PHILADELPHIA — Royce O’Neale slapped the stanchion when actuality set in. Jacque Vaughn replayed wide-open missed pictures in his head on the podium whereas trying to reply questions postgame. Dorian Finney-Smith sat at his locker, solemn.
“F—, man,” he stated.
The Nets had a possibility to even their first-round playoff sequence at one apiece after constructing momentum in a formidable first half in entrance of a raucous, sold-out Wells Fargo Center crowd on Monday.
The wheels fell off within the second, the place the offense sputtered — as soon as once more. The Sixers went on to win, 96-84. NBA groups that take a 2-0 lead within the playoffs go on to win 93% of the time.
And it was a zone protection the Nets had been ill-equipped to deal with that unraveled Brooklyn’s early offense. While star wing Mikal Bridges efficiently dealt with the Sixers’ makes an attempt to blitz him on the catch, it was Cam Johnson who took benefit of the chance — within the first half — scoring 23 factors by means of the primary two quarters.
He solely tallied 5 extra factors on the evening. No different Nets participant had an environment friendly scoring evening. Johnson shot 11-of-19 from the sector. The remainder of the crew shot 19-of-61. Thirty-one %.
“We’re looking for anybody [to step up],” Vaughn stated postgame. “I feel C.J. has the power to do that efficiency again and again. That a lot belief and perception in his means, man it makes me smile fascinated by what his sport is true now and what it’s going to turn out to be.
“Do we need some other people to step up at home? I’ll take all of them. Anyone you want to sign up, put them on a list, I’ll check that thing off. We need everybody to show up and be ready to play.”
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The sport plan labored to a tee — however generally the sport plan works and you continue to find yourself shedding by double digits.
Brooklyn’s sport plan was fairly easy: Take away Philadelphia’s two-best gamers: A former MVP level guard in James Harden, and this season’s presumptive MVP, Joel Embiid.
For the second sport in a row, the Nets held Embiid beneath his season common (33 factors per sport). After scoring 26 factors in Game 1, the blitzing Net protection held the expert 280-pounder to simply 20 in Game 2.
And after Harden pelted the Nets for seven threes and 13 assists within the sequence opener, Brooklyn restricted its ex-star guard to solely eight factors on 3-of-13 taking pictures. He dished seven assists however turned the ball over 5 instances.
The Nets wished to win the turnover margin, and so they did: Embiid and Harden accounted for 13 of the 19 Sixer turnovers on the evening.
The Sixers, although, are deeper than their two superstars. The Nets proceed to seek for solutions past Bridges and Johnson. When the Sixers’ second-half zone thwarted the Nets’ quick tempo from the primary two quarters, Vaughn’s crew couldn’t reply.
Brooklyn scored 14 factors within the third quarter. The sport turned, and the Nets by no means recovered.
“I think that’s where you want someone to step up in that instance,” Vaughn stated postgame. “And so would we have loved for Joe [Harris] to shoot eight threes and make eight threes? Yes, and so then he could have been the guy. So you’re just looking for, in playoff time, someone to make an impact if you’re going to try to take away their main two dudes.”
Yet when the Nets took away Embiid and Harden, the Sixers flexed the depth of expertise that legitimizes them as championship contenders this season.
Tyrese Maxey hit six threes and scored 33 factors on a Nets crew keyed all the best way in on Philly’s two stars. To an extent, Brooklyn’s sport plan was to select its poison.
“There’s an element of that, but at the same time, that’s not a poison you wanna pick,” Johnson stated postgame. “Maxey teeing off open threes from the corner. … Harden was on the wrong side of that one today: Eight points, and that’s what we wanna do, but in games like this, that 33 from Maxey on efficiency is pretty killer.”
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There’s one saving grace for a Nets crew going through the uphill battle related to groups who fall down, 2-0, in a playoff sequence: They are heading residence to Barclays Center, and position gamers are likely to play higher in entrance of their very own followers.
After the Nets generated simply 29 three-point makes an attempt in Game 1, they bought up 42 on Monday — however transformed on solely 13 of them.
“The only adjustment made was that the ball didn’t go into the hole for us,” Vaughn stated postgame. “We got open looks: They tried to go zone, we had enough shooting out there, the ball just didn’t go in. We shot over 40 3s tonight, I can almost guarantee a lot of those looks we’ll take again.”
The percentages aren’t on Brooklyn’s facet, however the Nets hope they’ll get some life from a house crowd that may buoy them to an unlikely victory towards a crew poised for a deep playoff run.
“We need it,” Vaughn stated. “You have a sense of playing at home, and there’s something to waking up in your own bed and getting to the arena in your routine. So we’re not gonna take that for granted going home. Sixers will be ready to play, but looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd for sure.”
“I feel like if we do what we just did tonight: We kept them under 100 points,” added Dorian Finney-Smith, who shot two-for-six from downtown on the evening after taking pictures two-for-two in Game 1. “I mean what else can you ask from a great team like that? If we made shots it would be a different ending.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com