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Knicks fans left the Garden in ecstatic jubilation Monday night after a 27-second swing late in the game turned it from a potential 1-1 series to a 2-0 lead.
The Knicks have had some wild finishes this season already — their wild win over the Pistons on Feb. 26 comes to mind — but Monday was something different, as Jalen Brunson hit a game-tying 3-pointer and then Donte DiVincenzo put the Knicks ahead for good with a trey of his own.
“I mean listen to this. This is what we do,” DiVincenzo told MSG Network with a deafening roar coming from the Madison Square Garden crowd in the background on Monday night after Game 2 of the opening round series. “This who we do it for. That’s it. 2-0.”
The incredible sequence first started with just under 40 seconds left on the clock and the Knicks down 101-96.
Brunson attempted to split the defense and drive toward the basket only to lose the ball when Kyle Lowry knocked it free.
DiVincenzo managed to scoop up the loose ball and find Brunson in the corner for a 3 that bounced off the rim, up and then dropped through the hoop to trim the Knicks’ deficit to 101-99.
But that was just the start of the insanity.
As the 76ers went to inbounds the ball, Tyrese Maxey had the ball knocked loose as he was trying to receive the pass and fell on the ball.
76ers’s coach Nick Nurse claimed he was calling for a timeout and was ignored by the referee.
Seemingly expecting to get a foul call, Maxey stayed on the ground trying to corral the ball, but Josh Hart managed to steal it away and kick it to DiVincenzo for an open 3.
The shot didn’t drop, but Isaiah Hartenstein came down with the rebound, managing to wrestle the ball while surrounded by two Philadelphia defenders and clear it to OG Anunoby, who swung the ball to DiVincenzo for another chance at the long-range shot from the top of the arc.
This time, the 3-pointer dropped, and the Garden erupted as the Knicks took a 102-101 lead.
The Knicks finished the game with a 104-101 win as the series shifts to the hostile Wells Fargo Center in Philly on Thursday.
This is the first 2-0 series lead the Knicks have held since they faced the Celtics in the postseason in 2013.
“There’s been some pretty wild finishes but that was right up there with the best of them,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said postgame.
