Sixers feel confident they’ll climb out of an 0-2 hole against the Knicks as series shifts to Philly
“We’ve got 48 hours to think about it and come up with a plan to get two at home,” Tyrese Maxey said.
NEW YORK — The 76ers are heading home to the Wells Fargo Center for what they believe is a surmountable challenge.
They fell behind two games to none in their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks with their 104-101 loss on Monday night. The Knicks have won eight consecutive playoff series after winning the first two games. They are 16-2 in that scenario.
We will have a better idea of how this series could end up during Thursday’s Game 3 matchup.
» READ MORE: NBA admits several officiating errors in the final two minutes of the Sixers’ Game 2 loss to the Knicks
But on Monday, the Sixers team that couldn’t close out games during stretches of the regular season resurfaced. This time, they blew a five-point lead with 27.4 seconds remaining.
During that stretch, Tyrese Maxey committed a costly turnover with 16.8 seconds left and had a go-ahead layup blocked with 7.6 seconds remaining. The ending was not without controversy.
Coach Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid were disappointed with the officiating over the final 27 seconds. The coach was upset that he was unable to call a timeout on two occasions, while Embiid felt Maxey was fouled when he lost the ball. The Last Two Minute Report released by the NBA on Tuesday acknowledged the missed calls in both cases.
Following the game, a team spokesman said the Sixers intended to file a grievance with the NBA over the officiating across the first two games of the series.
» READ MORE: Beyond the refs: Dissecting how the Sixers squandered Game 2 in the chaotic final seconds
But asked to describe the final 27 seconds of Monday’s game, Maxey responded, “It [stinks].”
“We’ve got to put it behind us now,” he said. “We’ve got 48 hours to think about it and come up with a plan to get two at home.”
The Sixers’ goal is to sweep Thursday’s Game 3 and Sunday’s Game 4 matchups. The team actually believes with a couple of breaks, it would be up 2-0.
“We did have a chance to win those two games,” Nico Batum said. “So all we have to do is keep fighting. Now we go home, it’ll be another big fight. Just go out there and keep playing. Keep playing. Adjust a couple things. We did a better job today in rebounding. But in the last minute, we lost some rebounds. So we have to — yeah, go home and keep fighting because like I said, we had a chance to win those two.”
Batum is right.
The Knicks had 23 offensive rebounds while having a 55-33 edge in total rebounds in Game 1. Then in Game 2, New York had 12 offensive boards while outrebounding the Sixers, 46-44. However, Isaiah Hartenstein’s offensive rebound led to Donte DiVincenzo’s three-pointer that gave the Knicks a 102-101 lead with 13.1 seconds left.
» READ MORE: The Knicks are ahead, 2-0. But the real winner so far in this series against the Sixers? Villanova.
“We just get back in the gym and get ready,” Tobias Harris said. “I mean, it’s the playoffs. There are no moral victories and no one’s going to feel sorry for us. So we’ve got to figure out ways to get better and figure out ways to get our first win and get this thing home.”
And in regard to New York’s 16-2 record in series when the Knicks have won the first two games, Embiid is far from concerned.
“We’re going to win this series,” he said. “We’re going to win this. We know what we have to fix. We did a better job today, so we’re going to fix it. We’re the better team, so we’re going to keep fighting.”