PHILADELPHIA — The Knicks were missing their KAT, while the 76ers were without a much larger portion of their litter.
With Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined with a sprained right thumb — and as The Post first reported, also a bone chip in the same digit — the Knicks flushed a 16-point first-half lead before barely pulling out a 125-119 overtime win Wednesday night over the Sixers at Wells Fargo Center.
Everyone had their moments in this one, but Jalen Brunson overcame a key turnover late in regulation to score eight of his game-high 38 points in the extra session.
“That’s on me. That’s just careless and I got to know my surroundings and not put my team in that position. But I’m happy we stayed together … and came out with the win,” Brunson said. “That’s a position we should not have been in. But we turned the page and were ready to go.”
Fellow Villanova alum Mikal Bridges contributed 23 points as the Knicks improved to 27-15 ahead of Friday’s home clash against Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and the Timberwolves at the Garden.
An incredibly active Josh Hart also registered his fifth triple-double of the season with 10 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and four steals for the Knicks.
“What can you say about Josh? He willed that game at the end. The hustle plays, they saved the game for us,” Thibodeau said.
“Just find a way to impact the game. I think that’s the biggest thing for me,” Hart said., “I’m not someone that gets plays called [for me]. I’m not needed to go out there and score 20, 25 points a game.
“So I’ve got to find ways to impact the game and my way is rebounding. I need to be better defensively. Just making some of those energy plays.”
Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond were among the rotation regulars sidelined for Philly (15-23), although Tyrese Maxey (33 points) and Paul George (26) returned after sitting out the previous night’s loss to the Thunder.
The Knicks connected on 10 of 19 from long distance (52.9 percent) and led by as many as 16 in the first half before taking a 60-47 lead into intermission.
Hart fed fill-in starter Jericho Sims (eight points) for a dunk early in the third, but a transition bucket by Maxey drew the Sixers within nine.
Sims flushed another jam with barely two minutes remaining, but three consecutive buckets by George closed the gap to one.
A Brunson scoop put the Knicks up by three, but Jeff Dowtin Jr. banked in a 3-pointer for an 85-85 knot entering the final period.
After Justin Edwards’ mid-range jumper and 3-point blast cut it to two, McBride hustled back for a pickpocket steal leading to close range buckets by Hart and Brunson for a 100-94 game at the five-minute mark.
Long-range baskets by Maxey and Edwards evened matters again, but Hart stripped Kelly Oubre and soared in for a dunk to generate roars from the boisterous Knicks fans in attendance.
Precious Achiuwa then rejected Maxey at the rim, and OG Anunoby (17 points) drilled a triple from the right corner to make it 107-102 with 1:26 to go.
the 76ers. NBAE via Getty Images
Brunson sank a right-side runner after a Maxey three-point play, but he coughed up the ball with seven seconds to go and Anunoby was called for goaltending against Maxey for another tie with 3.2 ticks left in regulation.
Anunoby missed an 18-footer at the fourth-quarter buzzer, but he drove the baseline for a two-handed jam to kick off an 8-0 run to open overtime. Brunson also sank a 3-pointer and added five free throws to loud chants of “MVP” for a 119-111 game.
“Just a hard-fought game, and we knew it would be,” Thibodeau said. “They put a lot of pressure on us. I liked the way we started the game, I thought we played a really good first half.
“We took a punch in the second half, and then we made tough plays down the stretch and then obviously in the overtime. We knew they’d be a scrappy team, but I liked our activity on defense. I thought we got some easy baskets just off of turnovers.”