Deuces, Philly! Knicks find motherlode, finish Sixers sweep (Highlights)

With the win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal set, the Knicks are halfway through their championship journey and are bound for the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season.

The Knicks have thus registered consecutive ECF appearances for the first time since 1999-2000. They also picked up their first sweep of a best-of-seven series since ’99, when they took four in a row from Atlanta en route to their most recent showing in the NBA Finals.

New York made sure any supporters celebrating Mother’s Day could either escape or return to their maternal celebrations with early domination. It was McBride who dealt the early dagger with a personal 9-0 run in 50 seconds, as a trio of triples led to both a 17-6 Knicks lead and a Philadelphia timeout.

That proved to be only temporary relief, as the Knicks leaped out to a 20-point lead before the first period let out thanks to 11 triples in the opening dozen.

McBride was far from the only Knick sniping from deep: five New Yorkers hit at least two, with McBride and Jalen Brunson uniting for 13 of the 25 successful sinks.

Landry Shamet emerged from rotational exile to hit four, twisting the knife deeper into Philadelphia’s wounds. The 25 shots with an extra point on the line tied an NBA record for most in a playoff game.

Joel Embiid was a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, but that was far from enough to end his conference final denials. The 76ers sank only eight threes on 35 attempts (half from Embiid and Quentin Grimes) and, admittedly, took care of the ball, losing only 10 turnovers, but they allowed the Knicks to score 23 points off those turnovers.

The Knicks now await the winner of the other conference semifinal series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons. Top-ranked Detroit leads the best-of-seven set 2-1, and Game 4 is set for Monday night in Ohio (8:00 p.m. ET, NBC).