The Sixers broadcasters ate their words Monday night. With less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter and the 76ers leading by five, NBC Philadelphia analyst Alaa Abdelnaby and play-by-play voice Kate Scott got ahead of themselves, saying how necessary it was for the 76ers to come away with a Game 2 win to tie the first-round playoff series at one win apiece.
That was before the Knicks went on an 8-0 run in the final 27 seconds for a 104-101 miracle victory.
“The goal is, not having home-court advantage, to get the home-court advantage by winning one of the two games on the road. Job done. Let’s head down to the turnpike,” Abdelnaby said on the broadcast as Kyle Lowry missed a crucial foul shot with the 76ers ahead, 101-96.
“Stay tuned, ‘Postgame Live’ is gonna be fun,” Scott added just before Jalen Brunson made a fortunate bounced-in 3-pointer.
Things took a big turn for the worse when a game-changing turnover came from Tyrese Maxey on a messy, timeout-less inbounds play that ended in the game-winning 3-pointer from Donte DiVincenzo.
About 30 seconds after their declarations, the Knicks somehow held a one-point lead. Moments later, MSG erupted in more cheers after Maxey missed a jump shot and OG Anunoby was fouled and sent to the charity stripe.
Abdelnaby nor Scott made a mention to their premature comments as the Knicks stole the game away.
Certainly, the postgame coverage wasn’t as fun as promised with a frustrated, “ignored” Nick Nurse and disappointed but optimistic Joel Embiid.
“We’re going to win this. We know what we’ve got to fix. We did a better job today, so we’re going to fix it. But we’re the better team and we’re gonna keep fighting,” the former MVP said after the game.
The Knicks earned their first lead with four minutes left in the third quarter after trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half.
