Observations after Sixers finish road trip on great note, beat Knicks again  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — The Sixers have had quite a sweet start to 2026. 

They finished a five-game road trip with a third consecutive victory Saturday night, earning a 130-119 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

The Sixers now stand at 19-14. New York fell to 23-12 with its second home loss this season to the Sixers. 

Tyrese Maxey had 36 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Joel Embiid posted 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. VJ Edgecombe recorded 26 points, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Jalen Brunson’s 31 points led the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns had a 23-point, 14 rebound double-double.

The Sixers’ only two injury absences remained Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain) and Trendon Watford (left adductor sprain).

“They’re ready to move to 5-on-5 and we’ve just got to get that done,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame. “I would imagine that’s going to happen tomorrow, one way or the other. It’s not easy with all these games and travel to organize it, but they’re both ready to at least get out there and try 5-on-5. And when they do, that’s probably a big step toward getting them back on the court. It should be fairly soon, though.”

New York was down Josh Hart (right ankle sprain) and Landry Shamet (right shoulder sprain). 

Here are observations on the Sixers’ win Saturday night:

The Sixers had the game’s first three turnovers, including Embiid getting stripped by Mitchell Robinson in the post. 

Embiid otherwise started well vs. Robinson, making an early mid-range jumper and beating the Knicks’ 7-footer inside on an and-one hoop. Robinson committed his second foul on the play. Embiid connected with a cutting Maxey for a lay-in that put the Sixers up 18-13. 

Nurse kept testing out the Embiid-Adem Bona frontcourt and the Sixers were effective with their double-big lineup in the second quarter. Bona rarely does much of note outside the paint, but it’s clear why the Sixers have been intrigued by his skill set next to Embiid. At his best, the 22-year-old is a bouncy, high-energy player who doesn’t need the ball on offense to be impactful. 

“I think that whoever’s playing that four, any of our bigs, we’ve got to have shooting in the other three spots,” Nurse said. “That’s for sure. … Joel likes playing alongside (Bona). I think there’s a good synergy there, so we’ll continue to look at that as we go along.”

As he had in the Sixers’ Dec. 19 win over the Knicks, Edgecombe served as the primary defender on Brunson. Both guards lit it up in the first half.

The Sixers made an 8-0 run that began late in the first quarter and ended with an Edgecombe three-pointer to kick off the second. About a minute later, Edgecombe nailed his third long-distance jumper on three attempts. No other Sixer made a three until a Jared McCain triple with 7:28 left in the second quarter built the Sixers’ lead to 46-38. 

Edgecombe’s shown fantastic progress lately as an ultra-confident, three-level scorer. Over the past nine games, he’s averaged 21.2 points. The 20-year-old has posted at least 20 points in seven of those outings.  

With Edgecombe running the show and the Sixers more than holding their own, Nurse had the luxury of sitting both Embiid and Maxey for over half of the second quarter. Once they returned, the two helped the Sixers extend their advantage to as many as 19 points in the third quarter. 

Paul George swished two threes from the right corner in opening minutes of the third period. 

The 35-year-old forward often seemed to be in the background Saturday behind Maxey, Edgecombe and Embiid. He had a very solid night with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists and two chase-down blocks in the second quarter.

Maxey stayed hot in the third, draining deep pull-up jumpers and preventing the Knicks from gaining any comeback momentum for much of the quarter.

The Sixers did hit a dry spell late in the third, but the Knicks missed out on multiple chances to slice their deficit to single digits before the final quarter. They eventually pulled within 100-91 on a Towns driving layup early in the fourth.

With a tremendous Edgecombe sequence, the Sixers halted the Knicks’ push. He jetted to the corner and blocked Mikal Bridges’ three-point attempt, then stormed down the floor and hammered in a fast-break dunk.

Maxey removed most of the lingering suspense with a fourth-quarter shotmaking spree. For good measure, Edgecombe added more highlights in the closing minutes, including a stolen inbounds pass, and the Sixers sealed another excellent victory at the Garden.