Jalen Brunson puts up an easy 35, sparks Knicks to dominant 39-point win over 76ers in in Game 1

It was the kind of game where Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey checked out with 6:03 left in the third quarter and Nick Nurse never put them back in.

It was the kind of game where Jalen Brunson came out scorching and took over from the opening tip, scoring 27 first-half points on 10-of-14 shooting.

It was the kind of game Knicks fans loved. It may not have been as big a blowout as New York's last game, but it also may have been more meaningful.

New York blew out visiting Philadelphia in Game 1 of their second-round series, 137-98, on a night they looked like clearly the best team in the East. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Manhattan.

The Knicks are a team in a groove, winning their last three games by at least 29 points, and in the last two they have shot 61% overall and 44% from 3-point range.

Part of the Knicks fast start and dominance was that the 76ers played like a team with a Game 7 hangover — they looked gassed a quarter into the game. Embiid started 1-of-6 and Maxey 1-of-4. If it wasn't for Paul George hitting 3-pointers, Philadelphia could have been in a much deeper hole earlier.

And that hole was already 23 points at the half, 74-51, leading to an ecstatic crowd reveling in it at Madison Square Garden. Things were going so well that Josh Hart had time to untie Jimmy Fallon's shoe courtside.

In the third quarter, the Knicks just added to their lead out of the gate, and Nurse, wisely, decided to rest his tired stars early and start thinking ahead to Game 2.