PHILADELPHIA — The scene could have been a replay from 48 hours earlier, but this time it went better for the New York Knicks.

With the Knicks up by a point and for the second time in three days hoping to close out an NBA first-round playoff series, Donte DiVincenzo stepped to the free-throw line. At this moment, they knew that far more important than a game of basketball was the telephone game.

Two nights earlier with the Knicks caught up in another tight battle with the Philadelphia 76ers, Josh Hart hit only one of two free throws, extending the Knicks’ lead to three with 15 seconds to go. Anyone who’s into drama knows what happened next: The Knicks didn’t intentionally foul, even though they were supposed to do so. Tyrese Maxey tied the score with a 3-pointer from Hoboken. And the 76ers won in overtime to extend the series to Game 6.

The Knicks said after Tuesday’s final buzzer that they miscommunicated. Head coach Tom Thibodeau wanted them to foul up three, but the message was not conveyed.

That was not about to happen again.

As DiVincenzo waited for the basketball, ready to shoot two free throws that could put the Knicks up three, Knicks players scrambled to one another, reminding each one of the situation. Everyone on the floor knew the plan: If DiVincenzo sank both freebies, they would intentionally foul.

This time, that’s exactly what they did.

DiVincenzo nailed them both. Miles “Deuce” McBride, the same person who failed to intentionally foul Tuesday, swiped at Maxey in the backcourt, long before he could toss up a prayer of a shot. The Knicks and Sixers traded off free throws. And it helped New York close out a 118-115 win and, more importantly, the series 4-2.

“Sometimes when something like that happens, it crystalizes the thinking for everybody,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And we’re not gonna be perfect. We’re gonna make mistakes along the way. And I think you see that here.”

The Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers, which just polished off a six-game victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, in the second round of the playoffs. Game 1 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (ET) Monday.

New York will make mistakes in that series, too. Just like against Philly, it will have to learn from them.

Part of the reason the Knicks have made it this far — that they have won a playoff series for two consecutive seasons, the first time this franchise has accomplished that feat in 24 years — is that their blunders make them better.

They botched the end of Game 5, so they made sure not to do the same in Game 6.

On Thursday, they hit big shots. They fouled when they were supposed to do it. On another possession, when the Sixers ran a play inside the final minute with the Knicks up three, Thibodeau knew Philadelphia had to go for a triple.

Instead of leaving a conventional center on the floor as he did in Game 5 when Mitchell Robinson fouled Maxey on a four-point play, he subbed in McBride for a small, switch-everything lineup that pitted OG Anunoby at center. It got a stop.

The Knicks noticed what did not work, and they adjusted.

They placed various defenders on Maxey after he went for 46 points in Game 5. In Game 6, he scored only 17 points on 18 shots. In Game 6, DiVincenzo started on him.

They revised their double-teams of Joel Embiid. By the second half of Game 6, they were defending the reigning MVP straight up, not doubling except for in emergencies. Until then, they shook up where the double-teams came from, sometimes from two passes away, other times from the baseline.

The Knicks didn’t just win Game 6 because they had been there before.

Hart hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 25.6 seconds to go and finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Anunoby went off in the second half, disrupting passing lanes and eviscerating Embiid on a fourth-quarter dunk. He finished with 19 points and nine boards. DiVincenzo rediscovered his shot, going for 23 points and seven assists while dropping in five 3-pointers.

And then there was Jalen Brunson, who splurged for 41 points and 12 assists. He has now scored 39-plus points in four consecutive playoff games, which is the first time that has happened since 1993 when Michael Jordan did it.

27-year-olds with 35+ PPG in the playoffs:

Michael Jordan
Elgin Baylor

And Jalen Brunson. pic.twitter.com/Wcbc3hSRVh

— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 3, 2024

“This was a really big test for us and we were able to come out on top,” Brunson said. “Going forward … it might be a different test, maybe something completely different. But this definitely helps, and obviously, you want to learn while winning, so obviously we’re still playing and we want to get better.”

