Philadelphia 76ers 98, New York Knicks 93: A 29-21 first quarter held up

The Philadelphia 76ers won the first quarter 29-21 on Friday night and spent the rest of the game protecting it. The New York Knicks outscored them 25-21 in the fourth and won the rebounding battle, but never held a lead larger than one point. Philadelphia won 98-93 at Xfinity Mobile Arena and moved to 5-1.

Tyrese Maxey led everyone with 27 points. Anfernee Simons added 21, and LeBron James finished two rebounds and two assists short of a triple-double with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. It was Philadelphia's second win over New York in six games, after a 106-100 result at Madison Square Garden to open the season.

How it was won

The game was decided early. Philadelphia's 29-point first quarter built an eight-point cushion, and the second quarter went 24-23 to make it 53-44 at the half. The third quarter finished level at 24-24, so the Sixers carried a 77-68 lead into the fourth. Their lead peaked at 14.

New York closed the gap in the final 12 minutes, winning the quarter 25-21, but a nine-point deficit with a quarter to play was too much to recover on a night the Knicks shot the ball the way they did.

The box score explains most of it. New York took 86 shots to Philadelphia's 75 and still scored five fewer points. The Knicks went 35-86 from the field (41 percent) and 13-41 from three. Philadelphia shot 37-75 (49 percent) and 12-34 from three.

Simons did the most damage from outside, going 5-8 from deep. The rest of the roster combined to go 7-26, so this was not a shooting night that carried the team. The difference came from shot quality and ball movement: Philadelphia had 26 assists on 37 made baskets and edged the paint 36-34.

The Knicks held the edges you would expect to keep a game close. They outrebounded Philadelphia 45-39 and committed 13 turnovers to the Sixers' 14. Philadelphia made 12-16 free throws to New York's 10-14.

Jalen Brunson led New York with 24 points and 6 assists but went 3-10 from three. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 12 rebounds, shooting 3-7 from deep. Mikal Bridges added 12 points. Beyond those three, the Knicks got 35 points from the rest of the rotation.

Against the number

New York closed as a 3.5-point favorite, with the moneyline at Knicks -155 and Sixers +130. Philadelphia covered by winning outright, so the +130 price on the home side cashed as well.

The total closed at 224.5. The teams combined for 191, an under by 33.5 points. Neither side reached 100, and New York's 13-41 from three did most of the work on that number.

The full line history and closing prices are on the game page.

What's next

Philadelphia has no rest. The Sixers play the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday, October 31, at the Charlotte Hornets, on NBA TV. They are 2-0 on the road this season, with wins at New York and at Indiana, and their only loss so far came at home to Detroit.

New York falls to 2-4. The Knicks' next game was not listed in the schedule material available at publication. With a 1-point largest lead in this one and two losses to Philadelphia already, their perimeter shooting will be the first thing to watch.