Donte DiVincenzo caps desperate rally with 3-pointer, Knicks beat 76ers 104-101 to take 2-0 lead

NEW YORK (AP) — An eight-point lead was gone. The Knicks' edge in the series and home-court advantage seemed about to follow. Madison Square Garden had fallen nearly silent.

“I mean, it wasn’t a good feeling,” Donte DiVincenzo said.

Moments later, it was bedlam.

DiVincenzo made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining after a desperate scramble, and New York beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-101 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

The Knicks trailed by five points within the final 30 seconds before one of the most stunning rallies in playoff history, starting when Jalen Brunson finally got a shot to fall during an otherwise miserable shooting night.

Brunson's 3-pointer from the corner bounced on the rim and fell in, cutting it to 101-99 with 27 seconds remaining. Josh Hart stole the ball from Tyrese Maxey to get the ball back for the Knicks, but DiVincenzo missed a 3-pointer. Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed the rebound and passed it to OG Anunoby, who got it back to DiVincenzo, who hit that one to make it 102-101.

“It was crazy, it was hectic, but at that point we had nothing to lose,” Hart said. “Got to get as physical as we can and it panned out.”

Hartenstein then blocked Maxey's drive, Anunoby made two free throws, and the Knicks held on when Joel Embiid missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Brunson finished with 24 points despite going 8 for 29 from the field. Hart had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and DiVincenzo scored 19 points.

It was just the fourth time in the play-by-play era, dating to the 1996-97 season, a team won a playoff game after trailing by at least five points in the last 30 seconds, according to Sportradar. The others included Miami's series-saving rally against San Antonio in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, Golden State's overtime victory over New Orleans in Game 3 in 2015 en route to its first of three titles in four years, and Kobe Bryant's game-winner to beat Phoenix in Game 4 of a first-round series in 2006.

Maxey had 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in a brilliant performance after he was ill earlier in the day and missed their morning shootaround. Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds.

Game 3 is Thursday in Philadelphia.

“We’re going to win this series,” Embiid said. “We know what we’ve got to fix and we did a better job today, so we’re going to fix it. But we’re the better team and we’re going to keep fighting.”

The 76ers appeared on the verge of going home happy after Maxey had 15 points in the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer with 1:09 to play gave the 76ers a 100-96 lead and when Kyle Lowry made a free throw with 47 seconds to go, the crowd was as quiet as it had been all night.

“That’s not a good feeling to lose that lead,” DiVincenzo said. “The next day it’s going to sting a little bit more.”

A few minutes later the fans were chanting DiVincenzo’s name deliriously after he had given the Knicks their first 2-0 lead in a playoff series since the first round against Boston in 2013.

“It was huge, it was loud as hell in there,” DiVincenzo added.

And the sting goes to the 76ers.

“Got to put it behind us now," Maxey said. “You've got 48 hours to think about it and come up with a plan to get two at home.”

Hartenstein chipped in 14 points and Anunoby had 10, but it was mostly the efforts of Brunson, Hart and DiVincenzo – the three former Villanova Wildcats who will now head back to Philadelphia for the next two games.

Hart scored 19 in the first half to keep the Knicks close in a game they didn’t lead for the first time until there were four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Brunson was only 8 for 26 in Game 1 but had eight rebounds and six assists Monday.

Embiid played 39 minutes, rarely looking bothered by his surgically repaired left knee he appeared to reinjure in Game 1. But he and Maxey had little help, with Tobias Harris the only other Philadelphia player in double figures with 10 points.

Maxey, a finalist for the Most Improved Player award, hit three straight 3-pointers to start the game and send the 76ers to a 9-0 lead. They were ahead by 10 in the second quarter when Embiid was called for a technical foul. After he was called for a foul trying to block DiVincenzo on a drive to the basket, he used the ball to shove DiVincenzo back.

That got the fans into it, booing Embiid profanely, but the Knicks couldn’t make much of a dent in the score until Hart scored seven straight points, with his 3-pointer in transition cutting it to 51-48. It was 53-49 at the break.

Reserves Bojan Bogdanovic and Deuce McBride, who had big performances in Game 1, combined for 11 straight New York points for a 90-82 lead with 7:43 remaining. But Philadelphia battled back to tie it at 94 on a basket by Maxey.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr., right, knocks the ball away from New York Knicks' Miles McBride, center, as 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, defends during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) passes the ball away from New York Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia 76ers' Nicolas Batum (40) defends against a shot by New York Knicks' Bojan Bogdanovic (44) during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia 76ers' Nicolas Batum (40) defends against New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Donte DiVincenzo (0) passes the ball to teammate Jalen Brunson during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein, left, and Donte DiVincenzo, right, defend against Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) passes away from Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey (0) during the first half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) drives past New York Knicks' Mitchell Robinson, right, and Josh Hart (3) during the first half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) shoots over New York Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the second half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

HOUSTON (AP) — Heavy storms slammed the Houston area again Friday, widening already dangerous flooding in Texas and putting stranded drivers and a school bus of children in need of high-water rescues. Officials redoubled urgent instructions for residents in low-lying areas to evacuate, warning the worst was still to come.

