NEW YORK, NY — In an all-time clash, the Sixers somehow emerged victorious in Game 5 Tuesday night, 112-106, because of all-time shot-making from Tyrese Maxey. Their season remains alive with the series returning to Philadelphia. 

Here is what stood out from a thrilling Sixers-Knicks Game 5:

Sixers open fourth quarter with a bang

Let's start in the guts of the game. With a dozen minutes of play left to decide their season, the Sixers came out strong: they opened the fourth quarter with Maxey sinking a long two-point jumper, then got a stop and extended their newfound lead to four thanks to a corner triple by Nico Batum. 

Within 41 seconds, the score had swung by five crucial points, and a furious Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called timeout once again. 

Fatigue plagues Embiid down the stretch as turnovers pile up, and Nurse makes a tough call

Joel Embiid was sloppy for a lot of this game, but it became uncontrollable in the fourth quarter. By the time Embiid had thrown away his eighth turnover of the game nearly halfway through the fourth quarter, Nick Nurse called timeout, and after the break Embiid was not on the floor. Nurse opted to not play Embiid for the entirety of the second half after it did not work out for the Sixers in Game 3. With or without Embiid, the Sixers had a lot of ground to cover. 

Tyrese Maxey saves the season

Miles McBride made a free throw line jumper to extend the Knicks' lead to six with fewer than 30 seconds left. 

Then Tyrese Maxey did something unforgettable.

First, Maxey converted an absurd four-point play to trim the lead to two points. Josh Hart split two free throws, and Maxey came down, pulled up from the logo and saved the Sixers' season with the most brilliant shot of his four-year NBA career. 

What can you say about this guy anymore? The Sixers' 23 year-old guard is special, and the five-year maximum contract extension he is set to sign this summer is much-deserved. With Embiid a shell of himself for much of this game (and significant portions of the series), it is the fourth-year player in his first full season as a point guard who rose to the occasion time and time again. He is not a star, not an All-Star, but a superstar in the making.

Embiid and Maxey deliver in overtime and the Sixers find a way remain alive

Embiid was flat-out terrible for 48 minutes. Maxey made several crucial mistakes down the stretch. But after Maxey's herculean effort forced overtime, the Sixers' duo of 2023-24 All-Stars refused to let the Sixers head home empty-handed. Maxey continued to hit big shot after big shot, and Embiid finally began to come through with timely baskets while simultaneously obliterating the Knicks' offense as a rim protector.

After a true instant classic, the Sixers are going to return home and play more basketball. Game 6 is Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Sixers defense comes to play early... even if their offense did not

It took four minutes and 24 seconds of play before the Knicks got on the board in this one. Tobias Harris (of all people!) scored the first five points of the game — first on a corner triple and then a mid-range jumper — before Isaiah Hartenstein knocked down two free throws for the Knicks. Tyrese Maxey followed that up with a 5-0 run of his own, and more than five minutes into the game, Thibodeau called timeout with his team trailing 10-2. The Knicks entered that timeout shooting 0-8 from the field and 0-3 from beyond the arc.

The Sixers missed some great looks early on, squandering an opportunity to jump out to a massive early lead, but Harris and Maxey did just enough to get the Sixers out in front in the opening minutes.

Sixers win first quarter 26-17 despite unusual Embiid performance

Embiid made only one of his five field goal attempts in the first quarter of this one, inciting quite a bit of pleasure from the New York City crowd. But the other parts of his game were on-point early on: his rim protection was characteristically outstanding, his grabbed six rebounds and also dished out three assists. 

It is fair to wonder if the Sixers could have really blown things open early had Embiid been effective as a scorer, but regardless of his shooting struggles, the reigning NBA MVP did find a way to impact the game in a positive manner early.

Knicks make significant second-quarter push amid continued Embiid struggles

In the three minutes and 57 seconds in which Embiid rested — between the final minute or so of the first quarter and the opening pair of minutes in the second quarter — the Sixers' five-point lead was predictably extinguished. But when Embiid returned to the floor, his struggles as a scorer only escalated, and suddenly New York took control of the game.

