Jalen Brunson scores 33 points and helps Knicks take 3-0 lead over 76ers with 108-94 Game 3 win

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 33 points and sealed the game with big buckets late to the delight of roaring Knicks fans, leading New York to a 108-94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night for a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Brunson shook off a 2-of-8 start from the floor and finished 11 of 22 in 38 minutes to send the Knicks to their sixth straight postseason victory.

“I'm Linus. Jalen's my blanket,” first-year Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “He helps me relax at a lot of different times during the course of the game."

With 2016 and 2018 Villanova national championship banners hanging in the rafters, the so-called Nova Knicks all took turns taking the fight out of the Sixers in the fourth quarter, turning a four-point lead into another double-digit victory.

Josh Hart had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Mikal Bridges added 23 points, pushing the Knicks within one victory of their second straight conference finals appearance.

When Brown took the job after Tom Thibodeau was fired, the veteran coach said he wouldn't know what kind of team he really had until he got “into the trenches with them.”

Brown now sees the makings of a championship team.

“Yeah, OK, we might have a chance at this,” he said.

The Knicks have the luxury not to rush back forward OG Anunoby, who's averaging 21.4 points per game in the postseason. He sat out with a strained right hamstring and remains day to day.

Joel Embiid scored 18 points for the Sixers in his return after he missed Game 2 with a sprained right ankle and a sore right hip.

"I thought he gave us everything he could," coach Nick Nurse said.

Embiid's return from an appendectomy helped spur the Sixers' rally from a 3-1 deficit in the opening round to stun the Celtics.

Beating the Knicks four straight times — including twice in New York — seems like a much harder hill to climb for Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 22 points and Maxey added 17. Paul George scored 15 points in the first quarter, then went scoreless and missed all nine shots the rest of the game as the Sixers blew a 12-point lead.

George and Maxey each failed to shoot a single free throw.

The 76ers went 13 of 16 from the line while the Knicks made 23 of 32.

“I guess it's good when New York wins,” Embiid said.

The 76ers gamely tried to make it a series. Quintin Grimes hit his first two 3s of the game early in the fourth to trim the lead to 88-84.

The familiar faces in Philly — Brunson, Hart and Bridges all played for Villanova — seized control of the game.

Hart and Bridges made consecutive baskets that pushed the lead to 92-84. Brunson, the stone-cold shooter built for these moments, buried a 3 from the top of the arc that made it 95-86 during a 9-0 Knicks run, to the delight of the visiting fans.

Embiid openly pleaded with fans ahead of the series not to sell their tickets to New Yorkers.

Celebrity Row regulars at Madison Square Garden, Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Morgan and Ben Stiller all made the trip to Philadelphia, along with thousands of less famous Knicks fans — and the split crowd erupted in cheers, boos and the occasional middle finger on just about every basket.

Chalamet rose from his seat and applauded when Landry Shamet buried a late 3 in the third that stretched the lead to 85-76. Shamet had 14 points this entire postseason before he scored 15 in Game 3.

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New York Knicks' fan react during the second half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts during the second half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts after a foul call during the first half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series against the New York Knicks Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Landry Shamet, left, dunks past Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey during the first half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid during the first half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, right, passes against Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Drummond during the first half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, left, reacts past Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. during the first half of Game 3 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series Friday, May 8, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

ROME (AP) — They’ve been blessed by the pope. And now it’s finally time for some hoops.

The Villanova and Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams are meeting in a doubleheader in Rome on Sunday to open the college basketball season.

The event, dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off, was created to honor the first American pope.

Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV received all four teams in an audience at the Vatican on Saturday.

Leo told the teams from his alma mater Villanova and fellow Catholic university Notre Dame that in matters of sport, the pontiff is neutral.

Then the pope, who was born Robert Prevost, said his former self might disagree.

“Prevost has another opinion, but we won’t do that now,” he said to laughs during a whooping, cheering audience of 7,000 people from both schools — players, coaches, fans and their families — in the Vatican audience hall.

The games are being played at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, which is located about a half-hour drive from the Vatican.

While Leo, who underwent lung cancer surgery last month, was not expected to attend the games, a contingent of cardinals and other Vatican officials was expected at the arena.

The schools also brought their team chaplains to Rome.

The men’s game starts at 3:30 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. ET) and is being shown on Fox with Bill Raftery as the analyst. The women’s game, which features the only ranked team of the day in No. 13 Notre Dame, is slated for 6 p.m. (noon ET) on FS1.

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. See AP’s full men’s basketball coverage here and women’s college basketball coverage here

Pope Leo XIV examines a basketball he received as a gift in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The Villanova men's basketball team takes part in a training session in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

From left, Villanova's guards Elijah Crawford, and Brady Muller present Pope Leo XIV with a personalized Villanova's jersey as they meet in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

From left, Notre Dame's guards Braeden Smith and Logan Imes, and from right, guards Hanna Hidalgo and Kelly Ratigan present Pope Leo XIV with a personalized Notre Dame's jersey and basketball as they meet in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men’s and women’s college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

This combination of three images shows Pope Leo XIV as he examines a basketball he received in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, during an audience with some 7,000 university representatives and supporters from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame, including members of their men's and women's basketball teams, ahead of the Eternal City Tip-Off, a men's and women's college basketball doubleheader in Rome on Nov. 1. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)