When the Philadelphia 76ers came out swinging in Game 3, throwing their best punch at the Knicks in a physical first quarter, it was an unlikely hero off the bench who steadied the ship. Landry Shamet, a guard who had barely seen the floor during the playoffs, delivered a performance that turned the tide and helped New York seize a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 108-94 victory on Friday night.

Shamet led the Knicks' bench with 15 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. His plus-20 rating was the best of any player on the court, a testament to the energy and poise he brought in a high-stakes road game. For a player who had been out of the rotation for six or seven games, it was a stunning resurgence.

"Landry hasn't played a drop all playoffs," Knicks coach Mike Brown said after the win. "The first game, he was in the rotation, second game a little bit, and then he was out. Landry was huge for us tonight. Huge for us on both ends of the floor."

With OG Anunoby sidelined by a hamstring strain, Shamet was elevated in the rotation and given significant minutes. The move paid off immediately. After the Sixers stormed to a 31-27 lead following a bruising first quarter, Shamet helped flip the script. He opened the second quarter alongside Karl-Anthony Towns as the only starter and was on the floor for the pivotal run that turned a 12-point deficit into a 12-point lead.

"We talked about it the last few days. We knew they would," Shamet said of weathering Philadelphia's early surge. "Coming back home down 2-0, you're going to have a sense of desperation. That was coach's sentiment this week... They played really well, scored the ball really well early. We weren't as physical as we needed to be. Made a couple of adjustments and picked up our physicality and presence defensively, and it helped us."

Shamet's impact began in the final minutes of the first quarter, when he drained a three-pointer to cut the Knicks' deficit to just four points. He carried that momentum into the second, scoring nine points over a combined 13-minute stretch that shifted the game's energy entirely.

"We needed a spark when they hit us in the mouth and Landry gave it to us," Brown added. "It was a big game on the road and it didn't phase him. It was a lot of fun to watch."

Shamet logged 26 minutes on Friday, surpassing his total from the first two games of the series (20). While he had seen some action in blowout wins against the Hawks earlier in the postseason, this performance was a reminder of the depth and resilience that can define a championship-caliber team. For the Knicks, it was another chapter in a season defined by unexpected heroes stepping up when it matters most.