Cameroonian Joel Embiid stars in offensive action in Philadelphia’s game against Brooklyn. (Getty Images/AFP)
With 26 points from their star Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Brooklyn Nets this Saturday 121-101 at the start of the playoffs of the 2022-2023 NBA season.
The Sixersthird seeds in the Eastern Conference, had no trouble scoring their first win against the Netssixth, in a series to the best of seven games in which they are clear favorites.
Brooklyn, which parted ways with leaders Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in February, did not lead on the scoreboard at any point in the game.
the eave Mikal Bridges he was the game’s leading scorer with 30 points, but he didn’t have enough support to counter the many offensive weapons the Sixers have, who broke their record for 3-pointers in a playoff game with 21 of 43 attempts.
embida finalist for the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award for the season, finished with 26 points and 5 rebounds, while the point guard James Harden he had 23 points and 13 assists, as well as 7 triples.
“It’s been a good win for us,” Harden congratulated himself. “The second game is going to be the most difficult of the series for us. We will be ready.”
“The good thing is that it is a series. We will recover and we will change what is necessary ”, said forward Cameron Johnson (18 points) who, like Bridges, came to the Nets from the Suns in the transfer for Durant.
Brooklyn deployed a series of double tags to try to stop Embiid, the top scorer in the regular season with 33.1 points per game, in the paint.
The Cameroonian was more off shooting than usual, with a stat of 7/15, but he took advantage of the defensive attention he received to set up his teammates in a better position.
As many as eight Sixers players made at least one 3-pointer in the game.
Embiid “is the MVP… Do you prefer that I score 40 (points) or that we shoot? Either way it’s fine for us and we’ll be ready,” Harden explained.
The point guard, who came to the Sixers in January 2021 from the Nets, called on his teammates to avoid overconfidence after this resounding victory.
“There will be good times and bad times. You win one game, you lose others. You have to stay calm and have a general perspective, ”he said.
Game 2 of the series will be played again on Monday at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the Sixers.
