) | 22-17 | |
1:21 | OG Anunoby turnover (double dribble) | |||
1:07 | +2 | Nicolas Batum makes two point pullup jump shot (Paul Reed assists) | 24-17 | |
0:38 | Josh Hart misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
0:35 | 76ers defensive rebound | |||
0:31 | Josh Hart personal foul (Tyrese Maxey draws the foul) | |||
0:31 | +1 | Tyrese Maxey makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 25-17 | |
0:31 | +1 | Tyrese Maxey makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 26-17 | |
0:18 | Mitchell Robinson turnover (out of bounds bad pass) | |||
0:04 | Tyrese Maxey misses three point pullup jump shot | |||
0:01 | Josh Hart defensive rebound | |||
0:00 | End of period |
Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
11:46 | +2 | Jalen Brunson makes two point stepback jump shot | 26-19 | |
11:23 | Tyrese Maxey misses two point driving reverse layup | |||
11:18 | Paul Reed offensive rebound | |||
11:15 | Jump ball. Jalen Brunson vs. Paul Reed (Donte DiVincenzo gains possession) | |||
11:15 | Paul Reed turnover (lost ball) (Jalen Brunson steals) | |||
11:14 | Kelly Oubre Jr. shooting foul (Donte DiVincenzo draws the foul) | |||
11:14 | +1 | Donte DiVincenzo makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 26-20 | |
11:14 | +1 | Donte DiVincenzo makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 26-21 | |
11:04 | Tobias Harris misses three point jump shot | |||
11:01 | Donte DiVincenzo defensive rebound | |||
10:41 | +2 | Jalen Brunson makes two point driving floating jump shot | 26-23 | |
10:36 | +2 | Kelly Oubre Jr. makes two point driving layup (Cameron Payne assists) | 28-23 | |
10:36 | Donte DiVincenzo shooting foul (Kelly Oubre Jr. draws the foul) | |||
10:36 | Kelly Oubre Jr. misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | |||
10:34 | Josh Hart defensive rebound | |||
10:26 | Tyrese Maxey personal foul (Jalen Brunson draws the foul) | |||
10:25 | Miles McBride turnover (out of bounds bad pass) | |||
10:15 | Mitchell Robinson blocks Paul Reed's two point driving layup | |||
10:15 | Knicks defensive rebound | |||
9:55 | Miles McBride misses three point jump shot | |||
9:52 | Knicks offensive rebound | |||
9:45 | +2 | Jalen Brunson makes two point driving layup (Miles McBride assists) | 28-25 | |
9:33 | Cameron Payne misses three point jump shot | |||
9:31 | Josh Hart defensive rebound | |||
9:25 | +3 | OG Anunoby makes three point jump shot (Josh Hart assists) | 28-28 | |
9:24 | 76ers 60 second timeout | |||
9:05 | Nicolas Batum misses three point jump shot | |||
9:02 | Kelly Oubre Jr. offensive rebound | |||
8:56 | Mitchell Robinson blocks Joel Embiid's two point jump shot | |||
8:53 | Mitchell Robinson defensive rebound | |||
8:50 | +3 | Miles McBride makes three point running jump shot (Josh Hart assists) | 28-31 | |
8:29 | Kelly Oubre Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Miles McBride steals) | |||
8:25 | +2 | Miles McBride makes two point running finger roll layup | 28-33 | |
8:07 | Tyrese Maxey misses two point driving reverse layup | |||
8:05 | Mitchell Robinson defensive rebound | |||
8:05 | Cameron Payne personal foul (Josh Hart draws the foul) | |||
7:54 | Miles McBride misses three point jump shot | |||
7:51 | Kelly Oubre Jr. defensive rebound | |||
7:45 | Miles McBride blocks Kelly Oubre Jr.'s two point driving layup | |||
7:43 | Miles McBride defensive rebound | |||
7:35 | +2 | Jalen Brunson makes two point pullup jump shot | 28-35 | |
7:10 | Kelly Oubre Jr. misses three point jump shot | |||
7:08 | Mitchell Robinson defensive rebound | |||
6:57 | Tyrese Maxey shooting foul (Jalen Brunson draws the foul) | |||
6:57 | Jalen Brunson misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
6:57 | Knicks offensive rebound | |||
6:57 | Jalen Brunson misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
6:54 | Kelly Oubre Jr. defensive rebound | |||
6:32 | Joel Embiid misses three point jump shot | |||
6:32 | 76ers offensive rebound | |||
6:32 | 76ers turnover (shot clock violation) | |||
6:15 | Josh Hart misses two point turnaround fadeaway jump shot | |||
6:12 | Kyle Lowry defensive rebound | |||
6:03 | +3 | Tobias Harris makes three point jump shot (Kyle Lowry assists) | 31-35 | |
5:42 | +2 | Mitchell Robinson makes two point alley-oop dunk (Josh Hart assists) | 31-37 | |
5:38 | 76ers 60 second timeout | |||
5:34 | Mitchell Robinson personal foul (Kyle Lowry draws the foul) | |||
5:27 | Joel Embiid misses two point floating jump shot | |||
5:24 | Joel Embiid offensive rebound | |||
5:18 | Tobias Harris misses three point jump shot | |||
5:15 | Knicks defensive rebound | |||
5:02 | +2 | Jalen Brunson makes two point pullup jump shot | 31-39 | |
4:40 | +3 | Joel Embiid makes three point jump shot (Tyrese Maxey assists) | 34-39 | |
4:24 | Josh Hart misses three point jump shot | |||
4:22 | Joel Embiid defensive rebound | |||
4:17 | Joel Embiid offensive foul (Charge) (Mitchell Robinson draws the foul) | |||
4:17 | Joel Embiid turnover (offensive foul) | |||
4:17 | 76ers 60 second timeout | |||
3:55 | +3 |