Without James Harden or Joel Embiid, undermanned Sixers fall short to the Knicks

The Sixers played at home Friday night. But when the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson dropped a high-arcing finger roll into the basket through contact, the roar of the crowd could have made one believe they had been transported to Madison Square Garden.

That and-1 finish with less than two minutes remaining helped the Knicks complete their fourth-quarter rally to top the Sixers, 106-104, on a frenetic Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center, a game the Sixers played without All-Stars Joel Embiid (non-COVID illness) and James Harden (foot strain).

“Our effort was great tonight,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Our execution has to be better.”

It was Embiid’s third consecutive absence, yet it was the first time the Sixers played this season without Harden. Harden, who ranked second in the NBA with 10 assists per game entering Friday, will be re-evaluated in two weeks, though a source confirmed to The Inquirer that he is expected to be out for about a month. Reserve wing Danuel House Jr. also was a late scratch because of a non-COVID illness, forcing the Sixers to roll with “piecemeal” lineups.

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The missing star power and personnel continuity was most glaring down the stretch. The Sixers led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before the Knicks finished the game on a 32-18 flurry.

An Obi Toppin corner three-pointer — which Rivers called a game-changer — gave the Knicks a 97-96 lead with less than two minutes to play. Then, following a crucial Sixers turnover, Brunson’s big and-1 finish to push that advantage to four points.

The Sixers, though, twice had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than a minute to play.

After P.J. Tucker missed the second of two free throws with the Sixers trailing, 101-99, Matisse Thybulle grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Tyrese Maxey, who missed the three-pointer with 25.7 seconds to play. Then, after a Georges Niang three-pointer got the Sixers within 105-104 with about eight seconds remaining and Brunson went 1-of-2 from the line, De’Anthony Melton airballed a corner three-point try with 3.3 seconds left.

A 27-10 third-quarter run temporarily turned the game in the Sixers’ favor. That lead stretched to 86-74 early in the final frame on a three-pointer by Furkan Korkmaz, whose first points of the season demonstrated how deep Rivers had to go into his bench.

The Sixers (4-6) shot 37.8% from the floor and 13-of-47 from three-point range. Rivers estimated that 40 of those long balls were solid looks, including the final attempt from Melton. But he was disappointed in his team’s six fourth-quarter turnovers, and that the Sixers veered from their drive-and-kick game that had helped them build their double-digit cushion.

“We stoped attacking. We stopped trusting,” Rivers said. “ ... In the fourth quarter, I thought we tried to hold onto the game — and hold onto the ball — and it cost us. [At the] end of games, you need closers. You really do.

“And that’s where the Joels and the Hardens come into play. When you don’t have them, you have to try to make plays.”

Without Embiid and Harden, Maxey (31 points on 10-of-29 from the floor, seven assists) spent his 22nd birthday as the Sixers’ clear top offensive option.

His shooting line while setting a new career high for attempts was not pretty, including a 5-of-14 mark in the first half and 1-of-7 in the fourth quarter.

He got rolling with in the third quarter with 10 consecutive points, capped by a step-back three-pointer that helped the Sixers quickly flip an eight-point deficit into a 69-66 lead about midway through the period. But after deciphering how the Knicks were guarding him earlier in the game, Maxey blamed himself for not facilitating better when New York’s defenders began to switch on all screens during the fourth quarter.

“They were taking us out of what we wanted to run,” Maxey said, “and when they take us out of what we want to run, I’ve got to find ways to still get guys good shots and get myself good shots and find ways to attack the paint and spray out [to shooters] on different occasions as well.”

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Added Rivers: “He’ll watch this game [and] there’s several things he’ll see that he has to do better and can do. The great thing with him is he watches. He’s a quick learner — and he’ll need to be in this stretch [without Harden].”

Tobias Harris (23 points on an efficient 9-of-15 from the floor, nine rebounds, four assists) and Melton (12 points on 4-of-18 from the floor, nine assists, five rebounds) were the Sixers’ other primary shot-takers.

Out of necessity, Rivers had to turn to an unconventional starting lineup and rotation. Every available Sixer played at least 11 minutes.

Montrezl Harrell (14 points, seven rebounds) started in place of Embiid, while Melton (who missed Wednesday’s loss to Washington because of back stiffness) slid into Harden’s spot along the perimeter.

» READ MORE: With Sixers newcomers taking rotation minutes, some well-known returners are waiting for meaningful playing time

Shake Milton was an early sub after Melton picked up two first-quarter fouls, while Niang, Paul Reed, Thybulle, and Korkmaz had entered by the end of the first quarter.

For stretches at the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter, Korkmaz, Thybulle, Niang, and Reed were on the floor together with Melton or Milton at point guard. Neither lineup had been used so far this season.

The Sixers also played a portion of the fourth quarter with a Milton-Melton-Thybulle-Niang-Reed combination, before Maxey and Harris returned with about eight minutes to play.

Yet the most impactful wrinkle occurred in the final two minutes, when Rivers inserted Reed (six steals, four rebounds) to play alongside Harrell. The coach said he wanted more rebounding and size on the floor after Toppin had buried his first crunch-time corner three-pointer to cut the Sixers’ lead to 93-90 with less than four minutes to play.

“We went over the play,” Rivers said. “We told our guys not to get sucked in. We did. I thought we still could have got out there.”

Following Friday morning’s shootaround, Rivers said he was “50/50″ on if Embiid would play against the Knicks. The coach said Embiid participated in about 25% of that team session and “was really struggling” with his energy and breathing.

Embiid did go through his pregame shooting routine at the Wells Fargo Center, but “just felt bad,” Rivers said. Embiid now has two days to rest and ramp-up before Monday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns.

“We want to win the game, right? And putting him on the floor would obviously help us,” Rivers said. “But we’ve got to also think of the long game, as well. So I thought it was the right decision not to play him.”