The Philadelphia Sixers were so close to snatching home-court advantage away from the Knicks with a Game 2 victory, but they ran out of gas down the stretch. Of course, it didn't help that they finished with 18 turnovers, which New York turned into 23 points (in a game they won by only six!). If they could've gotten a few of those back, the result probably would've tipped in their favor.
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 26 points and six assists, but he also led them in turnovers, with six (his highest in the playoffs this year). VJ Edgecombe added four of his own.
Entering the game, it felt like Philadelphia needed to have as close to a perfect game as possible with Joel Embiid out, and New York playing on another level the past few games. The Knicks weren't on their A-game (far from it), but the Sixers couldn't take care of the ball to capitalize on that. You can't expect to have that many sloppy possessions and win a playoff game on the road.
Now, they're headed back to Philly for what won't technically be a must-win, but is as close to one as you can get. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit. Think about how different the vibe would be if it were all tied up at 1-1.
"I turned the ball over way, way, way too much tonight."
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) May 7, 2026
The Knicks scored 23 points off the Sixers' turnovers in Game 2. | @FultonBank pic.twitter.com/Ve6rTb1XyN
Sixers had 18 turnovers in the Game 2 loss against Knicks
With no Embiid, it was all about Maxey yet again, and he commanded New York's attention on the defensive end. Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart had him swarmed, and as Tyrese said postgame, took away passes he's usually able to pull off when teams throw double-teams on him.
He played 47 minutes and looked gassed by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, as did the rest of the team. They had only 12 points in the final frame. You can fault their lack of real rest between their Game 7 victory over the Celtics and Game 1 against the Knicks as a contributing factor for their turnovers and missed shots.
That doesn't change the result, though. Philadelphia won't have much time to recover before Game 3, either. The Sixers need to find a jolt of energy somewhere, at least enough to come out on Friday looking like a different team than they did tonight. Don't gift New York another 23 points off turnovers (or anything close to that), please.
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