The Philadelphia 76ers left Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, May 6, with a 108-102 defeat to the New York Knicks, and head coach Nick Nurse pointed directly to turnovers and late-game execution as the defining difference in a tightly contested Game 2.
The Knicks took a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Nurse emphasized the margins were far narrower than the final result suggested.
“They were blitzing some. I think they got their hands on a couple. We made a couple mistakes on inbounds as well. That is certainly part of the game and then they turned those into points. But the difference in the game was the turnovers and points off turnovers.”
Despite the loss, Nurse highlighted that Philadelphia’s offensive structure was largely sound, even if the shots did not fall consistently.
“I thought our guys did a really good job of making the right reads. We passed the ball good. Assist numbers a little down but they should be up. I thought we had four wide open shots in a row that didn’t go. We needed to keep the scoreboard moving. We played great offense, we just didn’t shoot well.”
The head coach also pointed to defensive adjustments and foul trouble as major swing factors, especially around the rim protection provided early in the game.
“I thought Bona was impacting the game, especially early with the rim protection. He got in foul trouble, they went small. So there were a couple factors. We felt we could switch a little bit more with him. We had a couple breakdowns on some of that stuff.”
Still, Nurse stressed that Philadelphia’s defensive effort was strong enough to win in a typical playoff context, particularly in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played good enough defense to win that game, especially in the fourth. Hold them to 19 in the fourth, you gotta hope you can score more than 20 in a quarter.”
Tyrese Maxey played heavy minutes and finished with a zero plus-minus despite the loss, something Nurse pointed to when evaluating overall effort and competitiveness.
“I look at Tyrese played almost the entire game and his plus minus is zero in a six point loss. I thought those guys played lots of minutes, played hard at both ends. I commend their effort.”
Late-game execution remained the key frustration, with Nurse stressing that a single basket or possession could have changed the entire flow.
“We just needed a couple of those really good offenses, all we needed was one or two. We didn’t need all five of them, just needed one or two to kind of keep the thing going.”
Nurse also acknowledged New York’s defensive adjustments on Jalen Brunson, noting improved resistance compared to Game 1.
“He certainly wasn’t getting near the clean looks as he was in game one because he was getting practice shots a lot in that game. I think we did a decent job.”
With the series shifting to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4, Nurse framed Game 2 as part of an ongoing adjustment process.
“I think you learn a lot through each game. I think it took us a couple games to figure out some of the rotations and matchups last series and I think the same thing is happening.”
Despite falling behind 2-0, Nurse kept the focus on incremental improvement and tactical refinement rather than panic, with both teams still searching for stable rotation answers in a physical, tightly officiated series.
