PHILADELPHIA – Superstars get the good thing about the whistle – and typically, meaning no whistle in any respect.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn made certain to level out that Sixers celebrity heart Joel Embiid bought away not solely with touring violations but additionally three seconds within the paint violations he felt went uncalled in Brooklyn’s 121-101 Game 1 loss to the Sixers on Saturday.
“Hopefully they’ll be calling travel and three seconds on the big fella next game,” Vaughn stated after the loss. “So I’ll be looking forward to that.”
The Nets’ coach doubled-down forward of observe on Sunday when requested about his feedback about Embiid touring in Game 1.
“He only got one pivot foot,” Vaughn stated at Temple University’s Pearson & McGonigle Hall. “I’ll just say that.”
Starting heart Nic Claxton, nonetheless, stated the Nets can’t count on officers to make these calls on Embiid.
“They’re not gonna call that. It’s not gonna be called,” he stated forward of Sunday’s observe. “You’ve just gotta guard him. I don’t see that being called. I just don’t see it.”
Asked how the Nets want to regulate to defend Embiid – who scored 26 factors with 11 coming on the foul line – Claxton stated: “Just taking pride in defense. I think we just need to guard up a little bit more. The double teams are good but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta be able to man up and get stops – or make it difficult.”
DFS OR DNP?
Starting Nets ahead Dorian Finney-Smith might not see prolonged taking part in time within the playoffs.
Finney-Smith projected as each a floor-spacing ahead and a small-ball 5 able to guarding a number of positions in Brooklyn’s first-round playoff matchup in opposition to the 76ers.
But after he performed simply 18 minutes on Saturday, Vaughn stated this explicit matchup in opposition to Embiid might depart Finney-Smith with fewer minutes than his season common.
“That was us playing big, and so that was just a byproduct of that,” Vaughn stated after Sunday’s observe.
Vaughn as an alternative opted for extra measurement. He performed beginning heart Nic Claxton half-hour and entrusted second-year backup huge man Day’Ron Sharpe with a 17-minute playoff workload. Vaughn additionally performed Royce O’Neale 28 minutes and gave Joe Harris 14 minutes, each off the bench.
Starting ahead Cam Johnson performed 27 minutes – a quantity that ought to enhance in Game 2 given his manufacturing (18 factors on four-of-six taking pictures from downtown), and star scorer Mikal Bridges performed 34 minutes.
If Vaughn sticks to his similar rotation sample, Finney-Smith, who averaged 28 minutes per recreation as a starter after the commerce to Brooklyn, might see extra diminished taking part in time – regardless that he made each of his three-point makes an attempt and has a status as one of many NBA’s extra rugged three-and-D wings.
“If you’re going to play Day’Ron those minutes, play Nic his minutes, there’s only a certain amount of dudes who can be out there,” Vaughn stated after Sunday’s observe. “I thought (Dorian’s) ability to pick up (James) Harden early was good, and anytime he’s making 3s for us is a plus for sure.”
SHARPE GROWING PAINS
Vaughn stated there have been some highs and lows to Sharpe’s first profession NBA playoff minutes.
The huge man out of North Carolina tallied six factors, six rebounds and 4 assists in Game 1 in opposition to the 76ers. The spotlight of his night time was a chasedown block on Harden, a second that sucked the life out of the Wells Fargo Center even only for a fleeting second.
Sharpe, nonetheless, additionally bit on a pump pretend and fouled Embiid, who shot an ideal 11-of-11 from the foul line on the night time.
“For his first playoff game I thought he did some good things,” Vaughn stated on Sunday. “It’s a learning curve and so you stay down on an Embiid pump-fake that’s a learning curve, whether you go block James’ shot at the rim that’s great effort and that’s a learning curve so you give him credit for being ready to play and giving us some good minutes.”
GLASS WOES CONTINUE
The Sixers out-rebounded the Nets on the offensive glass, 14-5, and outscored them in second-points, 21-3.
Starting ahead Cam Johnson defined that as a result of the Nets are doubling Embiid and rotating to open shooters, it turns into tougher to box-out.
“So we just have to have a continued, high attention to guys crashing, putting bodies on them. It gets physical. It’s physical, and sometimes they’re coming in clear and you just got to take a hit, give a hit, whatever it is,” stated Johnson, who grabbed simply 4 rebounds at 6-foot-8. “Definitely an area I can be better in for sure.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com