Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey stole the show Tuesday night, scoring seven points in the final 25 seconds to force overtime and eventually defeat the New York Knicks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at Madison Square Garden.
But on Wednesday, the NBA revealed in its Last Two Minute Report that one of Maxey’s game-changing plays in the final minute shouldn’t have counted. He traveled before launching a three-pointer from 25 feet with 25 seconds remaining.
“Maxey gathers the ball on his left foot, takes two legal steps, and then moves his right foot again just before he is fouled on his shot,” the report indicates.
Instead, no traveling violation was called, and Maxey drilled the three-pointer and the free throw to cut the Knicks’ lead to two points.
If the travel had been called, the Knicks would’ve been awarded the ball with a six-point lead and 25 seconds left. The 76ers would be forced to foul, and the game likely ends in a Knicks win if they avoided turnovers and knocked down free throws.
The Last Two Minute Report also indicated that Knicks guard Josh Hart was not out of bounds with 41 seconds left in overtime when he tried to tap a loose ball to teammate Isaiah Hartenstein underneath the basket.
Instead of Hartenstein getting a chance to tie the game at 108, it was ruled a turnover. The 76ers went on to outscore the Knicks 4–0 the rest of the game to secure the victory.
The Knicks, up 3–2 in the series, will get another chance to end Philadelphia’s season on Thursday in Game 6 at Wells Fargo Center.
The Indiana Pacers saw Game 1 slip away against the New York Knicks on Monday night, in part due to a controversial illegal screen call that was whistled against Myles Turner with 12 seconds left in the game and Indiana trailing by one point.
Turner set a screen on Donte DiVincenzo, who sold the contact and was rewarded with the call from officials. The Pacers challenged but were unsuccessful.
After the game, Rick Carlisle couldn't hide his frustration with the decision from the referees, saying that Indiana wasn't "expecting to get calls" in New York.
"I don't want to talk about the officiating. We're not expecting to get calls in here,” Carlisle said. “It would've been nice if they'd laid off that one, but they didn't. That's just the way it goes.
"We challenged it, they reviewed it. They got a bunch of people in New Jersey that agreed with them, so, that's just the way it goes."
"I don't want to talk about the officiating. We're not expecting to get calls in here. It would be nice if they laid off that one, but they didn't. That's just the way it goes."
A technical foul against Andrew Nembhard saw Jalen Brunson make it a two-point game at the line, and he soon tacked on an additional two points on the ensuing possession. New York held on to win, 121–117.
Carlisle was clearly not thrilled with the officials for refusing to look the other way on Turner's illegal screen given the circumstances, but maintained that the team would simply need to learn from the situation.
Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals is set for Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, with tip-off coming at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Philadelphia 76ers made an improbable comeback on Tuesday night to force Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Playoffs first round series against the New York Knicks. Tyrese Maxey made two huge three-pointers with the help of a favorable whistle to send the series back to Philadelphia where the team owners are literally giving away tickets in hopes of actually having some sort of home court advantage.
To mae things even more interesting, the NBA announced this morning that Scott Foster would be the crew chief for the pivotal contest, which sent fans into a tizzy. New York fans smelled a conspiracy while Sixers fans saw a great opportunity to force Game 7 because teams trailing in a series seem to have such success with Foster working games that he's been nicknamed "The Extender."
Bill Kennedy and Mark Lindsay will work the game alongside Foster tonight. While neither has the same reputation as Foster, Kennedy is a true personality, especially on the mic during replay reviews.
Hopefully there's enough screen time for everyone involved. Between Foster and Kennedy, there's a great chance that the broadcast will have incredible entertainment value, no matter how good the actual game is.
As long as you're not rooting for the team that loses, because there's a 99% chance you're going to end up complaining about the officials. Especially when you know exactly who to blame.
The NBA postseason is when players forge their legacies—and Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey just solidified his status as a true star with a legacy-defining Game 5 against the New York Knicks.
Maxey thrived during the regular season after being thrust into a bigger role by the departure of James Harden and Joel Embiid’s injury in late January. He averaged a career-best 25.9 points per game—11th in the NBA—and was rewarded by being named the league’s Most Improved Player last week.
With Embiid clearly hobbled by his troublesome left knee, the Sixers needed Maxey to save the day as they faced elimination in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden—and he absolutely did. Maxey hit two of the most clutch shots you’ll ever see in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.
The Knicks appeared to have the game wrapped up after Jalen Brunson passed out of a double team to a wide-open Miles McBride, who knocked down a jumper at the foul line to extend the New York lead to six with 28.9 seconds on the clock. But then Maxey took over, and, thanks in part to a couple of errors by the Knicks, saved his team’s season.
First Maxey used a pump fake to get Knicks center Mitchell Robinson to leave his feet and leaned into Robinson to draw the foul as he threw up an off-balance three-point attempt. He got the shot to fall and then hit the ensuing free throw for a four-point play to cut the deficit to two. Then, after Josh Hart missed one of two free throws to leave the door open for a comeback, Maxey buried the shot of the playoffs thus far: a leaning 35-footer to tie the game at 97.
On the Knicks’ home broadcast on MSG Network, play-by-play announcer Mike Breen repeatedly stressed before Philadelphia’s final possession how New York couldn’t allow a three-point attempt and needed to foul the Sixers. But Embiid’s screen near the halfcourt line gave Maxey plenty of space and his decision to shoot it from so far out meant Robinson wasn’t remotely close enough to give the foul.
Maxey’s heroics defined the fourth quarter, but the story of the overtime period was just the Knicks blowing it. They jumped out to a quick five-point lead before the Sixers responded with a 9–0 run. The Knicks managed to tie the game again at 106 but the Sixers scored the final six points of the game to win it. Any chance of a Knicks victory was essentially wiped out when, after New York forced a sloppy Sixers turnover with Philadelphia leading 108–106 with 28 seconds to play, Jalen Brunson turned it right back over with an ill-advised pass.
Maxey finished with 46 points, a playoff career high and the fourth-highest total of his career. He’s averaging 32.4 points, 7.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game during the series.
The Sixers will need Maxey to step up again as the series shifts back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Thursday night. Embiid has had his moments during the series—including a 50-point outburst in Game 3—but his knee was clearly bothering him more in Game 5 than it had previously. He made plenty of great plays, but his mobility was severely lacking. He finished with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and a staggering nine turnovers, which tied a career worst.
If Embiid’s knee isn’t any better on Thursday, the pressure will be on Maxey to be the hero again and force a Game 7 back in New York. After willing his team to victory on Tuesday, everyone knows he’s capable of that.
New England begins a new era with first-round pick Drake Maye at quarterback.
