The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers are generally fairly good offensive teams. Philadelphia ranks 10th in the NBA with a 117.1 offensive rating, and the Knicks aren't far behind at No. 14 with an offensive rating of 116.6. But the injuries have piled up lately. When the two teams faced off on Sunday, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby all sat out. The result was one of the uglier games of the season.
The final? Philadelphia 79, New York 73. Both teams shot below 40% from the field. New York made only 22.5% of its 3-pointers. Philadelphia was a lackluster 57.1% at the foul line. The final total of 152 points was the lowest combined total and two teams have posted since Jan. 6, 2016, when the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves also combined for 152 points.
What was Jalen Brunson's assessment of the rock fight? "I played like dogs---," the Knicks All-Star said.
Ironically, Brunson may have been the best player on the floor. He was the game's leading scorer with 19 points and he also racked up a game-high eight assists. Of course, he also shot 6-of-22 from the field. In a normal game that would be atrocious. In this game, however, it was fairly standard. Eight of the 10 starters shot below 50% from the floor. The ones who didn't were Mo Bamba, who attempted four shots, and Isaiah Hartenstein, who attempted one.
Scoring around the league has been down quite a bit lately after the highs we saw earlier this season, but a game like this was a new low. It was the sort of rock fight that may have been common decades ago, but feels totally out of place in the modern, pace-and-space NBA. Philadelphia's victory moved the 76ers within one game in the standings of the Knicks, but even they'd likely prefer to forget this one.