With the All-Star break officially over, the Philadelphia 76ers (32-23) resumed their season against the New York Knicks (34-22). The Sixers fell down by as much as 26 early in the game before mounting a mammoth comeback in the second half. But they ran out of gas late and lost 110-96.

Let’s break down the 76ers' first game following the break.

76ers player notes:

Tyrese Maxey: 35 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 11-24 FG shooting

Fresh off of his first All-Star game, Maxey looked super comfortable against a very tough defense. He drew fouls and finished at the rim with creative flair, giving Philly its only source of reliable offense. Every defender who stepped up to contain Maxey was met with an aggressive layup attempt but he still opted for a clean jumper from the mid-range when it suited him.

Kyle Lowry: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 5-7 FG shooting

In his Sixers debut, the Philly native did a solid job creating offense off the dribble and organizing the team on the court. His matchups defensively were always bigger and he did a nice job making things as tough for the Knicks as he could. Despite suffering a facial laceration during the game, he stuck it out and played very well.

Knicks player notes:

Jalen Brunson: 21 points, 2 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 5-18 FG shooting

Brunson was sometimes a bit loose with the ball and shot the ball really poorly from the field, sometimes rushing his attempts. Still, he gave the 76ers defense endless fits, leaving defenders in the dust time after time and making the right passes to open teammates. His spectacular showing at the charity stripe made the Sixers pay for their transgressions.

Bojan Bogdanovic: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 steals, 8-13 FG shooting

One team's sharpshooter who joined midseason was ripping nets with all his silky jumpers. Unfortunately for the Sixers, it wasn’t theirs. Bogdanovic was sizzling from deep and contributed some nice plays on defense, too.

Game recap:

The 76ers are being greeted with a gauntlet of Eastern Conference foes as their season resumes. It started with a matchup against the squad that gave them their biggest beatdown of the season. Joel Embiid and De'Anthony Melton remained out while New York was once again without Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson. Even with those key injuries, the Knicks presented a challenge for the Sixers with their depth and wide array of talent on the wings.

Buddy Hield got the start again tonight, though Nick Nurse indicated that the guard spot opposite of Maxey will be up for grabs when the team is back at full health.

1st half

The Sixers got Nico Batum back in action and stuck him on Brunson, his usual assignment of the best opposing guard. The Knicks matched Donte DiVincenzo up with Maxey and Josh Hart with Hield. New York looked way more organized and energetic to start off, racing out to a 15-3 lead after the first four minutes and change. The visitors did much better at finding good shots and hitting them than the hosts.

Lowry checked into the game after roughly four minutes, making his debut for his hometown squad. He went right to work, scoring on a reverse layup to beat the shot clock. Both his introduction to the game and his first bucket drew massive cheers from the Philly crowd. The Knicks did a great job of cleaning the offensive glass, none better than Jericho Sims slamming home a putback dunk right on Kelly Oubre Jr.'s head.

Sims' putback dunk also showed how much better the Knicks were in transition than the Sixers. Brunson expertly led fast breaks against shoddy transition defense while Philly produced next to nothing in what should have been easy opportunities. In the halfcourt, Brunson wasn’t any easier to corral. Former Sixer Alec Burks drained a pair of easy threes after Brunson shook off the defense.

Lowry was inadvertently hit in the face by Sims' elbow in the fight for a rebound and didn’t make it back up the court. He went back to the locker room with a towel covering his face. While Maxey did what he could to get the 76ers going, it felt like the lone soldier was going up against a mighty army. The Knicks kept the ball moving and grooving all throughout their possessions and stayed on top of everything Philly wanted to do on offense.

Cam Payne and Ricky Council IV made appearances late in the first half to try to give the Sixers a spark on offense. Nurse also went to K.J. Martin at center. But try as Maxey (and Payne) did to score, they had no rhythm at offense at all. Bad pull-up threes early in the shot clock generated nothing of value for Philly. The Sixers' process on offense was the total opposite of the Knicks and the scoreboard showed it.

At halftime, the 76ers trailed 69-46.

2nd half

At the start of the half, Maxey took a hard spill going for a steal (and drew an offensive foul) but stayed in the game. He then set up Hield for a three with a beautiful pass to the perimeter over his shoulder and scored on very tough layups again. But with Batum entering the half with four fouls, Hield was tasked with the Brunson assignment, which did not go very well. He was charged with his fifth foul in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

Lowry received stitches and was made available for the second half, returning to the game with a big bandage on the left side of his forehead. The Knicks' offense got off to a slow start to the half until Bogdanovic came back in to provide spacing and Brunson flipped the switch to takeover mode. Nurse was hit with a tech, allowing Brunson to add another point to his stat line.

Maxey never let the Knicks' runs extinguish what he had cooking in this one. He was immune to whatever All-Star-break hangover plagued the rest of his team. Lowry drained a triple to make it a 12-point game. Then he played great defense to contribute to a shot-clock violation and Maxey scored on another layup, a swift left-handed take.

The small-ball unit with Martin was huge for Philly with neither Paul Reed or Mo Bamba playing very well. By the end of the third quarter, the 76ers trailed by just 10. Against the odds, it looked like they could do it.

Lowry showed his propensity for making plays by setting up Hield and Oubre with open looks. He even got the miss from Oubre and gave him another chance, which he turned into an empty possession after missing a finger-roll layup. Oubre made up for it by scoring on a fast break to make what was once a 26-point deficit just six points.

The Sixers' “Maxey save us” plan wasn’t enough against a Knicks team so adept at cleaning up their own misses. Precious Achiuwa and Miles McBride came up with clutch offensive boards and quickly pushed the lead back up to double figures. DiVincenzo ripped off eight points as the deficit was raised to 14.

The Knicks kept the pressure on and won with plenty of cushion. Terquavion Smith and Darius Bazley, after playing in a G League game earlier in the day, closed this one out.

Random tidbits:

  • The Sixers' unwillingness to trade Tobias Harris in a trade for Bogdanovic was hard to ignore as Harris sputtered through the whole game and Bogdanovic shot the lights out. Harris will have better nights and Bogdanovic worse nights, but MAN.
  • Knicks fans, just as they did in the first game in Philly, showed out at the Wells Fargo Center. Their cheers were just as loud, if not louder, than the Philly faithful.

The 76ers are back in action tomorrow against the Cleveland Cavaliers.