Knicks ready to punch back after physical Game 3 loss to 76ers: ‘We don’t mind physical’

PHILADELPHIA — Let’s take inventory of every way the 76ers made a mess of Game 3.

• Kyle Lowry smacked Donte DiVincenzo in the face while he went up for a layup, leaving a big red welt on DiVincenzo’s face to start the first quarter
• Joel Embiid kneed Isaiah Hartenstein in the groin. (Hartenstein later said he believed it was an accident due to Embiid’s bulky knee brace)
• Embiid poked his butt out to set a screen and hip-checked OG Anunoby in the back court, sending Anunoby to ground in pain
• Embiid pulled Mitchell Robinson by the leg while he attempted to dunk and was issued a flagrant foul
• Embiid kicked Robinson between the legs while fading away on a jump shot
• And Embiid fell on Robinson legs while fighting for a rebound

All of these plays occurred in the first half, before the Sixers outscored the Knicks, 43-27, in the third quarter.

DiVincenzo and Embiid had to be separated after he pulled Robinson’s leg.

“I didn’t get in his face. I just asked, what are we doing? “ DiVincenzo clarified after practice on Saturday. “There’s a difference between, I think, playoff basketball and physicality and then crossing that line. And I think multiple times, that line was a little bit blurred.

“Refs are trying to put a stop to that. We know it was gonna be a physical battle. We know it’s gonna be another one tomorrow. We’re not a dirty team. We’re here to play ball. And our identity is playing physical, but we’re not here to be dirty or do anything like that. We’re here to play ball and get a win.”

Officials reviewed three plays in the game’s opening eight minutes for hostile activity. Robinson did not return at halftime and left the arena in a walking boot. And the Knicks left the arena with their first loss of their first-round playoff series, a victory the Sixers literally fought tooth and nail to secure.

The Knicks are ready to fight back, and they’re not looking to the referees to save them after they let Embiid get away with a number of plays that crossed the line in Game 3.

“The No. 1 job of the official is to control and manage the game. So when there’s stuff like that going on, that’s their job. But we don’t mind physical,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice on Saturday.

Presented with the idea his team can’t depend on the officials to keep the game in check, he said: “No, you can’t. And you adjust to how the game is being called. [Officiating is] not an easy job, I understand that. I just want consistency. So if it’s good, hard competition, great.”

Thibodeau’s main gripe remains a lack of consistency with the whistle.

Embiid shot 21 free throws in Game 3. The Knicks shot 19 as a team despite a number of plays where a Sixers player made contact with Jalen Brunson on a shot attempt.

“If it’s tight, it has to be tight both ways. It has to be tight both ways,” he said after practice. “And so you can’t say one guy is drawing fouls and the other guy is not. And then you go through the tape and you say, c’mon, c’mon. It is what it is. That’s gone. Every game is different. Come out for this game and be ready to roll.”

Brunson said the key to victory in Game 4 is banding closer together.

“I honestly just think sticking together, not really worrying about what’s going on, not really over-analyzing it, just making sure we’re all as one,” he said after Saturday’s practice. “Being together and reading each other on both offense and defense. And just being a step quicker to everything, but most importantly sticking together.”

BUCKETS FROM BRUNSON

After shooting poorly from the field in the first two games of the series, Brunson got right with a 39-point performance on 13-of-27 shooting from the field in Thursday’s loss to the Sixers.

“[The] ball went in the hole. I was able to make plays, not just for myself but for others,” he said on Saturday. “But for all that being good, we lost, so it doesn’t really matter.”

TURN UP THE VOLUME

Knicks fans made their presence felt in Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center, but the arena was so loud in an intense playoff environment, Knicks players on the court couldn’t hear each other clearly.

DiVincenzo says the team has to over-communicate to overcome the volume.

“Third quarter, nonverbal [communication], [they scored] 40-plus points,” he said. “We know what we’re doing but, you know, you have to over communicate. You have to be loud, you have to be really loud and often with your communication and then you go from there. It clears up any miscommunication or lack of it there.”