The New York Knicks might have thrown their chance away of showing the Philadelphia 76ers to the door. Coming out with high energy in Game 6, the Knicks took a 22-point lead early in the first half. But despite capitalizing on the opportunity, Jalen Brunson’s squad blew the lead and instead headed into the second half with a three-point deficit. And the Knicks’ ‘stupid’ strategy that caused them to lose the early advantage baffled Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.
Frustrated during the half time show on Inside The NBA, Barkley addressed the Knicks’ disastrous performance in the later period of the first half. “I’m not sure what the Knicks are doing. That’s just stupid.” Despite clearly seeing that Joel Embiid is not a 100% and is practically playing on one leg, the Knicks constantly double teamed him in the first half, giving Embiid a chance to dish out easy hockey assists to open teammates. And Barkley could not understand why the Knicks were doubling Embiid if he wasn’t a threat on offense.
And New York’s strategy opened the gates for Buddy Hield to shine as he caught fire in the first half.
