PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks came out of the All-Star break speaking with more urgency and backing it up.
To quote Tom Thibodeau before tipoff Thursday, “There’s 27 games left so we can’t keep kicking it down the road.”
And to quote Josh Hart, the hustling forward, “These next 27 games — this is really when it really starts, really begins.”
Hart and the Knicks turned that into an actionable item Thursday at Wells Fargo Center by pounding the Sixers, 110-96, snapping a four-game losing streak despite an off night from Jalen Brunson.
Bojan Bogdanovic had his best game as a Knicks, shooting 6-for-6 from beyond the arc and dropping 22 points.
Hart (18 points, 12 rebounds), Precious Achiuwa (18, 11) and Donte DiVincenzo (16 points, 4 treys) again put together strong performances, alleviating Brunson’s dud in his former college home arena.
The All-Star scored 21 points with 12 assists, certainly a respectable line. But he shot just 5-for-18 with seven turnovers.
His teammates helped put away the Sixers with a back-breaking run in the fourth quarter, turning their six-point lead to 15 in less than five minutes.
It was an important victory to snap New York’s skid, which was threatening to hit concerning levels with the powerhouse Celtics invading MSG on Saturday.
The Knicks (34-22) remained fourth in the East.
The Sixers (32-23), meanwhile, aren’t much of a threat without Joel Embiid, who is out indefinitely following knee surgery.
They’re now just 6-15 without the reigning MVP, who may or may not be back for the playoffs.
The Knicks are also wounded but benefitted from the return of three rotational players — DiVincenzo, Bogdanovic and Isaiah Hartenstein — who all missed the last game before the break with small ailments.
Hartenstein was on a minutes restriction because of his Achilles and went scoreless in limited action.
Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby remain out with no return date, but Thursday demonstrated Brunson can get some help.