This is why the Knicks expressed no interest in tanking out of the No. 2 seed at the end of the season. Others in the league, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, feared the 76ers, who cratered to seventh place while Embiid was hurt, enough to intentionally lose on the final day of the regular season. But New York wanted this position.

Now, this group is set up well because of its second-place finish.

The Knicks pushed and shoved their way past the Sixers in Round 1. They own home-court advantage in Round 2 — and they’d have it even if the Pacers hadn’t upset the Bucks. The Knicks — yes, the New York Knicks — will be the favorites to go to their first Eastern Conference finals since 2000.

But that doesn’t mean Indiana will be a picnic.

The Pacers glide through games. They are speed demons in transition. The Tyrese Haliburton-Myles Turner pick-and-pop is among the NBA’s most dangerous actions. The Knicks will encounter loads of problems in Round 2 they haven’t seen before.

A season ago, they faced a lower seed in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and it did not go well for them, losing to the Miami Heat in six. But the Knicks tend to learn from their mistakes.

It’s a good trait to boast come playoff time.

“In the playoffs, crazy stuff happens,” Thibodeau said. “And then it’s how you respond.”

(Top photo: Bill Streicher / USA Today)

The Miami Marlins’ tank seems to be on, despite it only being mid-May.

After making the postseason last year with a surprising 84-78 record, the Fish have looked like anything but a playoff team so far, losing 24 of their first 33 games.

Roughly 10 minutes before Luis Arraez was supposed to lead off for the Marlins in Oakland against the Athletics on Friday, he was reportedly traded to the San Diego Padres.

The Marlins quickly updated their lineup two minutes after the scheduled first pitch, making it all but officially official.

The Padres are said to have traded four prospects for the back-to-back batting champion.

Arraez hit an MLB-leading .354 last season during his first year with the Marlins, who acquired him from the Minnesota Twins after he won the American League batting title in 2022 with a .316 average.

Arraez hit an MLB-leading .354 last season during his first year with the Marlins. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)

JULIO URIAS AVOIDS JAIL TIME IN DOMESTIC CASE AFTER PLEADING NO CONTEST

The Venezuelan infielder boasted a .400 average into late-June, a feat no one had accomplished since 2008 (Ted Williams remains the last player to hit .400 in a season, way back in 1941).

It’s yet another infielder for the Padres, who already have Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim, Tyler Wade and Fernando Tatis Jr., the latter of whom had to move to the outfield due to the infield abundance.

Arraez finished in eighth in NL MVP voting last year and 13th in the AL vote in 2022, earning a Silver Slugger Award at second base each season.

This season, so far, he is “only” hitting .299.

Arraez won a Silver Slugger award in 2022 and again last season. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The Marlins, entering Friday, were on pace for a 44-118 record.

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SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

BASEBALL

Tuesday, May 7

(All games at 3:15 p.m. unless noted)

