The New York Knicks have destroyed the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Knicks came to Philadelphia on Sunday with a chance to close out the second round and book a return trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, and they did not waste it.
New York drilled 25 threes, tied an NBA playoff record, and walked out of Xfinity Mobile Arena with a 144-114 blowout to sweep Philadelphia 4-0.
The Knicks now wait on the winner of Cavaliers and Pistons for the next round.
This was over early.
The Knicks hit 11 of their first 13 looks from beyond the arc, raced out to a 43-24 lead after one, and went into the locker room up 78-53.
New York finished the regular season at 53-29 and is now 8-2 in the playoffs, while Philadelphia closes the year at 45-37 with a 4-7 postseason mark after their wild seven-game win over Boston in round one.
Three-Point Storm Led by Deuce
This was the Miles McBride game.
He had been quiet most of the postseason, then OG Anunoby tweaked his hamstring in Game 2 and McBride got the start in Game 3.
He scored three points on six shots that night and looked tentative.
Sunday was a different story.
He went 7-of-9 from three for 25 points, with four straight bombs to open the game that just about knocked the Sixers out before they got comfortable.
McBride became the first Knick since play-by-play tracking began in 1997 to hit four threes in one quarter of a playoff game.
Brunson chipped in 22 and six threes, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 17 points and 10 assists, and Josh Hart added 17 and nine boards.
Landry Shamet came off the bench and buried four more from deep.
The total of 25 ties the NBA playoff record for makes from deep in a game, set by Milwaukee in 2023 and Cleveland in 2016.
Brunson is averaging more than 27 points a night in the playoffs, and the Knicks had already opened the series with a 39-point beating in Game 1, so this one never really felt like much of a series.
Sixers Had No Answer on Either End
The defense was just as much of a problem for Philadelphia.
The Sixers leaned on Joel Embiid, who scored 24 in what could be his last game of the year, but nobody else got going.
Tyrese Maxey finished with 17 on rough shooting, and rookie VJ Edgecombe could not buy a bucket.
He has been a non-factor for long stretches all series, with Brunson and Mikal Bridges both crediting the defensive plan.
Mike Brown has the Knicks playing the best basketball of any team left in the East, and he has done it in his first year after replacing Tom Thibodeau last summer.
Brown has gotten this group to defend in fourth quarters, which is something Indiana exposed in each of the past two postseason runs.
This group has a real chance to finally play deeper into May.