Sixers fall apart after first quarter, lose to Knicks, 108-97

NEW YORK – Joel Embiid’s record against the New York Knicks is no longer unblemished.

Sunday’s game at Madison Square Garden marked the 17th time the 76ers center has faced the Knicks. And it marked the first time he’s lost to them.

The Sixers suffered a 108-97 defeat that also snapped their eight-game road winning streak. The loss dropped the Eastern Conference’s third-place team to 34-18, 1½ games behind the second-place Milwaukee Bucks.

The team’s inability to hold a lead combined with a fourth-quarter meltdown led to this loss.

The Sixers blew a 21-point first-quarter lead. Then in the final quarter, they made only 3 of 16 shots –including 0-for-6 on threes. They also surrendered wide-open shots and struggled to get clutch defensive rebounds in the final quarter. That led to the Knicks (29-26) scoring 10 of their 20 second-chance points during that time.

“Obviously, they got stops,” Embiid said. “We wasn’t connecting like we was at the beginning of the game. So they made shots and was more aggressive than us. They took advantage of our mistakes.”

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The bench lost this game.

The reserves couldn’t sustain the 21-point lead in the first quarter. They also fumbled a small lead early in the fourth quarter on a night the Knicks held a 37-16 advantage in bench points. Even that’s misleading, considering former starter Tyrese Maxey scored 12 of those points.

Maxey, however, was minus-23. All of the Sixers’ reserves, Shake Milton (minus-26), Georges Niang (minus-20), Matisse Thybulle (minus-17), Montrezl Harrell (minus-15), and Paul Reed (minus-14) struggled defensively.

Embiid finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, one block, and five turnovers for his 26th double-double. He also reached a milestone.

The six-time All-Star’s block of Jalen Brunson’s layup attempt with 4 minutes left in the third quarter tied him with Hall of Famer Charles Barkley for seventh on the Sixers’ all-time blocks list with 606.

Meanwhile, James Harden added 12 points, a game-high 12 assists, and eight rebounds. Tobias Harris and De’Anthony Melton had 14 points. P.J. Tucker had 10.

Julius Randle paced the Knicks with 24 points to go with nine rebounds. Brunson added 21 points and seven assists.

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No lead is safe when it comes to the Sixers.

The team has a knack for blowing sizable leads quicker than a 5-year-old blowing candles out on a birthday cake. Sunday was no different.

The Sixers had a commanding 21-point lead with 2:28 left in the first quarter. They also led 35-15 after Maxey’s layup 36 seconds later.

But the Knicks responded with a 17-0 run over a span of 3:29 to close the gap to three points with 10:02 left in the half. The Sixers missed seven consecutive shots during that stretch. Harris hit a pair of foul shots with 9:44 left in the half to snap New York’s run. Then Reed scored a layup on their next possession to put the Sixers up seven.

A lot of the team’s woes had to do with bench play.

The Knicks went on their 17-0 run shortly after Embiid checked out of the game. The Sixers had an all-reserve lineup of Maxey, Milton, Niang, Harrell, and Thybulle on the court when New York began its run.

Harrell’s minus-15 came while playing 3:15 in the first half.

“We got a pretty easy start,” Tucker said. “And I almost hate when we get those easy starts like that.

“Everybody is clicking, felt good. Defense is clicking, and then we start making a couple of subs and everybody thinks it is easy and then the tide kind of changes. I’d almost rather be down. It sounds weird, but at least, everybody’s antennas [are up] and it’s a little more [focus]. But when you are up 20 something, it’s different.”

New York would go on to take a 54-53 lead 20 seconds into the second half. But the Sixers regrouped and built a nine-point lead with 2:26 left in the third quarter. Like before, things began to fall apart once Embiid went to the bench -- just not as quickly.

Reed subbed into the game for him with the Sixers up 76-70 with 1:22 left in the third. The Knicks pulled within three points at the conclusion of the third quarter.

Philly opened up the fourth with Maxey, Milton, Thybulle, Reed, and Niang on the floor.

Maxey scored a three-point play to put the Sixers up six. However, the Knicks responded with a 15-2 run.

Coach Doc Rivers didn’t think his reserves played any defense or passed the ball.

Asked why he went back to that unit in the fourth quarter, Rivers said because the team has been good at that.

“Just because one half doesn’t work, you don’t vacate the unit,” he said. “That’s what guys do who lose a lot. So they didn’t play well tonight. Honestly, I don’t think that’s why we lost the game. The game is just not explained by plus/minus sometimes.

“Our starters came in and we still had the lead. I thought we were just not emotionally strong tonight.”

Tucker often gets criticized for failing to score a point (16 games this season). It didn’t take long to realize Sunday’s matchup wouldn’t be his 17th game without a point.

The forward scored the Sixers’ first five points. The first two came on a layup 1:42 into the game off a Harden assist. He added a three-pointer 1:01 later on another assist from Harden.

Tucker was active, constantly moving without the ball. The 37-year-old finished the quarter with seven points on 3-for-3 shooting along with one rebound in 10:57.

Tucker missed his lone second-quarter shot attempt before adding a three-pointer in the third quarter.

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The Garden has been a place where Sixers fans have flocked to see their squad play on the road. It’s become a place where Sixers fans loudly chant, “MVP ... MVP ... MVP” when Embiid is at the foul line. They’ve also been known to do an endless amount of “E-A-G-L-E-S” chants.

The visiting Sixers kept the tradition intact Sunday.

But things turned almost comical after former Giants defensive end Justin Tuck was introduced to the Garden crowd. Sixers fans booed before having two “E-A-G-L-E-S!” chants. Then one Sixers fan could be heard yelling, ‘This is our house.”

The Knicks fans later responded with “Eagles suck!” chants!

The Sixers will face their Atlantic Division rivals, the Boston Celtics, on Wednesday at T.D. Garden. Boston has the East’s best record of 37-16. The Celtics defeated the Sixers, 126-117, in the season-opening game in Boston.