The Philadelphia 76ers are one win from advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals thanks to a 112-108 Game 4 victory at the Brooklyn Nets—a game that required tons of adversity, including an 18-7 run to close the game.
There are two categories to this classic—basketball and non-basketball related storylines. Let's start with the nonsense that never should've happened, but sparked the Sixers comeback.
Irrelevant Jared Dudley Became Relevant
I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of Sixers fans didn't know who Jared Dudley was prior to this series. The Nets energetic, yet nagging role player inserted himself into the picture when he called Ben Simmons "average" in the half court.
After a magnificent dud by Dudley (see what I did there?) in Game 3, he made his presence known Saturday afternoon, hitting a couple of three's, giving a subtle elbows and shoving Joel Embiid in the back after the Sixers big man fouled Jarrett Allen with a hard block in the third quarter.
That sparked a small scuffle, as Jimmy Butler came to Embiid's defense by getting in Dudley's grill. No punches were thrown, but there was a tiny scrum that somehow made its way over the court side seats behind the Nets basket, causing some spectators to fall over. Dudley and Butler were ejected, while Embiid was assessed a flagrant one foul.
Dudley's importance to the Nets doesn't even come close as to what Butler means to the Sixers, thus it was a much bigger loss for the 76ers than Brooklyn. I don't blame Butler, who was just trying to help a teammate. I blame the referees for letting the game get out of control. The officials allowed Dudley to get away with his subtle cheap shots, which eventually escalated to mayhem.
But Dudley's decision eventually backfired, as it woke up Embiid, Simmons and the 76ers—jump starting their thrilling win. If I were Dudley, I wouldn't want to show my face in Brooklyn this week.
Mike Scott With The Shot Of His Life
Mike Scott's offensive contributions this series have been few and far between. And even though he can certainly shoot, just about every time he did was cringeworthy based on his low percentage of success.
However, Scott made the biggest shot of his Sixers tenure, and maybe even his life—drilling a corner three with 19.7 seconds left to put the Sixers up by two, and for good.
Scott will forever be a 76ers legend.
The Good and Bad of Embiid
Embiid's aggressiveness increased after the Dudley scuffle, and he ended up leading the the game with 31 points, to go along with 16 rebounds, seven assists and six blocked shots.
Before that, it seemed like the big guy was hesitant to go to work on the block, as well as drive to the basket like he typically does. