Sixers stand one loss away from elimination after a 97-92 Game 4 defeat to the New York Knicks

The 76ers are on the brink of elimination.

After a 97-92 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center, they trail in their first-round playoff series, three games to one. Game 5 is Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. The Sixers would have to win three straight games to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“One at a time,” Joel Embiid said of the mindset for the rest of the series. “We know we are good enough. Tonight, we didn’t make shots. So we’ve just got to keep trusting ourselves.”

But winning this series will be a tall task for the Sixers, who were doomed by poor fourth-quarter shooting and an inability to stop Jalen Brunson.

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Brunson had his best game of the series. The former Villanova standout had a game-high 47 points to go with 10 assists. He scored seven of the Knicks’ final nine points.

Meanwhile, the Sixers made just 25% of their shots in the fourth quarter, going 1 of 9 on three-pointers. Embiid was a nonfactor in the period as Knicks power forward OG Anunoby defended him soundly, scoring one point and missing all five shots.

“OG can obviously guard him, right?” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “I mean, it’s that and the scheme as well. Like when he got it, they were getting it out of his hands. And again, I think he made really great reads. You guys can see those plays just like I can in your head right now where we’re swinging [the ball] around ... [Embiid was] making the right reads. You’ve got to step in and make [shots].”

The Knicks also grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, leading to 11 second-chance points for New York.

Embiid, who has a banged-up left knee and is suffering from Bell’s palsy, finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks while playing 43 minutes, 58 seconds. The reigning MVP was noticeably fatigued while playing the entire second half. Tyrese Maxey had 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 19 points and Tobias Harris had 10 points and eight assists.

The Sixers were expected to gain a huge advantage with Knicks center Mitchell Robinson sidelined for Game 4 with a sprained left ankle.

Robinson’s absence was supposed to put more pressure on Isaiah Hartenstein to defend Embiid, who finished with a career playoff-high 50 points in Game 3. The thought was that Embiid would get Hartenstein in foul trouble and feast on the Knicks’ smaller players.

However, Hartenstein didn’t pick up his first foul until the third quarter. From there, he was a foul waiting to happen. Hartenstein went to the bench after picking up his fifth foul on Embiid with 1 minute, 25 seconds left in the quarter.

Embiid made pair of foul shots after Hartenstein picked up his fifth foul to give the Sixers a 74-72 lead. He added two more after being fouled by Anunoby to make it 76-74 at the 44.6-second mark.

But the Sixers didn’t take advantage of Hartenstein’s absence. Embiid’s first shot attempt with Hartenstein sidelined came with 8:34 remaining. He missed that and his second attempt at 3:22. Embiid’s third attempt, a three-pointer moments later, was blocked. The seven-time All-Star split a pair of foul shots with 54.3 seconds left to score his lone point of the quarter. Embiid later missed a layup.

The Sixers jumped to a double-digit lead only to have the Knicks battle back over and over.

The first time that happened was after Philly built a 27-15 cushion with 59 seconds left in the first quarter. But based on the first three games, you knew things would get interesting with Embiid on the bench at the start of the second quarter. And they did.

The Knicks kept attacking reserve center Paul Reed, who missed two shots and had one turnover and a block during his stretch of 4:02 on the floor. The Knicks closed the gap to 29-25 before Embiid checked back with 7:58 before intermission.

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Holding momentum, New York went on to take a 34-32 lead on Brunson’s turnaround jumper a little over two minutes later. After the lead seesawed, the Sixers took a 49-47 cushion into the half.

Then the Sixers opened up a 10-point cushion 4:01 into the third quarter. However, the Knicks chipped away at the lead and took a 77-76 advantage on Brunson’s three-point play with 5.1 seconds left in the quarter.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight,” Nurse said. “I thought once we got a 10-point lead, we turned it over three of the next four possessions. We had really great rhythm going, and it’s almost like we took ourselves out of rhythm with those turnovers.

“I mean, we were really rolling there and then it got a little difficult to find rhythm. Listen, we executed a lot of stuff that we were making the right reads on and didn’t knock some of those shots down and missed layups.”

Philly kept Embiid in the game at the start of the fourth quarter. He opened the quarter in a lineup with Maxey, Harris, Cam Payne, and Nico Batum.

Meanwhile, Precious Achiuwa filled in at center for New York in place of Hartenstein. The Knicks double-teamed Embiid whenever he touched the ball. And it didn’t help that his teammates kept missing shots.

Brunson helped the Knicks take a 93-89 lead with a pair of foul shots with 1:31 left. Then his layup at the 55.5-second mark extended the Knicks’ lead to six points. The Knicks went on to win by five.

“We know the pace was not good in the fourth quarter, so we’ve got to play faster,” Embiid said. “And like I said, keep trusting in each other and go out and play.

“We’ve got no pressure. We are the seventh seed, down 3-1. A lot of guys are hurt. I don’t know [if] we would feel the pressure. So we should just go out there and play our best basketball. And one at a time — win one. Come back home, win another one and Game 7 over there [in New York].

“So I’m looking forward to it. No pressure.”