On a night when the rest of the Knicks bench came up short, Bojan Bogdanovic, managing a sore wrist, gave the home team a much-needed offensive boost in the fourth quarter.
The trade-deadline acquisition knocked down a pair of momentum-shifting treys, salvaging New York’s shrinking advantage to set up the thrilling finish of a 104-101 Game 2 victory.
When Bogdanovic was inserted into the game with 10:46 remaining, the Knicks’ offense had gone stale and missed four straight shots to start the final period. A five-point lead was down to one.
Bogdanovic quickly nailed one trey, then another. The Knicks were back in control and the sequence certainly caught the attention of Sixers coach Nick Nurse.
“That was like a little bit of the difference of the game again,” Nurse said. “They kinda just keep bringing all these guys in that can shoot the 3, and they’re just firing them like they’re not even really that open sometimes. And they’re making them … and I think that stretch of the game, again, it was kinda the same as the other night. They made a couple in a row. We missed a couple in a row. And all of a sudden, that’s a 7-point game. … They got a lot of shooting. They keep bringing them in.”
Bogdanovic was subbed out to appreciative applause from the crowd.
“We had a lot of contributions from different people,” Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought Bogey came in, hit some big shots to start the fourth.”
It’s been an encouraging first two games of the playoffs for Bogdanovic, who acknowledged Monday he’s “sometimes” affected by the pain in his injured left wrist.
“It’s sore. It does hurt, that’s what it is,” the Knicks reserve said. “I‘m trying to get better doing my treatments. That’s how it is right now.”
Bogandovic was first listed on the injury report April 6 with what the Knicks called a “sprained wrist.” But he never missed a game — an X-ray was negative, he said — and played better down the stretch of the season, emerging in Saturday’s Game 1 of the playoffs as one of the unsung heroes. He followed that up with more big and important moments.
The Knicks didn’t have a single finalist for an individual NBA postseason award. The league announced Sunday the three finalists per category, which is voted on by the media and included MVP, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved and Coach of the Year, among others.
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The absence wasn’t a shock but Tom Thibodeau was a dark horse after winning 50 games with an injury-riddled roster. He had an advocate in Josh Hart.
“50 wins, 2nd seed with an injured roster for half the season and not a Coach Of The Year candidate….” Hart tweeted.
The finalists for Coach of the Year are Minnesota’s Chris Finch, Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley and OKC’s Mark Daigneault.
The league announced that four of the awards will be announced this week on TNT – Most Improved (Tuesday), Sixth Man (Wednesday), Clutch Player (Thursday) and Coach of the Year (Sunday).
The Knicks can still get players on All-NBA and All-Defense. Jalen Brunson is expected to finish on either First- or Second-Team All-NBA.
“We’re not worried about that,” Donte DiVincenzo said about getting shut out of the finalists. “I think collectively we know our goal and what we want to accomplish. … We don’t need individual accolades because when we are all tied together and have one goal, everybody is going to play well.”
