Sixers lose to Knicks in crushing fashion and drop to 0-2 in their first-round series

After viewing film of his team’s Game 1 loss in the first round of the NBA playoffs, 76ers coach Nick Nurse figured out what to do.

Nurse made the proper adjustments, but his team still suffered a 104-101 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers’ loss dropped them into an 0-2 hole as they fell apart in the final 27.4 seconds and allowed the Knicks to end the game on an 8-0 run.

Nurse unsuccessfully tried to call a timeout before Kyle Lowry inbounded the ball to Tyrese Maxey with 27.0 seconds.

» READ MORE: Sixers to file grievance with NBA over officiating in first-round series against Knicks

The ball got knocked loose from Maxey as he was knocked down. He appeared to momentarily regain possession of the ball while on the court. That’s when Nurse attempted to call another timeout. But New York’s Josh Hart quickly retrieved the ball and passed it to Donte DiVincenzo, who missed a three-pointer.

However, Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the back out to DiVincenzo. This time, the shooting guard buried a 26-foot three-pointer that gave the Knicks a 102-101 lead with 13.1 seconds left.

After a timeout, Maxey missed a layup. OG Anunoby grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled. The forward hit both foul shots to give the Knicks at three-point cushion with 6.1 seconds left.

“Just a costly turnover for us that led to a heartbreaking basket,” Tobias Harris said of DiVincenzo’s go-ahead basket. “I thought we did a really good job tonight of getting ourselves in the game and putting ourselves in good position to win the game. Those last 30 seconds or whatever is where the game changed right then and there and we needed to be better. It didn’t happen so we just got to chalk this one up, figure out ways to get better from it, and be ready to go home and get a victory.”

However, Nurse and Joel Embiid were disappointed with the officiating over the final 27 seconds. The coach was upset that he was able to call timeout on the occasions, while Embiid felt Maxey was fouled when he lost the ball. The team intends to file a grievance with the NBA over the officiating across the first two games of the series, according to a team spokesman.

But for the most part, the Sixers played better than in Game 1.

In that first game, the Knicks grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and reserve guard Deuce McBride torched them for 21 points while making five three-pointers.

The Sixers did a better job of keeping New York off the offensive glass for three quarters and did a better job of bottling McBride up.

The Knicks were held to 12 offensive rebounds while McBride had nine points on 4-for-11 shooting — including going 0-of-3 on three-pointers. While the reserve squad struggled throughout, New York grabbed four huge offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.

But the Sixers’ two All-Stars, who had been listed questionable for game, almost willed them to victory.

Maxey had game-highs of 35 points and 10 assists to go with nine rebounds while playing 44 minutes, 29 seconds. The guard, who was playing with an illness, scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter. Embiid added 34 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and two blocks. Unfortunately for the Sixers, Embiid faded in the fourth quarter, scoring five points on 2-for-6 and failing to grab a rebound.

It was hard to tell that Maxey was listed as questionable earlier in the day with an illness.

The All-Star guard came out on fire, burying his first three attempts — all three-pointers — to give the Sixers a 9-0 cushion 2 minutes, 12 seconds into the game.

Maxey, an NBA Most Improved Player finalist, made 5 of 11 three-pointers. However, his final layup attempt on Monday will probably haunt him for a while.

Like Maxey, Embiid was listed as questionable for Monday’s contest. The reigning MVP was on the injury report with left-knee injury recovery. The 7-foot-2 center had a scare late in the second quarter of Game 1 when he landed awkwardly and bumped knees with Mitchell Robinson after delivering a nasty dunk. After grabbing his knee in pain, Embiid went to the locker room. He returned at the start of the second half, but struggled to make shots.

Embiid didn’t start out shooting the ball well on Wednesday, but was still impactful. He scored 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting while playing the entire first quarter. He also had eight rebounds, two assists, and one block as the Sixers led, 25-18, after one quarter.

The Sixers continued to do a solid job on Jalen Brunson. The All-Star point guard finished with 24 points. However, he made just 8 of 29 shots. This came after the former Villanova standout had 22 points on 8-for-26 shooting in Game 1.

“I don’t think we’ve thrown him out of his rhythm,” Nurse said. “I think, again, I keep saying he’s a great, great player. We try to make those guys work for everything. We use a number of people on him.”

Kelly Oubre Jr. guarded him at the start. Then Nico Batum came to defend. Kyle Lowry, Maxey, Tobias Harris, and Buddy Hield all drew the assignment.

“I think that’s something and you have to stay after him even when he comes in there and makes those incredible turnaround fadeaways,” Nurse said. “If he makes them, you have to go next time down, pick him up and go to work.”

The Sixers played much better in the second quarter than in Game 1. But then, things were disastrous at the start of the quarter with Embiid on the bench. And it snowballed from there.

But on Monday, both teams scored 11 points before Embiid reentered the game with 6:59 left in the half. The Sixers also did a better job on the Knicks three-point shooters. The Knicks had a 31-28 scoring advantage in the quarter. But the Sixers were still able to take a 53-48 lead into intermission due to weathering the storm.

The difference was the Sixers were more attentive to Knicks reserves McBride and Bojan Bogdanovic. They didn’t let McBride attempt a three-pointer in the quarter. Bogdanovic missed his two three-point attempts.

However, things were a little shaky when Embiid subbed out with the Sixers up 67-66 with 4:19 left in the third quarter. With no one protecting the rim, Brunson drove the lane and scored a layup 19 seconds later.

Josh Hart made a pair of foul shots and the Knicks scored their other six points while Embiid was out in the paint. That gave them a 76-72 lead before he returned with 29.1 seconds left in the quarter. The Knicks went on to take a 79-74 lead into the fourth quarter.