PHILADELPHIA — Josh Hart shook a box of candy — “Mike and Ike’s, baby!” — to explain where he found the burst of energy to hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Game 6. Hart then turned to his left and raised his right hand, hoping for some love from Jalen Brunson.
Brunson left Hart hanging.
“Don’t beat the shit out of him,” New York Knicks teammate Donte DiVincenzo added.
Brunson joked that, yes, it was the movie theater snacks that fueled Hart during the playoffs.
“It’s from Mike and Ike. It’s popcorn,” Brunson said.
Hart then threw some of the fruit-flavored candies to reporters and encouraged them to try the sweets. DiVincenzo buried his head in a microphone, unable to keep a straight face on the dais he shared with his two teammates.
United by their desire to win a championship in New York – the Knicks’ 118-115 Game 6 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night sent them into the second round – the trio are best known for their championship runs in Villanova.
Everyone is doing their part to win an NBA ring.
Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, former Villanova coach and famous 76ers fan, certainly stood proud somewhere at the end of Game 6.
Take a look at the final stats from Game 6: DiVincenzo hit five 3s and scored 23 points in 48 minutes; Brunson had 41 points and 12 assists and was the first NBA player to score 40 or more points to end a series since Chicago’s Michael Jordan against Cleveland in 1989; Hart hit the 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 24.4 seconds left to score 16 points.
As thick as brothers, right?
“I can’t stand these guys,” DiVincenzo joked.
After some of the laughter died down, Hart patted DiVincenzo on the knee and said they had a “great friendship.”
“In all seriousness,” DiVincenzo interjected, “I think on the court you have the ability to bring everyone together, make adjustments, have that open line of communication without anyone getting offended. I think everyone’s goal here is to win. It’s easier when you have two guys you’ve played with (before). You know, sometimes when things get heated, you know it’s coming from the right place.”
The Nova trio – and the rest of the Knicks – have at least one more round to go.
The Knicks are set for an Eastern Conference semifinal matchup against Indiana. The Pacers beat Milwaukee in six games and advanced to the second round for the first time in 10 years. Game 1 will be on Monday night in New York.
The Knicks advanced to the second round in consecutive years for the first time since the 1992-2000 postseasons, and yet no one did what Brunson did in this series, scoring 40 points or more in each of the final three games. He became the first Knick to do so since Bernard King 40 years ago.
In a series defined by close games, Hart hit the shot that made it 114-111 and again said “Come on, Knicks! Come on, Knicks!” chants echoing throughout the Philadelphia court.
“The fourth quarter was just one big play after the next,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
The fourth quarter was just one big roar of “Let’s go, Knicks” after the next one.
The Sixers’ strategy before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference first round was to keep Knicks fans out of the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.
Team owners Josh Harris, David Blitzer and David Adelman and former minority owner Michael Rubin joined forces on Wednesday to purchase more than 2,000 tickets that they distributed to people serving the Philadelphia community.
It worked for about three quarters. In the end, though, Knicks fans turned South Philly into a little piece of Madison Square Garden.
“We knew it was going to be a tough environment,” Hart said. “A little more difficult than (Game 4) because there were 2,500 seats filled.”
Wait until they get back to the real deal at MSG next week.
Brunson hugged team president Leon Rose before exiting the tunnel to “MVP! MVP!” chants from fans dressed in orange and blue who stayed until the end – ready for another series to come.
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