76ers 101, Knicks 95: Scenes from déjà vu all over again

The Knicks played the Sixers really well in the first half, leading by double digits, and then flubbed it down the stretch and lost.

No, it’s not Nov. 20, it’s Nov. 29. But the Knicks played basically the same game against the Sixers tonight that they played just over a week ago, making them uncomfortable early and taking a 16-point lead in the second quarter (they led by as much as 17 last week) before eventually losing 101-95.

The Knicks started off looking almost unrecognizable on offense. Ball movement! Julius Randle passing a bunch! Good decisions all around! It was really something to behold.

Randle murdered this poor guy Norvel Pelle on the Sixers:

Julius had a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, but would revert to more of his usual shenanigans down the stretch of the game.

Frank Ntilikina didn’t have his best shooting game (6-14, and those 14 shots LED THE TEAM — “Things I Never Thought I’d See for $200, Alex) and RJ Barrett had an objectively great shooting game (18 points on 8-13 shooting), and those two hooked up for this beautiful sequence:

RJ in general just really had the sauce in this game:

Particularly late in the game:

(Shortly after that shot, RJ was inexplicably benched down the stretch for Wayne Ellington!)

Mitchell Robinson had six points, seven boards, two blocks and, unfortunately, six fouls once again. At least he got to play almost 30 minutes before fouling out.

The Knicks also missed 14 free throws, which is another concerning trend that has resurfaced after seeming to be kind of figured out for a few games.

Anyway, another day, another loss. MMiranda has the recap coming later.