Division 1

Second Round

Corona at Mater Dei

Aquinas at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame

Huntington Beach at Villa Park

Gahr at Santa Margarita

Orange Lutheran at Vista Murrieta

La Mirada at Santa Ana Foothill

Cypress at San Dimas

Harvard-Westlake at Bonita

Division 2

Second Round

Westlake at West Torrance

Arcadia at Yorba Linda

Hart at Newport Harbor

Arlington at Palos Verdes

Maranatha at Ayala

Anaheim Canyon at Quartz Hill

Moorpark at Valencia

Citrus Valley at Crown Lutheran

Division 3

Second Round

Corona Centennial at Arrowhead Christian

El Modena at South Torrance

Fountain Valley at El Segundo

Corona del Mar at St. John Bosco

Chaminade at Mission Viejo

Los Alamitos at La Salle

Beckman at La Habra

Summit at Newbury Park

Division 4

Second Round

Camarillo at Murrieta Valley

Los Osos at Cerritos

San Marino at Oak Hills

Culver City at Eastvale Roosevelt

Tustin at Palm Desert

Rio Mesa at Ontario Christian

La Quinta at Paraclete

San Juan Hills at St. Francis

Division 5

Second Round

Ganesha at Santa Monica

Adelanto at Trinity Classical Academy

Segerstrom at Riverside Prep

Oxnard Pacifica at Whittier Christian

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel at Monrovia

Lakeside at Chino

Montebello at Liberty

Bloomington at Chino Hills

Division 6

Second Round

Costa Mesa at West Covina

Village Christian at Brentwood

St. Paul at Diamond Bar

Alhambra at Grand Terrace

Salesian at Schurr

Rancho Mirage at St. Bonaventure

Santa Fe at Viewpoint

Colony at Rialto

Division 7

Second Round

Buena Park at Hueneme

Banning at Rancho Christian

South El Monte at Artesia

Oakwood at Mary Star

Wildomar Cornerstone Christian at Santa Ana

Leuzinger at Lancaster Desert Christian

Jurupa Valley at Chaffey

Silverado at Oxford Academy

Division 8

Second Round

Orange County Pacifica Christian at United Christian Academy

New Roads at San Jacinto Valley

Coachella Valley at Don Bosco Tech

Rancho Alamitos at San Bernardino

Santa Maria Valley Christian at Arroyo Valley

Edgewood at Beverly Hills

Cal Lutheran at Santa Clarita Christian

Academy of Careers & Exploration at Azusa

SOFTBALL

Tuesday, May 7

(All games at 3:15 p.m. unless noted)

Division 1

First Round

Capistrano Valley at Orange Lutheran

Camarillo at Anaheim Canyon

Huntington Beach at Riverside Poly

Chino Hills at Murrieta Mesa

Great Oak at Norco

JSerra at La Mirada

Oaks Christian at Los Alamitos

South Hills at Garden Grove Pacifica

Division 2

Second Round

El Modena at Mater Dei

Beaumont at Ayala

Tesoro at Gahr

Rio Mesa at Temple City

Rosary Academy at California

Whittier Christian at Cypress

Valley View at Aliso Niguel

La Serna at Valencia

Division 3

Second Round

West Torrance at Arlington

Woodbridge at Fullerton

Redondo Union at Sierra Canyon

Etiwanda at La Canada

Santa Fe at Aquinas

Bishop Amat at King

Royal at Charter Oak

Agoura at Upland

Division 4

Second Round

Norwalk at JW North

Oaks Hills at Jurupa Hills

Downey at Chaminade

Schurr at Mira Costa

Paraclete at San Marcos

La Quinta at Santa Monica

Sultana at Diamond Bar

Crescenta Valley at Orange Vista

Division 5

Second Round

Palos Verdes at West Ranch

Quartz Hill at Carter

Liberty at Keppel

Grace Brethren at Garden Grove

Burbank Providence at South El Monte

Cerritos Valley Christian at Shadow Hills

Paloma Valley at Linfield Christian

Fillmore at St. Bonaventure

Division 6

Second Round

Harvard-Westlake at Ganesha

Granite Hills at Lancaster

Indio at Santa Ana Calvary Chapel

Garden Grove Santiago at Lakewood St. Joseph

Viewpoint at Pioneer

University Prep at Mayfield

Canyon Springs at Capistrano Valley Christian

Paramount at Tahquitz

Division 7

Second Round

Hawthorne MSA at Oxford Academy

Miller at Los Amigos

Faith Baptist at Yucca Valley

Pasadena Poly at Riverside Prep

Lennox Academy at Eastside

Vista Del Lago at Cathedral City

Academy of Careers & Exploration at Leuzinger

Orangewood Academy at Muir

Division 8

Quarterfinals

Wildomar Cornerstone Christian at Hesperia Christian

Temecula Prep at Orange

United Christian Academy at Excelsior Charter

Jurupa Valley at Archer