The Knicks did not need a dramatic closeout to finish Philadelphia. They needed one game that showed the gap between the teams at its clearest, and Game 4 gave them exactly that. New York’s 144-114 win was not just a sweep clincher. It was a reminder that when the Knicks get their spacing right, this roster can end a series before the opponent’s interior work ever matters.
Philadelphia actually won some of the usual inside categories early. The Sixers led in points in the paint, had more mid-range scoring and got to the line, yet they were buried anyway because the Knicks detonated the math from deep. New York shot 25-for-44 from three, tying the most makes in any NBA playoff game and setting a franchise postseason record. That 25-8 edge from beyond the arc was tied for the third-largest three-point differential in playoff history.
The Formula Was More Than Hot Shooting
The easy read is that New York just had one of those heater nights. That undersells what actually happened. The Knicks took 55% of their first-half shots from three, which tells you this was a deliberate shot-profile choice, not random heat-check basketball. Philadelphia kept giving up the type of drive-and-kick rhythm that lets New York’s offense snowball.
That is why Miles McBride’s big night fit the larger story instead of hijacking it. He scored 25 points and went 7-for-9 from deep, but the more important point is that New York had six players in double figures and never needed the entire burden to sit on one creator. The Knicks played like a team that knows exactly where its release valves are.
Why This Matters Beyond Philadelphia
The Knicks are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for a second straight year, and this was their seventh double-digit win of the postseason. That is the real warning for whoever gets them next. New York is not merely grinding through series on toughness and late-game poise. It is finding offensive spikes big enough to blow good teams off the floor.
That is the version of the Knicks that changes the ceiling. The sweep was not built on sentiment or survival. It was built on shot volume, shot quality and a defense that kept giving the offense chances to keep stretching the lead. Once the Knicks turned this series into a three-point avalanche, Philadelphia had no answer that could match the scale of it.
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