Observations after Sixers battle without Embiid but lose Game 2 to Knicks 

NEW YORK — The Sixers’ scrappy effort without Joel Embiid on Wednesday night did not yield a series-shifting win in New York.

The Knicks earned a 108-102 victory at Madison Square to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series. 

Tyrese Maxey was the Sixers’ leading scorer with 26 points.

Paul George (19 points), Kelly Oubre Jr. (19) and VJ Edgecombe (17) all had sizable roles in the Sixers’ Embiid-less offense.

Four Knicks scored at least 18 points in Jalen Brunson (26), OG Anunoby (24), Karl-Anthony Towns (20) and Mikal Bridges (18).

The Sixers dropped to 1-3 in the playoffs this year without Embiid, who was out because of right ankle and right hip injuries. Knicks center Mitchell Robinson sat with an illness. 

Game 3 will be Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Philadelphia. Here are observations on the Sixers’ Game 2 loss:

George gives Sixers immediate jolt 

George scored 11 of the Sixers’ first 13 points on 4-for-4 shooting, including two pure jumpers in a row from the left corner. 

He’s made at least one three-pointer in all of the Sixers’ nine playoff games and multiple triples in eight straight. For the postseason, George has gone a tremendous 31 for 59 (52.5 percent) beyond the arc. 

Kelly Oubre Jr. also had a hot start. He knocked down a pair of corner threes late in the first quarter to give the Sixers a 25-20 lead. 

Edgecombe opened the night playing tighter, more physical defense against Brunson higher up the floor than in Game 1. The rookie drew an early moving screen call on Towns with his effort to fight over the pick. Brunson didn’t score until he made two free throws with 3:05 left in the first quarter and missed his first three field goal attempts. 

Andre Drummond started in Embiid’s spot. Both he and Towns were whistled for two first-quarter fouls. Adem Bona returned to the Sixers’ rotation as Drummond’s backup. He had a strong offensive rebounding night, notching six offensive boards in his 16 minutes.

Maxey makes adjustments 

Towns picked up his third foul just 46 seconds into the second quarter. He subbed out and the Knicks shifted to small ball for a few minutes with 6-foot-5 Josh Hart at “center” and setting tons of ball screens. 

Maxey drained a three to put the Sixers up 41-35. He was great early in the second quarter, hitting his stride as an aggressive shotmaker after a rough Game 1. 

The Sixers got Maxey an easy basket on the first possession of the second period with a clever designed play that concluded with Maxey cutting backdoor and converting a layup. Maxey did a little bit of everything as a scorer, including successful post-ups against 6-foot Knicks guard Jose Alvarado. 

Besides simply seeking out his shot more, Maxey seemed to make some strategic tweaks when the Knicks blitzed or hard hedged ball screens. Quick passes are frequently the only viable option in those spots, but Maxey also mixed in occasionally 1. rejecting the ball screen (or screens) and 2. splitting defenders.

There’s always risk in trying to squeeze between defenders on the perimeter, but Maxey’s typically a low-turnover player and can certainly zoom downhill to the rim once he slithers through the front line of a defense.  With that said, the Sixers were inferior in the turnover department Wednesday. Maxey committed six of the team’s 18 giveaways. The Knicks ended with 13 turnovers.

Maxey couldn’t sustain his excellent run through the whole second quarter and the Sixers headed to halftime with a 62-61 edge.

Every Sixer played under 30 minutes in their blowout Game 1 defeat. Maxey logged a whopping 47 in Game 2.

Turning to Barlow at the five

Fouls were a predictable problem for the Bona-Drummond duo. 

By the 7:09 mark of the third quarter, both Drummond and Bona had four fouls. Towns became a logical focal point for the Knicks’ offense and scored very efficiently. 

With 4:53 to go in the third, Towns drew Bona’s fifth foul on a drive down the middle of the floor. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse responded sensibly by bringing in Dominick Barlow at center for his first minutes of the game.

Towns soon got his fourth foul and Knicks head coach Mike Brown slid Anunoby up to the five For the most part, offense won out in the Barlow vs. Anunoby center minutes late in the third quarter. Anunoby drilled a three to give New York an 86-84 lead.

The contest stayed close early in the fourth quarter. Considering the situation — thrown into a difficult moment in his first NBA postseason — Barlow did quite well. He was handy as a smart short roller passer and also added six points on 3-for-3 shooting and two rebounds. 

Barlow made a big defensive play when he closed out to Anunoby in the corner and blocked his three-point try. Maxey followed by sinking a go-ahead three.

Again, it’s hard to imagine Barlow entering a game with more on his plate. He often had to defend Brunson when the Sixers switched ball screens. The Knicks’ superstar guard made a mid-range jumper over Barlow to lift New York to a 101-99 advantage.

The Knicks went up six points on a long Bridges two-pointer. Down the stretch, the Sixers’ core players missed many of the jumpers they’d been hitting earlier in the night.

The Sixers eventually mobbed Brunson with blitzes and all-out double teams, but the Knicks didn’t leave the comeback door open and polished off a win that was much more testing than their 39-point Game 1 victory.