Miles McBride made 7 of 9 3-pointers for 25 points and Jalen Brunson scored 22 on 6-of-10 shooting from long range as the visiting New York Knicks throttled the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 in Game 4 on Sunday to sweep their second-round playoff series.
Josh Hart (17 points) and Landry Shamet (12) each made four 3-pointers for New York, which started 11-of-12 from long distance on its way to tying NBA playoff records for most 3-pointers in a quarter (11), half (18) and game (25).
Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in with 17 points and 10 assists for the third-seeded Knicks, who shot 56.8% from 3-point range (25 of 44) in advancing to their second straight Eastern Conference finals. New York will battle either the top-seeded Detroit Pistons or the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers for a spot in the NBA Finals.
The Knicks’ offensive assault came despite the absence of second-leading scorer OG Anunoby (hamstring), who missed his second straight game.
The seventh-seeded Sixers had oft-injured Joel Embiid for the second straight game, but his 24 points on 8-of-8 shooting didn’t make a dent in the lopsided result. Tyrese Maxey contributed 17 points for Philadelphia, which trailed by double figures for the final 43 minutes.
New York stormed out of the gates with 3-pointers by Brunson and Hart in the first three minutes. Shortly thereafter, McBride went 4-of-4 from 3-point range in less than 90 seconds as the lead quickly ballooned to 20-6.
Even when the Sixers briefly got within 11, Brunson made a pair of 3-pointers to stretch the lead back to 35-18. Shamet then came off the bench and tacked on two more 3-pointers later in the quarter as New York led 43-24 after 12 minutes.
Shamet, Towns and McBride each made a 3-pointer early in the second quarter as the lead grew to 59-32. The Knicks missed their next five from long range, but Brunson and Hart connected on back-to-back triples to get the visitors back in a groove.
In the final minute, McBride’s sixth 3-pointer of the half made it 78-52 and Hart added one more for good measure to help the visitors go into the locker room ahead 81-57.
Midway through the third quarter, McBride’s final 3-pointer stretched the lead to 30 for the first time. New York went on to lead 122-83 after three quarters and cruised to the finish line.
