Julius Randle had 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Jalen Brunson scored 21, and the New York Knicks overcame an early 21-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-97 on Sunday night.
Evan Fournier came off the bench to add 17 points for the Knicks, who were playing on night one after an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
“It was great,” Randall said. “I think the biggest difference between last night and tonight, where I thought we could have won, it was our defense tonight.”
Joel Embiid had 31 points for the 76ers, going 18 of 19 from the free throw line, and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Philadelphia had won nine of their last 10 games. The 76ers blew a 21-point lead in Monday’s 119–109 loss to Orlando.
“It’s never easy,” Embiid said. “A 20-point lead in the NBA is nothing. Any team can come back and they did tonight.”
Philadelphia went ahead by 21 points in the first quarter, but the Knicks continued to chip away and cut it to 53–51 at halftime.
Randle’s 3-pointer to start the second half put New York ahead 54–53, its first lead since 2–0.
Philadelphia went up by eight and led 79–76 in the fourth quarter.
Tyrese Maxi opened the final quarter with a three-point play, but the Knicks scored the next 10 points and went on a 15–2 run on Fournier’s 3-pointer, giving them a 91–84 lead.
They never turned back again.
“I thought our second unit came in and fought,” said 76ers coach Doc Rivers. “This is the second time it’s happened. Same thing happened in Orlando. Both times, we were scoring too easy. The second group comes in and thinks it’s an offensive play and they don’t see that the first group needs to play defense.” Because there was an advantage.
The 76ers pulled within three, but Randle’s floater made it 102–92 with 2:18 remaining.
Philadelphia never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, “It was a great team win.” “It was great. We dug in in the fourth quarter.
Miles McBride had 14 points and Isaiah Hartenstein tied a season high with 14 rebounds for the Knicks.
D’Anthony Melton and Tobias Harris had 14 points each for the 76ers. James Harden had 12 points and 12 assists.
“He worked hard,” Rivers said. “They got everything. They were a more physical team. They were tougher.