The Philadelphia 76ers (35-19) got another crack at the New York Knicks (30-27) following the trade deadline. The Sixers bounced back from two tough losses to win 119-108.

Let's break down the Sixers' win over the Knicks.

Sixers player notes:

Joel Embiid: 35 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 14-18 FG shooting

Once again, Embiid had a very easy time scoring against a Mitchell Robinson-less defense to start it off. He banged down low and tallied 15 points on 7-9 shooting in the opening period while breaking out the ol' reliable middie. This time around against New York, he didn't fold down the stretch, delivered several nice dimes and finished with another high-scoring night on wild efficiency.

James Harden: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists, 7-17 FG shooting

Initially, Harden had an awful time trying to score. He was often unsuccessful in his isolation attempts and seemed to get thrown off by contact more than usual, as many of his misses were bad. Later in the third quarter, he started getting some shots to fall and from then on was huge for the Sixers.

Tyrese Maxey: 27 points, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 9-16 FG shooting

Maxey provided a spectacular spark off the bench, scoring at will in various ways. He had a lot of huge plays on the defensive end and although he sometimes had his usual struggles of containing dribble penetration, he also held his own against Jalen Brunson when picking him up in the backcourt. Overall, this was one of his best defensive performances and he did so while shooting very efficiently.

Jalen McDaniels: DNP-CD

The Sixers' newest player was activated for the game just hours prior to tip-off but, understandably, didn't see any playing time after arriving in Philadelphia just this morning. He said that teaming up with Embiid and Harden is “a dream come true.”

Knicks player notes:

Jalen Brunson: 30 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 12-18 FG shooting

Fresh off of getting his jersey retired by Villanova, Brunson was the Knick with the knack early on with 20 first-quarter points on 8-11 shooting. He continued to torch the Philly defense while zipping passes to his open teammates.

Julius Randle: 30 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 11-20 FG shooting

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Randle was in a very good scoring groove for the Knicks. His jumper from the left side of the paint, in particular, was working extremely well. He was more of a play-finisher than a play-creator in this one but was nonetheless a big thorn in the Sixers' side.

Immanuel Quickley: 13 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 5-8 FG shooting

Quickley didn't have the volume to score as much as Brunson and Randle but he too had an impressive shooting night. He was strong on the defensive end, as well.

Game notes:

1st half

  • The Sixers built up a huge lead in their matchup vs. the Knicks this past Sunday only to blow it and take the loss. This time, it was the opposite. Brunson scored 13 quick points and drew a foul on Melton in the first five minutes. New York led 20-7, prompting a Doc Rivers timeout and a Maxey sub for Melton.
  • Embiid found a nice rhythm amid the Knicks' hot start and out of the timeout, he and Maxey made some plays to help get the Sixers back into it. Maxey scored a layup, stole the ball and assisted Tobias Harris on a fastbreak dunk to cut the deficit to five while Embiid generated close shots time after time.
  • Paul Reed was the first big man off the bench tonight. He and Danuel House Jr. started the second quarter with Maxey, Shake Milton and Georges Niang. House got off one of his trademark stepback triples (and missed) and Reed picked up a pair of shooting fouls on and-one baskets. Even with Maxey cooking up some tough buckets and trips to the charity stripe, the bench struggled to keep it within a few possessions in the minutes Embiid sat.
  • The Knicks pushed their lead thanks to the efforts of RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Harden went mismatch hunting to try to get the Sixers back into it but came away empty of a lot of his attempts. Some buckets from Embiid and Tucker, one of which came off a putback after an offensive board, made the halftime deficit smaller.
  • At the break, the Sixers trailed 65-59 and didn't lead at any point.

2nd half

  • The first seven shots of the second half all fell through the net, two of which were triples from Randle. Harris committed one of the worst-looking turnovers of the season by passing to a completely unoccupied corner, Brunson and Randle kept on scoring and the Sixers faced a double-digit deficit after a few minutes.
  • Maxey once again came through with a clutch steal-and-score, this time hitting a three to cut the deficit to five after Harden had found the bottom of the net with some drives. He also forced Brunson into a travel, then Embiid and Harden linked up in the pick-and-roll to give the Sixers the lead.
  • The Sixers' tendency to over-help from the weak side on drives really showed as the Knicks got lots of open looks from the corners. Still, they kept up with them and trailed by only one heading into the fourth. Embiid missed out on the chance to make it a tie game or a Philly lead by coming up empty on a pair of free throws.
  • Harden and Maxey made some big shots to give the Sixers a five-point advantage. Maxey and Quickley traded buckets as the Knicks started throwing more bodies at Harden up top.
  • Philly snagged some crucial offensive rebounds down the stretch, though they didn't always convert them into second-chance points. Georges Niang provided some clutch threes. Embiid, after failing twice to find Harris open, hit him on a cut for a dunk to give the Sixers a 111-103 lead with three minutes left.
  • The Knicks responded with five points right away but Embiid swished a pull-up jumper through a Jericho Sims foul. Maxey hit a triple

Random thoughts:

  • Matisse Thybulle saying goodbye to Philly by spray-painting it next to a mural of him at Garage Fishtown was really cool.
  • Rasheed Wallace was in attendance decked out in Kansas City Chiefs gear. Needless to say, the Wells Fargo Center crowd wasn't feeling it. A loud playing of the Philadelphia Eagles fight song ensued.

The Sixers will be back in action tomorrow at Barclays Center to face a vastly new-look Brooklyn Nets team.