Knicks survive blowing big lead in OT win over 76ers without injured Karl-Anthony Towns

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.Jalen Brunson scored eight of his game-high 38 points in the extra session, while fellow Villanova alum Mikal Bridges contributed 23 as the Knicks improved to 27-15 ahead of Friday’s home clash against Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and the Timberwolves at the Garden.Josh Hart also registered his fifth triple-double of the season with 10 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and four steals for the Knicks.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.Reserve guards Miles McBride and Cam Payne added two treys apiece in the first two quarters.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.

A Maxey 3-pointer shaved the Knicks’ cushion to six midway through the quarter, but OG Anunoby responded with a triple and Bridges added a driving layup to push the lead back into double digits.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.The game was still even with nine minutes to play, but the Knicks scored the next seven, including a friendly bounce on a corne...