The flurry of passes competed against the shot clock.
As time ran down, the Sixers moved the ball frantically to find the last shot. In the end, it landed in the hands of T.J. McConnell — the underdog to even make the team last season — who hit the game-winning jumper for a 98-97 victory over the Knicks on Wednesday night.
When Kristaps Porzingis missed a three, Gerald Henderson grabbed the rebound with five seconds to go. Ersan Ilyasova found McConnell for the buzzer-beater.
The Sixers overcame a 9-0 run by the Knicks at the start of the fourth, a quarter in which they trailed by as many as 13 points. They fought back with a key three by Robert Covington, back-to-back buckets on a trey and layup by Joel Embiid and free throws from Henderson.
Inside the box score
• The Sixers fended off 28 points from Carmelo Anthony (11 for 25 from the field, 2 for 6 from three, 4 for 4 from the free throw line) and 25 points from Derrick Rose (11 of 16 from the field, 3 of 4 from the line).
• Embiid countered those performances with a 21-point, 14-rebound (career high) double-double. He shot 7 for 20 from the field, 1 for 3 from three-point range and 6 for 7 from the foul line.
NBA
• Kyle O'Quinn grabbed 15 rebounds with 10 points.
• Ilyasova scored 16 points in spite of shooting 1 for 8 from three.
Brown changes starting lineup
Even though former starters Sergio Rodriguez (previous ankle sprain) and Henderson (lingering hip soreness) are now healthy and available to play, Brett Brown went with McConnell, Nik Stauskas, Covington, Ilyasova and Embiid for the starting five. The Sixers have had success with that lineup and Brown wanted to stick with it for now.
“Those guys go out, the other guys come in, we play well, we get into a little bit of a rhythm, so you keep it,” Brown said. “It’s most definitely still a year of experiments and trying different things. Some of it forced through injury, some of it is initiated by us. That was forced and we’ll play around with that for a while.”
Brown likes the veteran presence Henderson, in particular, brings to the second unit.
“He’s defense, he can hold that Dario (Saric) and Nerlens (Noel) group a little bit closer together,” Brown said. “That was a spinoff that we learned.”
Oops
For all the highlight-reel plays Embiid had made this season, there’s bound to be some “wish that didn’t happen” moments mixed in. Embiid tried to dunk on Porzingis, but that pesky rim got in the way (see video).
Okafor a DNP again
Jahlil Okafor did not play for a third straight game.
Remember the Hernangomez pick?
The Sixers drafted center Willy Hernangomez with the 35th pick in 2015, then traded him to the Knicks for future picks. Hernangomez, who was playing overseas, is in his rookie NBA season. During shootaround, his mind wandered for a minute to the “what if” of draft night.
“When I was at practice this morning, I imagined if maybe they didn’t trade me, I’m here, right?” Hernangomez said. “It’s a cool city, I tried to walk around. But I’m very happy to be in New York.”
Up next
The Sixers will host the Hornets (20-19) at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday. Then they will travel to Washington, D.C., for a back-to-back against the Wizards (19-18) on Saturday.