The discrepancy was startling.
So much so that, just looking at the box score, it’s hard to believe it existed along with the final score.
The Knicks took half the number of free throws as the 76ers — 17 to Philadelphia’s 34 — during their 137-98 Game 1 rout Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Joel Embiid scored eight of his 14 points from the free-throw line. Tyrese Maxey scored seven of his 13 points from the line.
It went under the radar given the margin of victory. But Knicks coach Mike Brown knows it would behoove the Knicks to not let it continue.
“Maxey and Embiid are really, really good at drawing fouls,” Brown said after practice Tuesday. “Maxey’s speed, he’s gonna drive and he’s gonna attack the chest. I thought our guys did on some of the calls, but most of them, you can’t lead with your hands, you gotta lead with your chest and hope that the referee sees that at times we’re not initiating the contact. But we can’t put ourselves in the position to put the whistle in the referees’ hands. Make them call a no call. So we gotta do better leading with our chest and showing our hands.
“And then with Embiid, he’s really crafty. Shot fake, shot fake and he can still shoot it, whether it’s from 2 or 3. So we have to be disciplined, we have to stay down and figure out how to be a second jumper while having contests from behind and stuff like that. But we can’t send those two guys to the free-throw line, and the rest of their team, 34 times and expect to get a win, especially if we only go 17.”
Brown began his news conference Tuesday by sending his wishes to 76ers coach Nick Nurse.
Nurse’s brother, Ian, died unexpectedly April 29, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I heard about his brother, Ian, and I’d like to pass my condolences along to Nick Nurse and his family, his brother’s family and all their friends,” Brown said. “Life is precious. You don’t wish that upon anybody. So I’d like to pass along my condolences to him and his family while they’re going through these times.”
Miles McBride believes that, given the 76ers’ lack of depth, the Knicks’ physicality can have a cumulative effect over the course of the series.
“It can definitely play a part if you’re being realistic,” McBride said Tuesday. “If you have more guys running them, being physical can definitely play a big factor.”
