76ers’ Nick Nurse reveals biggest Game 3 defensive breakdown vs. Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers are one step away from seeing their season come to an end after they lost Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup against the New York Knicks, 108-94, to fall behind 3-0 in the series. The 76ers kept it close for the majority of the game, but the Knicks managed to pull away in the fourth quarter amid the 76ers’ inability to string together stops and scores.

All series long, the 76ers have found it difficult to slow the Knicks down offensively. Jalen Brunson is getting whatever he wants, and he finished with 33 points to lead all scorers and put New York to within one win away of making it back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

For head coach Nick Nurse, what made it all the more difficult for the 76ers to defend the Knicks was that their poor offense created a feedback loop in which they were unable to set their defense, leading to good looks for New York, especially in the fourth quarter.

“They were up the floor in semi-transition and making some good reads and making some shots, obviously. We just didn’t keep the scoreboard moving enough to get our defense set,” Nurse said, via SNY’s Knicks Videos on X (formerly Twitter).

"They were up the floor in semi-transition and making some good reads and making some shots, obviously. We just didn't keep the scoreboard moving enough to get our defense set."

Nick Nurse talks about how the Knicks took control of the game in the second quarter: pic.twitter.com/S7FEroBkCB

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 9, 2026

Meanwhile, the Knicks scored consistently, which meant that the 76ers had to score against a set defense. And in the fourth quarter, this just snowballed for the 76ers as they let the game get away from them.

Where the 76ers may have truly lost the game was in the second quarter. The Knicks bench came in and kept the team going, all while Philly struggled for bench points all night. It wasn’t until the fourth when Quentin Grimes hit a triple that Philly finally had a scorer coming off the bench.

With Joel Embiid being clearly less than 100 percent healthy, it’s going to be difficult for the 76ers to defend well enough for four consecutive games, which is what they would need to win, if they were to avoid elimination.

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