“This threat is ongoing and it’s going to get worse. It is not your typical river flood,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the nation’s third-largest county.

She described the surge of water as “catastrophic” and said several hundred structures were at risk of flooding. There had already been at least two dozen water rescues in the county, in addition to getting 30 pets to safety. Schools in the path of the flooding canceled classes and roads jammed as authorities closed highways taking on water.

For weeks, drenching rains in Texas and parts of Louisiana have filled reservoirs and saturated the ground. Floodwaters began partially submerged cars and roads this week across parts of southeastern Texas, north of Houston, where high waters reached the roofs of some homes.

In the rural community of Shepherd, Gilroy Fernandes said he and his spouse had about an hour to evacuate after a mandatory order. Their home is on stilts near the Trinity River, and they felt relief when the water began to recede on Thursday.

Then the danger grew while they slept.

“Next thing you know, overnight they started releasing more water from the dam at Livingston. And so that caused the level of the river to shoot up by almost five or six feet overnight,” Fernandes said. Neighbors who left an hour later got stuck in traffic because of flooding.

In Montgomery County, Judge Mark Keough said there had been more high-water rescues than he was able to count.

“We estimate we’ve had a couple hundred rescues from homes, from houses, from vehicles,” Keough said.

In Polk County, located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Houston, officials have done over 100 water rescues in the past few days, said Polk County Emergency Management Coordinator Courtney Comstock.

She said homes below Lake Livingston Dam and along the Trinity River have flooded.

“It’ll be when things subside before we can do our damage assessment,” Comstock said.

Authorities in Houston had not reported any deaths or injuries. The city of more than 2 million people is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the country and has long experience dealing with devastating weather.

Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dumped historic rainfall on the area, flooding thousands of homes and resulting in more than 60,000 rescues by government rescue personnel across Harris County.

More than 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain fell during the past 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service, which has issued a flood warning until Tuesday for the region.

In Crosby, school officials said the driver of a school bus carrying 27 students stopped his vehicle just before driving into high water Friday. The students exited through a rear door and were taken to campuses on another bus. “I am proud of the quick action of our bus driver,” Crosby school district Superintendent Paula Patterson said.

Of particular concern was an area along the San Jacinto River, on the eastern part of the county, which was expected to continue rising as more rain falls and officials release extra water from an already full reservoir. Hidalgo on Thursday issued a mandatory evacuation order for those living along portions of the river.

The weather service reported the river was at 66.2 feet (20.18 meters) Friday morning and expected to crest at 76.6 feet (23.35 meters) on Saturday. The flood stage for the river is 58 feet (17.68 meters), according to the weather service.

Hidalgo warned others who live along the river in southern portions of the county that they could be stranded for days if they remain in their homes. Shelters opened across the region, including nine by the American Red Cross.

In the city of Conroe, just north of Houston, rescuers drove boats into neighborhood subdivisions to rescue people and pets from their homes, then carrying them from the boats to higher ground. In nearby Livingston, neighborhoods were flooded, with water rising to the windshields of moving vans and above the bottom of windows of some buildings.

Storms over the past month in southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana have dumped more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

The greater Houston area covers about 10,000 square miles — a footprint slightly bigger than New Jersey. It is crisscrossed by about 1,700 miles (2,736 kilometers) of channels, creeks and bayous that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles (about 80 kilometers) to the southeast from downtown.

The city's system of bayous and reservoirs was built to drain heavy rains. But engineering initially designed nearly 100 years ago has struggled to keep up with the city’s growth and bigger storms.

Associated Press reporters Ken Miller in Edmond, Oklahoma, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, and Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

A woman reacts as she and others are evacuated by boat from their homes by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. Torrential rain is inundating southeastern Texas, forcing schools to cancel classes and closing numerous highways around Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A woman is handed her child after being evacuated by boat from her homes with the help of deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. Torrential rain is inundating southeastern Texas, forcing schools to cancel classes and closing numerous highways around Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A child in a car seat is taken out of a boat as residents are evacuated by boat from their homes by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. Torrential rain is inundating southeastern Texas, forcing schools to cancel classes and closing numerous highways around Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Emergency workers with Caney Creek Fire and Rescue carry a dog from a flooded area in the River Plantation area of Conroe, Texas Friday, May 3, 2024. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)/

A woman is rescued by airboat from her home by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies on River Plantation Drive, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. Torrential rain is inundating southeastern Texas, forcing schools to cancel classes and closing numerous highways around Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A pickup truck maneuvers a residential street filled with water in Woodloch, Texas, subdivision near The Woodlands as floodwaters rise Friday, May 3, 2024. Torrential rain is inundating southeastern Texas, forcing schools to cancel classes and closing numerous highways around Houston. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A man carries his dogs rescued by boat from his home by Caney Creek Fire and Rescue on River Plantation Drive, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. Torrential rain is inundating southeastern Texas, forcing schools to cancel classes and closing numerous highways around Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Family members survey the damage after a tree fell on the home of Monica Ramirez during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A helicopter flies above the San Jacinto River, which rose out of its banks in the aftermath of a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Conroe firefighter Cody Leroy carries a resident evacuated in a boat by the CFD Rapid Intervention Team from her flooded home in the aftermath of a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Conroe, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)