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The Philadelphia 76ers opened up their first-round series with the Brooklyn Nets with a commanding 121-101 victory, thanks to a well-rounded team contribution. Now, they’ll look to go 2-0 before the series heads to Brooklyn for two games.
For the most part, Game 1 went according to script. Mikal Bridges was easily Brooklyn’s best player, scoring 23 of his 30 points in the first half alone. Outside of a decent Cameron Johnson game, the Nets struggled to get consistent production elsewhere. Spencer Dinwiddie threw several lobs that were Dinshittie, and Nic Claxton was mostly a non-factor in Game 1. If the Nets want to even things up, they’ll need both of those guys to play much better.
Something else to watch ahead of Game 2: Nets’ coach Jacque Vaughn called out the officials for “letting” Embiid get away with traveling and several three-second violations. Nick Nurse tried to do the same type of lobbying in last year’s series, but we’ll see if the referees are quicker to blow the whistle in this one.
Jacque Vaughn: "Hopefully they'll be calling travel and three seconds on the big fella (Joel Embiid) next game. So I'll be looking forward to that."
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) April 15, 2023
One adjustment we might see is more playing time for Seth Curry. He still has limitations defensively, but he was Brooklyn’s best bench player. In theory, the Nets have several wing defenders that should be able to make up some slack — and at this point I think nobody wants to see another Spencer Dinwiddie lob crack the backboard.
Spencer Dinwiddie on whether he's still gaining rhythm with Nic Claxton on lobs:
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) April 16, 2023
“I don't throw the baby out with the bathwater with one game. I think there are a couple lobs to Nic that I thought he should have converted, and there was one to Day’Ron that completely sold on me,… pic.twitter.com/IbUUycgynM
On the Sixers side of things, it’ll be fascinating to see how drastically the Nets change their approach. They completely sold out against Joel Embiid, doubling him the second he caught the ball. It’s part of what limited Embiid to just 26 points, but it opened up things for James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and even P.J Tucker. Embiid’s been so effective with passing out of double teams, and it might force Brooklyn to defend in a different way.
Many people will be playing close attention to Harden in this game. He was big in the Sixers’ first game, putting up 23 points and 13 assists. However, it looked like he lacked burst and hops to finish effectively — he was only 1 of 8 on all two-point shots. We’ve seen Harden work his way back into rhythm before, so it’s possible we’ll see a more well-rounded scoring effort from The Beard.
In regards to possible Sixers adjustments, we likely won’t see much of a difference, if any at all. They comfortably took control for the majority of the game, and opened things up in the second half. The only area of concern might be putting additional defensive focus on Bridges, but they might just be okay with him getting his. His individual offense has taken a serious leap, but he isn’t really setting up teammates — he only had one assist in Game 1.
With just 48 hours between Games 1 and 2, Brookyln will have to make some major adjustments if they hope to tie up the series and avoid falling in a 2-0 hole. With that said, here’s all the information you need for Game 2 between Philadelphia and Brooklyn:
Game Details
Who: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets
When: 7:30 pm EST, Saturday, April 16th
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: TNT, NBCSP
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
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