By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (29-25) used a strong fourth quarter effort en route to their eighth straight home victory and fourth in a row overall, defeating the New York Knicks (23-35) 108-92. The Sixers let the Knicks hang around in the first half before putting them away in the fourth, outscoring them by nine.
Tonight’s win is the Sixers’ 29th of the season. Why is that important, you ask? Well, they won 28 games a season ago and now have eclipsed that mark with 28 games to play.
The Sixers and Flyers are now a combined 8-0 since the Eagles have won the Super Bowl.
T.J. McConnell has had some of his best games against the Knicks, most notably a buzzer beater last January over Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. Tonight, the former undrafted free agent tallied his first ever triple-double against the Atlantic division foe, finishing with 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
Everybody knew it, everybody loved it — even the man himself, it seemed.
From double-double to triple-double, in the span of 17 seconds.
Great night for McConnell, who only seems to get better. pic.twitter.com/vWmH3aq2BH
— Brian Seltzer (@brianseltzer) February 13, 2018
Heck, he finished four steals shy of a quadruple-double, racking up six steals on the night as well. The crowd erupted when McConnell grabbed his 10th rebound with just over a minute to play and two of his teammates gave him a well deserved shower during his post-game interview.
.@JoelEmbiid and @Holla_At_Rob33 got em 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Bwhcdw8zGY
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 13, 2018
McConnell joins Ben Simmons, Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten as the only players to record a triple-double under head coach Brett Brown. He’s also the first Sixers bench player ever to record a triple-double, per Zach Rosenblatt of NJ.com.
In addition to McConnell’s big night, Dario Saric continued his offensive success, scoring 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including a 4-for-6 night from beyond the arc. Embiid finished with 17 points and six boards and Robert Covington had some key baskets off of turnovers down the stretch, ending the game with 13 points. JJ Redick contributed with 18 while Ben Simmons finished with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.
While the Knicks hung tough in the first half, trailing by just two, they couldn’t keep up in the fourth quarter. Michael Beasley led New York with 22 points while Enes Kanter had a double-double, 17 points and 13 rebounds.
The Sixers started strong, leading the Knicks by 10 after one as many as 12 in the first half, but lazy defense and sloppy turnovers in the second quarter allowed New York to stay in the game and Philadelphia led by just two, 57-55, at the half.
Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick helped the Sixers put together a 10-2 run to start the third, extending their advantage to 10. The Knicks cut the lead back down to seven with a Jarrett Jack triple but Ben Simmons answered with a jump shot and the Sixers capitalized on a New York turnover that was capped off on the other end by an emphatic Simmons jam to put Philly up 73-64.
🗣 T E A M W O R K pic.twitter.com/ilXYZoWKoT
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 13, 2018
The Knicks responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game with less than four minutes to play in the third, but Robert Covington (7) and Embiid (2) put together a 9-0 run of their own, putting the Sixers back in front 83-76. Covington finished that run by putting Michael Beasley on a poster. Embiid got a taunting technical after this one, but the Sixers headed into the final 12 minutes up 86-79.
GOODNESS GRACIOUS pic.twitter.com/1x3jckJays
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 13, 2018
The Sixers started the fourth on an 8-3 spurt, extending their lead to 12, 94-82. They would continue to pad their advantage, thanks in large part to a strong effort from T.J. McConnell, who tallied his first career triple-double. Philadelphia closed this one out by a final of 108-92.
Up Next:
The Sixers host Miami on Wednesday night, Valentine’s Day, at 7:00 p.m. on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
