Game 1 Round 1: Brooklyn Nets (1-0) 111 - 102 Philadelphia 76ers (0-1)

First published April 14th 2019

The game actually started well enough for the Sixers. Embiid drawing fouls is a big part of his offense and the first two scoring possessions of the game came from two trips to the line by Joel with two fouls on Allen. He'd go on to go to the line 4 times in the first 5 minutes. For anyone that had doubts, it was visible all game that Allen just can't guard Embiid. Jarrett Allen had 4 fouls and played a little more than 9 minutes before the coach choosing to use Davis or Dudley at the 5 for the rest of the game. I'm curious to see how Allen is used for the rest of the series.

Meanwhile, the Nets opened by having D'Lo spam the Pick and Roll like a MyPlayer. However, Simmons was forcing D'Lo off the 3pt line and Embiid then deters a drive to the rim ( Just Embiid's presence affects the game a lot ), making Russell have no choice but to pull up from midrange. He has no issues with it and a lot of his improvement this year came from him making drop coverages pay. But to start this off, nothing was going in for him and he finished the quarter 0-6. He wasn't shy on creating for others and he had all of his 4 assists in the 1st. He would, however, achieve an equal number of turnovers throughout the game. They seem to happen when he gets lost in the paint without a plan or tries to get a bit too clever.

Joe Harris was the best shooter coming off screens in the entire league this season. And his sharpshooting skills were visible when he went 3-4 from deep in the first quarter. He was the only thing that was working for the Brooklyn starting unit. It's weird that he also ended the game still 3-4, even with people worrying more about him. Sometimes it's hard for these pure shooter-types to keep their level in the playoffs (i.e Reddick this same game). They're hunted more on D and better tagged around screens.

When subs came in, the game would go south fast for the Sixers. Depth has been the sacrifice made to get Butler and Harris but for all people that say that depth and a good bench matters less in the playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets beg to differ. The Nest second unit had a 12-0 run in 3 minutes. This line up is fast, forced turnovers and hit the fastbreak quick.

Embiid would also end the 1st quarter with this awful display of his lack of 3pt shooting. The more he settles with all the space they give him, the better for the Nets.

This same Nets unit would achieve the double digit lead early in the second quarter, which they'd eventually mostly keep for the remainder of the night. LeVert had 14 points in 8 minutes, scoring from every way possible. Philly was continuing their awful shooting night (They missed 12 FGs in a row and were 0-11 from deep in the game at this point) and bad transition play all around and they responded poorly to Brooklyn pushing the pace all game, as well. With Embiid in the locker room to take care of his knee the Brooklyn guards were penetrating inside at will.

I actually thought this was a good Boban game. While he's notoriously bad defending the rim for his size, he had a few plays where he made shots tougher than they had to be and got pretty good production offensively. It would turn to some diminishing returns once they tried to give him every possession for a stretch of the 2nd quarter. I didn't understand the reasoning behind that decision.

The reason the game made it in single digits to half time was Jimmy Butler dragging his team out of the mud. An amazing performance to end the half. He was getting to the line a lot anyway but he scored 11 points in the final 5 minutes and would get 30 points in the third with only 15 FGA. To an extent, it's encouraging to only be down by 8 when you're performing this badly as a team.

Embiid returning showed again the contrast of Philly's defense with or without him. There aren't many bigs that can track back like this. According to Cleaning the Glass, Philly allows more 7.6 points per 100 when Embiid sits.

One of the big things in the second half was Russell's midrange shot finally starting to go in. He'd go 5-7 in the second half from that area and overall scored 19 points on 14 shots, 14 of those points in the third alone. All credit to him for not getting shaken up by the rough start in his first playoff game and playing away. Ice indeed.

The final quarter was fascinating because the Sixers, still looking to score, were actually gaining some momentum from some great defensive plays. Only to be completely undermined by the play that pretty much killed the game: An huge lapse that allows Levert to drain the most open of 3s. I can't explain but this truly destroyed all momentum and the rest of the game might as well have been a 25-point blowout. The Sixers looked dead and never came back. The crowd started to leave according to the broadcast. They were booing them at the very least... Not a good look.

In the final two minutes, Philadelphia went for a full court press and succeeded in creating a few turnovers but was never able to score from them. Not much to say here.

Ben Simmons was able to seemingly disappear every quarter. He'd start aggressive on both ends for a couple of plays, even pushing the pace a little, but then would blend into the hardwood and you'd completely forget he was even there. A piss poor performance considering the expectations. I can understand missing shots, but this type of passiveness is worse. He has to do better in the next game. Just stuff that shit Ben!. It's worrying when the lack of jumpshot wasn't the issue.

I love the Nets bench. Spencer and LeVert are really complete scoring options. Dudley was awesome: defended well, gave you all the effort and intangibles that don't show up in the numbers. He did a good job as a small ball 5 and frustrated the hell out of Embiid. And then there's Ed Davis, one of best offensive rebounders in the league, who i just love and had 8 2nd chance points. This is a team where effort and chemistry are abundant. They know what to do and exectue it well.

The Sixers aren't going to shoot this badly in other games and Embiid's reduced minutes had a big impact. However, defense without Embiid is still awful, their bench is ass and there still isn't any spacing in the starting lineup, things we all knew going in. Simmons needs to do more and don't even have a take about Tobias today. Brett needs to find a way to have half of his stars not just disappear while the others take turns. The Nets took homecourt, they did their part. It's Philly that has to adjust. Let's see how they respond in game 2.

(Reddit)