76ers 119, Knicks 112: Spiderman was never gonna stop Thanos
Facing a tough opponent in a losable game, the Knicks suffered a tough loss.
For all the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s commercial success, its profit peaked with two films that each grossed over $2 billion worldwide – Infinity War and Endgame. Infinity War is a re-conceiving of the Infinity Gauntlet from 30 years ago. In that six-issue series, as in the movies, Thanos is the villain intent on killing half of all life in the universe, though in the comics his reasoning is wildly different. Perhaps the most memorable issue from that series features an assault force of mostly Earth heroes transported across the cosmos to fight Thanos. Soon everyone you’ve heard of is dead – Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Vision, Wolverine, She-Hulk. The killing of Cyclops, of the X-Men, is instructive when considering the New York Knicks’ Christmas Day 119-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
After killing the Scarlet Witch, Thanos turns to face Cyclops and points at the mutant. Suddenly a clear block of force forms around Cyclops’ head, cutting off his eye beam and cutting off his oxygen (it’s a comic, so yeah, they’re fighting in deep space, where there is no oxygen, but Dr. Strange cast a spell that let them breathe naturally for up to an hour, so it’s all good). Captain America tries smashing the force block with his shield, but can’t. Cyclops suffocates, and sooner than not all is lost (at least until the next issue).
Many Knicks fought valiantly against a 76ers team whose best players are just more powerful than New York’s; the Knicks’ strength, their defense, isn’t nearly as good as Philadelphia’s. Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman was never going to stop Thanos and Mitchell Robinson will never be the MVP-level force Joel Embiid is, but fighting for 10 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a team-high +12 was inspiring. Julius Randle scored 25 in the first half, though to mix comic metaphors high-scoring first halves are often his Kryptonite. He scored only three second-half baskets: a jumper midway through the third, a dunk midway through the fourth and another in garbage time.
The Knicks led by 10 points for much of the contest. The suffocation came in the fourth quarter, courtesy of arguably the league’s best defense. RJ Barrett opened the frame scoring on New York’s first possession. For the next 9:30, the Knicks made just two field goals while the Sixers rode three Georges Niang threes and 12 points from Embiid, James Harden and Tobias Harris to a 21-5 run. By the time Immanuel Quickley finally hit from the field, there were two minutes left and the Knicks were down 11. The battle was lost.
As someone who’s had asthma attacks, I can tell you there’s something especially triggering about being unable to breathe. It’s nearly impossible to think straight because your body is not designed to think straight once it realizes it’s not getting any air. It will race through alternatives. Can’t breathe normally? Try breathing deeper. You’re a mouth breather? Sip some air through your nose. Is staying calm helping you breathe any better? No? Maybe freak out, then.
The box score will tell you the fourth quarter is where the Knicks lost the game, but the third was where their alternative offense, which is sometimes their best offense, got choked out. After outscoring the visitors 19-3 on first half second-chance points, it took the Knicks nearly 18 second-half minutes to score any more. By the time they did, the game had turned the Sixers’ way. Between Philadelphia’s defense and the late-game surgical precision of Harden and Embiid, this was a 48-minute marathon that the Knicks needed to finish at 40.
The loss pushes the Knicks four behind the 76ers in the loss column. Philadelphia is one of five teams that have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the East. New York has lost three in a row after their eight-game winning streak and is in the same middle-class morass as Atlanta, Indiana and Miami; odds are only one of the four of them will finish top-six. The Knicks’ next game is Tuesday in Dallas, where their three-game slide will coincide with the Mavericks on a three-game glide. After that come trips to San Antonio and Houston, two of the worst teams in the league. The Knicks need to shake this one off, pack their tights and capes and get back to saving our faith and their season.
