Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY | Game ID: 42500212
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NYK 31 30 28 19 108PHI 33 29 28 12 102
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jalen Brunson helps the Knicks take a 2-0 lead over the 76ers with a 108-102 victory
NEW YORK -- — Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and helped New York seize control of a close game after a run of blowouts, leading the Knicks to a 108-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Playing without the injured Joel Embiid , the 76ers put up a far better fight than in the Knicks' 137-98 romp in Game 1. The game featured 25 lead changes — the most in a playoff game in 11 years — and 14 ties. Neither team led by more than seven points.
“Most importantly it’s staying poised, staying composed,” Brunson said. “Just figuring out one just play at a time, one step at a time and not looking too far ahead.”
Those kinds of situations are made for Brunson, who made the tiebreaking basket with 5:06 remaining and added another jumper for a 103-99 advantage with 3:45 to play before Mikal Bridges ' basket made it a six-point game.
“They started switching a little bit and he got to his spots and scored a bucket and that’s what he’s expected to do for us,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said of Brunson.
OG Anunoby added 24 points for New York, though he left late in the game, went to the locker room and didn't return to the bench. Brown said after the game he didn't have an update on the forward's status.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Knicks, whose Game 1 victory made them the first team to win three straight postseason games by at least 25 points.
Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points for the 76ers, who face another big climb after falling behind 3-1 against Boston in the first round.
The series moves to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday, where Embiid will find out if gets his wish for the arena to be filled with Sixers fans or if New Yorkers made their way in.
Embiid was ruled out with right hip and ankle injuries after waking up with soreness and being unable to go through the 76ers’ morning shootaround.
But the 76ers, who won Game 2 in Boston without him while he was still recovering from a late-season appendectomy, got 19 points each from Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr . and 17 from VJ Edgecombe to nearly overcome their big man’s absence.
They were ahead for the final time at 99-96 after Oubre’s 3-pointer before Josh Hart — who had appeared to hurt his left hand or wrist in the third quarter and left the game — made a 3-pointer with 6:52 remaining.
“I thought we had maybe four wide-open shots in a row that didn’t go,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “We just needed to keep the scoreboard moving and we played great offense. We just didn’t shot-make.”
The 25 lead changes were the most since the Spurs and Clippers combined for 31 on May 2, 2015.
Maxey managed only 13 points in Game 1 but was back to leaving defenders in the dust Wednesday, scoring 15 points in the second quarter and 19 in the first half.
The Knicks did a better job on him in the second half, led by Bridges, who also contributed 18 points.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NYKAH A. Hukporti
JA J. Alvarado
JB J. Brunson
JC J. Clarkson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
MB M. Bridges
MM M. McBride
OA O. Anunoby
PHIAB A. Bona
AD A. Drummond
DB D. Barlow
KO K. Oubre Jr.
PG P. George
QG Q. Grimes
TM T. Maxey
VE V. Edgecombe
NYK/PHI the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur