Knicks sweep 76ers, tie NBA playoff record with 25 threes
Deuce McBride was 7-for-9 on three-pointers as Knicks tied NBA playoff record with 25 in 144-114 win over 76ers in Game 4 on May 10, 2026. Credit: Getty Images/Emilee Chinn
PHILADELPHIA — After the Knicks completed a 144-114 win over the Philadelphia 76ers for a four-game sweep of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, the huge contingent of Knicks fans who had filled Xfinity Mobile Arena celebrated in the stands.
In the visitors’ locker room tucked just outside the court, the Knicks were packing up for the short flight home. A businesslike tone dominated the room, and it was hard to tell that they’d just dominated this playoff game from start to finish.
Maybe it was because the outcome had been determined almost from the opening tip and the Knicks had put their starters on the bench before the third quarter was over en route to building a 44-point fourth-quarter lead. They watched like the fans for nearly an hour before the final buzzer sounded and they could take a well-deserved round of handshakes and hugs with the 76ers players.
The Knicks showed from the start that they had no intention of letting Philadelphia have even a hint of life after the 76ers overcame a three-games-to-one deficit to beat Boston and advance to this round.
By the time the fourth quarter had begun, the small percentage of Philadelphia fans who had tried to shout down the decidedly pro-New York crowd were beginning to exit, and the Knicks’ fans cheered that, too.
The Knicks’ offense was so efficient — tying an NBA record with 18 three-point field goals in the first half, tying the postseason record of 25 three-pointers in a game and working their way through the first two rounds of the playoffs with the largest margin of victory per game (19.4) since the NBA went to 16 playoff teams — that it didn’t matter that Joel Embiid was 8-for-8 from the floor and scored 24 points in 27:35.
The win gave the Knicks their second consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference finals — a feat they had not accomplished since 2000. Last season it ended against the Pacers, but that Knicks team was not playing anywhere near the level this team is: seven straight wins, with almost every one a one-sided affair.
The Knicks have at least a week to ready themselves for the other side of the bracket to be settled and the series to start.
Asked about the mood in the locker room, Jalen Brunson said, “I think we definitely have to discuss things that we’re doing in the game that we talked about and should’ve done better. But for the most part, we’re focused and we have to continue to have that focus. The attention to detail, the edge that we have to have is really important. These teams that we could face are very difficult teams to play. So we got to be ready.”
So not celebratory?
“I didn’t say celebratory,” he said. “So no.”
“No relief, jubilation. [It’s] just another step in the process,” Josh Hart said. “I think the way we beat Boston last year, the comebacks and all that, it was very, I don’t want to say celebratory, but it hit a little bit different than here. It’s just we’re approaching the business as normal and we got to make sure we’re locked in and focused on the next team.”
It may not have been a celebration for the team, but it certainly was for the crowd. The atmosphere was clear as the Knicks came out of the tunnel to begin pregame warmups and the crowd exploded in cheers, a sound that never let up with every Knicks bucket — and there were enough to tire the fans out if they hadn’t trained for this.
The Knicks played without OG Anunoby, who sat out for a second straight game with a strained right hamstring. His replacement in the starting lineup, Deuce McBride, scored 25 points and shot 7-for-9 from beyond the arc after hitting his first five.
Brunson had 22 points, six assists and no turnovers, Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 10 assists in 19:56 and Hart added 17 points and nine rebounds. Mikal Bridges continued his solid play with 12 points, six assists and stellar defense.
“Yeah, it’s great when you see a team having that kind of focus and discipline and execution,” Towns said. “I’ve always said that the toughest games are to end someone’s season, and to see us taking that to a series, it’s great. It’s great for us to see. But now we’ve got to reset. We’ve got to readjust. Get our minds back right and enjoy this time with our family and get back to business.”
By the time Nick Nurse could signal for his first timeout, the Knicks were up 17-6, with McBride hitting all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. Out of the timeout, on the Knicks' next possession, Philadelphia’s defense somehow left McBride wide open and he hit a fourth three-pointer.
Nurse called for another timeout with the score 35-17 and the Knicks 9-for-10 from beyond the arc as a team. Nothing worked as the Knicks expanded the lead to 43-24 at the end of the quarter with 11-of-13 shooting from three-point range, including a long heave at the buzzer by Landry Shamet that missed. They tied the playoff record for threes in a quarter and matched their own mark for most points in a quarter this postseason, echoing the 43 they had in the second quarter in Atlanta in Game 6.
By halftime the Knicks had piled up 81 points and a 24-point lead — not quite the 83-36 lead they had at the half in the closeout game in Atlanta but close enough to let you know they didn’t take their foot off the gas with a dominant lead in the series, instead pushing the gas pedal to the floor again.
The Knicks scored 25 points in the first 5:54 and hit 11 of their first 12 three-point attempts. McBride, Brunson, Hart and Shamet shot a combined 21-for-31 from three-point range in the first three quarters as the Knicks went 23-for-37 and took a 122-83 lead. Jose Alvarado’s three-pointer with 9:43 remaining in the game made it 24-for-39 and gave the Knicks their biggest lead at 44 points (128-84).
With seven straight wins, the Knicks won’t play again until Sunday at the earliest. But playing this way, maybe they’d like to play again tomorrow.
“Definitely not tomorrow,” Mike Brown said, laughing. “What is today? Maybe Wednesday.
“You like the rhythm that you’re in, but you know, like I just said, if we expect to be who we think we’re capable of being, we’ll find a way to stay consistent with what we’re doing, whether it’s the energy level, the effort level or embracing slash focusing on the details that we have to be able to understand in order to go out and get a win.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
