Sixers burned by Knicks’ clutch three-point shooting in 111-104 Game 1 loss

NEW YORK — Joel Embiid survived his latest knee-injury scare, landing awkwardly following a wildly impressive off-the-glass-to-himself dunk yet returning for the start of the second half.

Tyrese Maxey zoomed his way to 33 points, demonstrating again that he is a playoff star.

But clutch three-pointers by Knicks complementary players Josh Hart and OG Anunoby — combined with costly defensive snafus by the 76ers — were the difference in Saturday’s Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Those deep shots in 55 seconds of game time pushed the Knicks to a 111-104 victory Saturday night, in front of an electric crowd at Madison Square Garden.

“You can throw all this stuff [in the box score] in the trash,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We had three wide-open threes to take it up [to] six and didn’t make one, and they made three in a row. It’s literally like that. ... Their last four three [-pointers], I’m not sure I’m taking those possessions back. I think we were doing what we wanted to do there.”

The Knicks’ crunch-time buckets arrived on a night when they made just 39.6% of their field-goal attempts but consistently generated scoring opportunities by outrebounding the Sixers, 55-33, and racking up 27 fast-break points.

Embiid, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player who returned earlier this month from meniscus surgery, finished with 29 points on 8-of-22 shooting, eight rebounds, and six assists. Veteran point guard Kyle Lowry added 18 points with 4-of-7 from three-point range, including 12 third-quarter points to spark the Sixers’ second-half rally. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 10 points, thanks in part to a couple of slick passes by Embiid, and five steals.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid’s career is more important than these playoffs. The Sixers’ Game 1 loss should show him that.

The Sixers squandered an opportunity to steal a game when Knicks MVP candidate Jalen Brunson went 8-of-26 from the floor for 22 points, and committed five turnovers. But New York got a massive boost from reserve guard Deuce McBride’s 21 points with 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, before Hart’s pair of three-pointers sandwiched Anunoby’s triple to give the Knicks a 107-100 advantage with one minute remaining.

In the opener of what was expected to be a physically competitive series, both teams built a double-digit first-half lead, and later surrendered it, to set up the tight fourth quarter. The Sixers had a 17-7 advantage on a Maxey three-pointer less than five minutes into the game, before the Knicks used a 35-12 surge to lead by 14 on a Brunson finish in the third quarter’s opening minute.

Game 2 will be Monday night at Madison Square Garden, before the series shifts to the Wells Fargo Center for Thursday’s Game 3 and Sunday’s Game 4.