NEW YORK — The Sixers snapped the Knicks’ seven-game winning streak and earned a high-quality victory Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
They notched a 116-107 win to improve to 15-11 this season. New York fell to 19-8.
Tyrese Maxey tallied 30 points and nine assists. VJ Edgecombe recorded 23 points and four assists.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns each posted 22 points. Mitchell Robinson added 21 points and 16 rebounds.
The Sixers were down Joel Embiid (illness, right knee injury management), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain).
Embiid was present at the team’s morning shootaround. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said he does not believe the big man has had a recent setback.
Watford took pregame jumpers. Both he and Oubre have advanced to individual on-court workouts in their rehab processes.
The Sixers will travel home and face the Mavericks on Saturday night. Here are observations on their win over the Knicks:
Maxey’s return
Maxey drew back into the lineup after missing the Sixers’ past two games with an illness.
He didn’t lose his scoring touch. The Sixers’ star guard made a floater on his first shot and then drained a pair of long-range jumpers to give his team a 16-10 lead.
Meanwhile, two Sixers who shined in Maxey’s absence had rough shooting starts.
Coming off of a season-high 35-point outing last time out against the Hawks, Paul George opened 0 for 6 from the floor and didn’t score until the 4:59 mark of the second quarter. OG Anunoby defended him well, tightly contesting George’s jumpers and making him toil in search of openings.
VJ Edgecombe began 2 for 8 from the floor following his 26-point night in Atlanta. He had two first-quarter jumpers swatted by Robinson.
Shots dropping for Edwards again
Dominick Barlow wound up being the Sixers’ second-leading scorer in the first quarter. He posted nine points on 4-for-5 shooting in the period and also grabbed four offensive rebounds.
The Sixers shifted to a bench-heavy lineup late in the first. On New York’s second unit, former Sixer Guerschon Yabusele sunk a three on his first touch.
Backup big man Adem Bona picked up his third foul early in the second quarter on a Karl-Anthony Towns and-one hoop. Bona subbed out and Barlow subbed in for a brief stint at center. The Sixers’ fouls started to pille up and their offense turned cold. The Knicks went up 40-34 on a Robinson put-back slam.
Justin Edwards was the final player to check in of the Sixers’ 10-man rotation. The lefty wing made an immediate splash in his first game as a 22-year-old, hitting two straight catch-and-shoot threes from the left wing.
Those jumpers were Edwards’ first made field goals in an NBA game since Dec. 4. He certainly looked like he’d gained confidence from his G League appearance Tuesday with Bona. Edwards poured in 37 points Tuesday for the Delaware Blue Coats.
“Listen, I’m going to tell you again that I love Justin,” Nurse said Wednesday. “He’s still a very young player. … Both (him and Bona) went down there and embraced it, and they played great. I told them both, ‘Do your thing. Play hard. … Play to your strengths.’ … It was good to see them both have some fun.
“They’re young, man. I would imagine we’re going to use them this weekend in a back-to-back, right? And it was a good time for them to get some rhythm and go down there.”
Edwards couldn’t stay hot through the end of the first half. He missed his next two jumpers, then fouled Brunson on a corner three. The Villanova product converted a four-point play and the Knicks entered halftime with a 59-57 edge.
Sixers’ guards great down the stretch
The Sixers had a strong start to the third quarter.
Edgecombe scored a fast-break layup and played a fantastic period overall. Andre Drummond nailed his third corner three of the game.
Like all of the Sixers’ guards, Edgecombe played aggressively while avoiding costly turnovers. Late in the third quarter, the Sixers had a 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers. Their success in that department helped them mitigate New York’s superior offensive rebounding (21-10).
Robinson sparked New York in the final few minutes of the third quarter, partly through improbable success at the foul line when the Sixers intentionally hacked him. Going into Friday, he was 6 for 27 (22.2 percent) this season on his free throws. He went 7 for 8 against the Sixers. Robinson’s put-back lay-in on the Knicks’ first possession of the fourth quarter lifted his team to an 89-88 lead.
The Sixers bounced back with threes from Jared McCain and Maxey that pushed them to a five-point edge. McCain gave the Sixers 12 useful points in 21 minutes off the bench.
Edgecombe was brilliant down the stretch. He made a mid-range jumper, a clutch three and a big-time dunk.
The rookie also dove on the floor to recover a crucial loose ball. Seconds later, Maxey buried a dagger three.
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