Sixers looking to flush emotional Game 5 win, focus turns to Game 6
CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are on an emotional high. The Sixers had a dramatic, 112-106, overtime win in Game 5 over the New York Knicks.
Philadelphia was facing elimination down six with 28.2 seconds left before Tyrese Maxey saved the season.
Maxey scored a career playoff-high 46 points and rallied the Sixers to a season-saving win. It was an emotional win and the momentum is clearly on Philadelphia’s side.
However, the Knicks understand how close they were to picking that win. Therefore, the Sixers will have to be ready for whatever New York throws at them on Thursday.
“Well, I think that the main thing is that — and I know it sounds very trite — it’s 48 minutes, man,” said coach Nick Nurse on Friday. “You gotta really understand this is 48 minutes and the amount of times I was saying ‘This is only a two-possession game.’ It felt a lot worse than that. You know what I mean?”
This has been a close series throughout five games. It could go either way as both teams have exchanged body blows and each game has come down to one or two possessions. In Game 5, the Knicks outscored the Sixers 32-17 in the second quarter, yet it was only a 6-point lead at halftime for New York and Philadelphia responded rather quickly.
It goes to show how back-and-forth this series has been.
“At halftime, you’re feeling ‘Oh my God. They killed us in the second quarter’ and 90 seconds into the third, we had the lead again,” Nurse added. “It is, like, you gotta keep some composure and just kinda keep trying to execute and make the right plays and play as absolutely hard as you can on defense and play as hard as you can once the shot is released to chase it down.”
This series hasn’t come down to one specific stat. Both teams have shown a lot of heart and a lot of grit. The Sixers need to get it done heading into Game 6 on Thursday.
“It’s a very close series,” Nurse added. “If you want to take the easy way out and say ‘Oh, that game happened because of this or that game happened because of that,’ that’s all BS. There’s a lot of stats that are skewed a lot of different ways, and it’s coming down to a close game either way. There’s not one thing that’s sticking out.”
The Sixers and the Knicks do battle once more on Thursday from the Wells Fargo Center.
