Even without their lineup at full strength, the New York Knicks are showing they are on a different level than the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks will try to sweep their best-of-seven second-round playoff series when they visit the Sixers in Game 4 on Sunday.

New York, the No. 3 seed, is looking to reach back-to-back Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1999-2000. The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in last year’s conference finals and are determined to make amends for that setback despite currently playing without one of their top performers.

Versatile New York forward OG Anunoby (hamstring) missed Game 3 and will be a game-time decision for Game 4. Without him, Brunson scored a team-high 33 points and dished out nine assists in Friday’s 108-94 win, while Mikal Bridges pitched in 23 points.

“It was definitely a team effort,” Brunson said. “Obviously, we want everyone back healthy. But it was important for everyone to step up and have the right mindset — to do whatever you gotta do to win.”

Philadelphia, the No. 7 seed, pulled a first-round upset against the Boston Celtics but appears to be running out of gas in this series. The Sixers’ stars are all playing heavy minutes and the team has wilted in the fourth quarter in back-to-back games.

In Game 3, Philadelphia managed only 18 points in the fourth quarter, while shooting 35.0% from the floor in the closing 12 minutes. Two days earlier, the 76ers totaled 12 fourth-quarter points on 21.1% shooting in the period of a 108-102 setback at New York.

Now, the Sixers will try to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

“You add a game to it,” Philadelphia guard Tyrese Maxey said of the looming task. “We had to win three in a row (in the first round against Boston) and now we’re going to have to win four in a row. It’s still a great challenge. You’ve got to go do it. Either you don’t play with any pride and you get swept on your home floor in the second round of the playoffs, or you play with some pride and you win one game at a time.”

Philadelphia hopes that Joel Embiid (ankle/hip) will be ready to take the court for Game 4. The Sixers’ center missed Game 2 and returned for Game 3, where he registered 18 points in 35 minutes. However, he only managed six rebounds as Philadelphia was clobbered 49-33 on the boards.

“We know what he’s going through,” said Sixers wing Paul George, who poured in 15 first-quarter points but didn’t score again. “We know how tough it is on his body and the work he’s putting in to get prepared to try to come out and play. We appreciate it. I think the fans appreciate it, Philadelphia appreciates it. It means a lot to see 21 suited up and giving it a go.”

Whether or not Embiid or Anunoby can play, the Knicks will lean into their trademark intensity. That aggressiveness has led them within one win of the conference finals.

“That’s just what our identity is,” said New York forward Josh Hart, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds in Game 3. “We continue to give something game after game and that’s energy. That’s what we strive to have, that energy, that physicality, that attention to detail and focus.

“We try to have that every game. We need to do that game after game after game.”

–Field Level Media

Hall of Fame manager and legendary Atlanta Braves icon Bobby Cox died at the age of 84, the team announced Saturday.

Cox’s 2,504 victories as a manager for the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays rank fourth in major league history and include an extensive list of accomplishments for his teams, including 15 division titles, five pennants and one World Series championship in 1995.

“We are overcome with emotion on the passing of Bobby Cox, our treasured skipper. Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform,” the Braves said in a statement. “His Braves managerial legacy will never be matched.”

Born on May 21, 1941, in Tulsa, Okla., Cox moved at age 3 to Central California, where he was signed out of Selma High School as an infielder in 1959 by legendary Los Angeles Dodgers scout Red Adams.

After almost a decade playing in the minors for the Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Braves, Cox had a relatively brief playing career. His first major league season with the New York Yankees in 1968 overlapped with Mickey Mantle’s last. Cox hit nine home runs and had a .619 OPS over the next two seasons (220 games) with the Yankees.

New York general manager Lee MacPhail then offered him the managerial position at the Yankees’ Class A team in Ft. Lauderdale, where Cox spent the next six seasons before being added to Billy Martin’s coaching staff in the major leagues as the first-base coach for the team that ultimately won the 1977 World Series.

The following year, former Braves owner Ted Turner gave Cox his first big league managerial job, where he compiled a 266-323-1 record during rebuilding years before Turner famously fired him in 1981 by saying of his successor, “It would be Bobby Cox — if I hadn’t just fired him. We need someone like him around here.”

Cox stayed in the managerial game, spending the next four seasons at the helm of the Toronto Blue Jays, guiding them to their first division title in 1985.

At the time of his firing, Turner called Cox a “terrific manager and a terrific person,” making it no surprise when he hired Cox back into the Braves organization in 1986, this time as the general manager. Though he’d never previously held a front-office job, Cox used the next four years to develop, trade and pick the likes of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery and Chipper Jones, who he took with the first pick of the 1990 MLB Draft.

Cox transitioned back into the manager position midway through the 1990 campaign and was on the bench full-time the following year when the Braves began a run of 14 consecutive division titles. Cox’s teams won five National League pennants in the decade that saw them bring Atlanta its first professional sports championship with the 1995 World Series title.

Cox served as a top advisor within Atlanta’s front office after retiring as manager after the 2010 season when the Braves were the NL’s wild-card entry.

Cox managed a total of 29 seasons, compiling a 2,504-2001 record (.566 winning percentage) and earning manager-of-the-year honors four times.

“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him. His wealth of knowledge on player development and the intricacies of managing the game were rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize in 2014 — enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame,” the Braves said.

As much respect as he gained around the league, he also holds the record for most ejections in league history with 158 in the regular season and an additional three in the postseason, many of them extended and colorful.

“And while Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family,” the Braves continued. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we send our sincerest condolences to his beloved wife, Pam, and their loving children and grandchildren.”

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Dodgers claimed left-hander Charlie Barnes off waivers from the Chicago Cubs and transferred infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.

Barnes, 30, was designated for assignment by the Cubs on Monday. He gave up four runs (three earned) over three innings of his lone appearance this season on April 13 against the Philadelphia Phillies and was 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA in seven appearances (four starts) at Triple-A Iowa.

Barnes is 0-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 10 career major league appearances (eight starts) after last pitching in 2021 with the Minnesota Twins. He was a fourth-round draft pick by the Twins in 2017.

Barnes spent the previous four seasons pitching for Lotte in South Korea, where he went 35-32 with a 3.58 ERA in 94 appearances (all starts).

Edman, 31, underwent right ankle surgery in November, shortly after the Dodgers clinched their World Series title. He will be eligible to return from the IL later this month.

In seven major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Dodgers, Edman is a career .258 hitter with 72 home runs and 291 RBIs in 730 games.

–Field Level Media