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 New York Knicks eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers from the NBA playoffs Thursday night, scoring a 118-115 win in Game 6 to take the first round series 4-2. The Knicks fans who made the trek to Philadelphia for the game were not shy afterwards, unleashing a "f--- Embiid" chant as they made their way to the exits.
Video of the incident is below, but be warned it contains some bad language.
Embiid faced accusations of being a dirty player during this heated series. In Game 3, he was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul for an incident involving Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. During an awkward sequence, Embiid fell to the ground attempting to draw a foul. When the whistle didn't blow, he grabbed Robinson's right leg out from under him. Robinson eventually left the game with an ankle injury. New York guard Donte DiVincenzo called the play dirty, and Knicks fans were irate.
During the Sixers' 112-106 overtime win in Game 5, Embiid hit Knicks' star Jalen Brunson in the head on a late drive. He was called for Flagrant 1 for unnecessary contact to the face. After those two incidents, Knicks fans will almost certainly regard him as a dirty player for the rest of his career, hence the post-Game 6 chant.
Embiid was excellent in the series, averaging 33.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals in 41.5 minutes per game. He dropped 50 points in that Game 3 win, had 34 in Game 2 and 39 in Game 6. It was an incredible performance in a losing effort by the 2023 NBA MVP. But no one will recall those numbers. Instead, they'll remember the two flagrant fouls.
The Knicks-Sixers series was competitive, contentious and incredibly entertaining. It was exactly what you'd expect from a budding NBA rivalry. That made the victory even more sweet for Knicks fans, who let their feelings for Embiid be known after the series was won.
Josh Hart has endeared himself to New York Knicks fans, players and coaches thanks to a willingness to do whatever he can to help the team win. He averaged 33 minutes per game during the regular season and is logging nearly 45 minutes a night during the team's series against the Philadelphia 76ers. In those minutes he's averaging 16.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, which is especially impressive when you consider Joel Embiid leads Philly with 9.0 rebounds per contest.
So how does Hart do it? How does he keep his engine humming while playing Tom Thibodeau minutes on the biggest stage? Why, he does what any normal person would do and loads up on candy and caffeine before games. Much to the chagrin of the team nutritionist.
People want to focus on Hart getting into arguments with the team nutritionist, but "I’m like let’s get ready to run around," is the kind of motivational phrase that deserves to be stitched on a throw pillow.
Hart's love of Mike and Ike has become a story of its own during the postseason. After a clip of him discovering some leftover candy in his pocket went viral, he revealed how much he loved the candy and how he hoped to have his picture on the box someday. That day was yesterday, as it turned out.
There's clearly a blueprint for celebrities to get an unlimited supply of whatever they like, but there's just something endearing about a professional athlete becoming so synonymous with a candy that a partnership becomes inevitable. Someone making tens of millions of dollars a year getting a lifetime supply of $2 boxes of candy shouldn't seem so heartwarming, but when it happens organically, it's actually kind of charming.
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.