Robinson once again performed excellently as Embiid's primary defender, and New York's once-dormant offense got going. Miles McBride scored five straight points, Brunson began to knock down jumpers, Robinson threw down a powerful alley-oop dunk and the Knicks were able to build a formidable deficit for the Sixers to overcome.

Maxey's scoring saves Sixers' chances, but team enters halftime trailing 49-43

The Sixers were brutalized by the Knicks in the second quarter, as New York outscored them 32-17 in those 12 minutes. The Sixers' only saving grace was Maxey, who's at least able to halt the Knicks' momentum a few times, including with an impressive buzzer-beating layup that trimmed the deficit to six before the teams headed to their locker rooms.

Of course, the onus is always on an entire team to rise to the occasion in a big game, but everybody knows that things start and end with a team's best player. Embiid's offensive showing in the first half — a 3-10 shooting line from the field with three turnovers — was just not good enough. 

Sixers respond with a run to open third quarter

The Sixers were likely doomed if they did not throw a haymaker at the Knicks to open the second half, and perhaps that is exactly what Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told his team in the locker room. The Sixers took a punch from the Knicks and were able to connect back.

The Sixers' opening act in the third quarter was strong enough that Thibodeau called a timeout on two different occasions before even four minutes of time has passed. They outscored New York 10-2 in the first three minutes and 51 seconds of the quarter, allowing them to first tie the game and then take the lead. Once again, the key cog in their turnaround was Maxey, who punctuated the run with a gorgeous finish at the rim.

Sixers enter fourth quarter trailing by one

The Sixers won the third quarter, 26-21, but left some points on the table with missed open threes. All in all, Nurse and co. will take what they got over the course of those 12 minutes, though: repeated good looks on the offensive end, fueled by mostly-crisp passing, and cohesive defense. 

A (relatively) clean bill of health for the Sixers

Aside from Robert Covington, who remains out with a bone bruise in his left knee, the Sixers had two players listed on their injury report, and they were both starters. 

Joel Embiid has been listed as questionable before just about every game the Sixers have played since he returned from his two-plus month absence due to a meniscus injury in his left knee, and that did not change, but his designation did: rather than just being listed as dealing with "left knee injury recovery," Embiid was also listed as having a migraine — which Embiid said last week was the first symptom he experienced before being diagnosed with a case of Bell's palsy. Embiid missed the team's shootaround Tuesday morning, but was never expected to miss a do-or-die game.

Kelly Oubre Jr. also missed Tuesday morning's shootaround after the team told reporters that the swingman "did not feel well," and Oubre was later listed as probable with an illness. However, he, too was ultimately made available and put in the starting lineup.

The injury gods giveth and the injury gods taketh away for New York

The Knicks, who have battled injuries all season long, relied on seven players to notch a Game 4 victory: Robinson, who excelled for the first two and a half games of the series before missing the second half of Game 3 with an ankle injury, was ruled out a half-hour prior to tip-off on Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Bogdanovic — who knocked down three triples in each of the first two games of the series and helps New York space the floor in a major way — went down with an ankle injury 71 seconds after checking into the game. Bogdanovic, who was already dealing with a severe wrist injury, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to his pair of injuries that will likely both require surgery.

Robinson returned for the Knicks in Game 5 despite still dealing with the aforementioned ankle ailment — the same injury that held him out for more than three months in the regular season. With Bogdanovic out, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau decided not to call upon the services of Precious Achiuwa — his backup center to open Game 4 who ultimately helped swing the game in New York's favor with his infectious energy and tremendous athleticism at the power forward position — in a role resembling the one he thrived in during the prior contest. Instead, the Knicks used a seven-man rotation. That is considered a rarity this early in the playoffs, generally speaking, but clearly nothing can be put past Thibodeau.

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