The 2024 NBA playoffs continued Monday night with a trio of Game 2s, the final two of which came down to wild endings. The Knicks took a 2-0 lead over the 76ers at Madison Square Garden in a thrilling game that came down to the wire, with New York erasing a five-point deficit over the final 27 seconds capped by a Donte DiVincenzo 3-pointer that sent the MSG crowd through the roof.
Elsewhere in the East, the Cavaliers jumped to a 2-0 series lead over the Magic in a lopsided victory. That series will shift back to Orlando on Thursday.
The night wrapped up in the West as the defending champion Nuggets won their 10th consecutive game against the Lakers. Denver, which swept L.A. in the Western Conference Finals last year, pulled away for a Game 1 win on Saturday night despite a combined 59 points from LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Nuggets shocked the Lakers again on Monday when Jamal Murray hit a step-back buzzer-beater over Anthony Davis to put Denver over top in Game 2.
Here are five takeaways from one of the wildest nights of playoff basketball you're likely to see for a long time.
1. Jamal Murray has ice in his veins
You'd be hard pressed to find a more lethal playoff scorer than Murray, who doesn't always have to carry his team, but is always ready to do so when the moment calls for it. There isn't a shot he can't create and convert and his nerve is unflappable.
Murray was just 3-for-16 from the field through the first three quarters. Some shooters, good ones even, lose confidence after a start like that, but not Murray, who proceeded to go 6-of-8 for 14 points over the fourth quarter, the final two of which, of course, were the difference as Anthony Davis was powerless to defend this nasty step-back.
2. Knicks play hero by committee
DiVincenzo goes down as the official hero as he's the one that hit the game-winner for the Knicks, but five guys had to make a heroic play for New York to pull this thing out.
First, with the Knicks down by five with 27 seconds to play, Jalen Brunson, who has shot an ice cold 16-for-55 through the first two games of this series, hit the 3-pointer that cut the lead to two. Then, on the ensuing inbound, Josh Hart, the second hero, stole the ball from Tyrese Maxey and kicked it to DiVincenzo, who missed his first shot at a game-winner.
That ends New York's night if not for Isaiah Hartenstein, the third hero who came flying in for the offensive rebound and shoveled the ball out to OG Anunoby, the fourth hero who had the good sense and poise to swing the ball right back to DiVincenzo, who wasn't going to miss twice.
3. Jalen Brunson's struggles continue
Brunson had played in 458 career games, including the playoffs, over his six-year career entering this series, and not once had he attempted more than 25 shots in a single game. He's now done it twice, finishing 8-for-26 in Game 1 and 8-for-29 in Game 2.
Do the math, and that's 16-for-55 over two games, including 2-of-12 from 3. It is not an exaggeration to say this is the most inefficient two-game stretch of Brunson's entire career, and Monday was most certainly his worst career playoff shooting game at 27%. And yet, the Knicks are still up 2-0 on a Sixers team that has gotten 131 combined points from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey over the first two games.
It's a testament to the grit of this Knicks team that plays as hard and as together as any unit in the league. And you know these struggles aren't going to last for Brunson, who has been one of the best players in the league all season.
4. Nikola Jokic bests LeBron, AD
LeBron James finished with 26 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks. When the Nuggets were making their run back from 20-point deficit and had it down to two, James hit two clutch triples to give the Lakers some momentary breathing room as part of his 12-point fourth quarter.
Davis was even better with 32 points and 11 boards. At one point, he made 14 consecutive shots, including five jumpers, and he was dominant defensively. But it wasn't enough. Davis only took one shot in the fourth quarter, when he went scoreless, and by the end, Nikola Jokic, who was having a legitimately bad game for much of the night, had gotten the better of him with 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.
When it came time to win the game, Jokic took Davis and everyone else to task.
Again, the guy was having an honest-to-god bad game. He wasn't scoring or assisting as Davis controlled the game, and he was getting so abused defensively that Denver head coach Michael Malone switched him off Davis and onto Rui Hachimura, who, in turn, started to attack and score on Jokic.
To just flip a switch and end up with 26-20-10 is certifiably insane. Dude is the best player on earth and it's not close.
5. Tyrese Maxey is a killer
Maxey carded 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds on Monday. This came after 33 points in Game 1. He is outplaying Brunson pretty clearly. He took over in Game 2 with 15 fourth-quarter points, including a massive 3-pointer with 1:09 left to put Philly up four. He hit three hold-your-breath jumpers when it felt as though every bucket was a stay of execution with the MSG crowd roaring.
Embiid has been pretty damn good in this series, too, considering what he's dealing with in his knee, but Maxey has been Philly's best player. Those two guys have combined to score 131 points through the first two games.
Embiid believes the Sixers should be up 2-0. He might not be wrong. They had every shot to win Game 1 and were it not for an all-time crazy sequence would've won Game 2. But they didn't. It's gut-wrenching, but that's the thin playoff line.
2024 NBA playoffs scores: Monday, April 22
- Cavaliers 96, Magic 86 (CLE leads series 2-0) -- (Box score)
- Knicks 104, 76ers 101 (NYK leads series 2-0) -- (Box score)
- Nuggets 101, Lakers 99 (DEN leads series 2-0 ) -- (Box score)
CBS Sports provided live updates, scores, highlights and analysis. Follow along below.
