The Knicks’ depth stepped up in Game 2. The Sixers are still searching for theirs.

All five Knicks starters scored in double figures, while the Sixers had 69 of their 101 total points come from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

Tobias Harris (right) scored 10 points in Game 2, the only other Sixers player to score in double figures behind Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, who combined for 69 points of 101 points.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Gabriela Carroll

Published Apr. 23, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

NEW YORK — Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey gave the Sixers everything they needed on Monday night.

Well, almost everything.

Both Embiid and Maxey recorded a double-double, combining for 69 of the Sixers’ 101 points. But outside of Maxey and Embiid, just one Sixer hit double figures — Tobias Harris, with 10 points.

On the other end of the floor, Knicks star Jalen Brunson struggled for the second straight game. Brunson scored 24 points on 8-for-29 from the field and hit just 1-of-6 three-point attempts. But the Knicks didn’t need their point guard to carry the day.

Fellow Villanova stars Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo each pitched in with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Hart had the game-winning steal and DiVincenzo hit the go-ahead three-pointer, but all five Knicks starters scored at least 10 points. Miles “Deuce” McBride pitched in nine off the bench, including five fourth-quarter points, while Bojan Bogdanovic played just a few minutes in the fourth quarter, but made them count, sinking two clutch threes.

“They’ve been playing amazing,” Brunson said of his bench after Game 2. “If only I could get up to their level at some point. The way they’ve been conducting themselves, they’ve been playing with confidence and not getting fatigued or wavered when things aren’t going our way. We’re staying strong, and long story short we’re staying together.”

In Game 1, the unlikely hero was McBride, scoring 21 points off the bench. In Game 2, it was Isaiah Hartenstein, who pitched in 14 second-half points, secured the offensive rebound after DiVincenzo’s first three-point miss, and blocked Maxey’s final layup attempt.

The final sequence that gave the Knicks the lead showed exactly what makes New York successful — every player in their lineup made his impact felt.

“Oftentimes it’s a hustle play here, hustle play there, just finding a way to win,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “A big shot, big hustle play, getting on the floor, coming up with a steal, or coming up with a block, making free throws and we need it all. We had a lot of contributions from different people. [Bogdanovic] came in and hit some big shots, [McBride] gave us really good minutes. [Hart] was incredible. [DiVincenzo], OG [Anunoby], big time plays down the stretch. The free throws, the rebounds, the hustle. That’s what you need. You got to be a team.”

In the fourth quarter, Sixers not named Embiid or Maxey hit two shots total — one three-pointer from Kyle Lowry and one two-pointer from Kelly Oubre Jr. The Sixers got more secondary scoring from Lowry and Harris in Game 1, but the bench contributed just seven total points. Trade deadline acquisition Buddy Hield has just one made field goal in the series. The Sixers won their NBA Play-In Tournament game against the Heat in large part due to a 20-point performance from Nico Batum, but he has just nine points total so far this series.

“We need production from [Hield],” Nick Nurse said pregame. “We need production from [Batum], right? We need some more production from [Oubre Jr.]. Not a ton, but we need those guys to chip in. Chip in like [the Knicks] had a whole bunch of guys chip in.”

As the series heads back to Philadelphia, the Sixers are still searching for more consistency from their depth. Lowry, who scored 18 points on Saturday, and Harris each have shown flashes. With Embiid and Maxey playing as well as they are, the Sixers don’t need a DiVincenzo or McBride to pick their stars up off the mat. But they could certainly use a few extra buckets down the stretch.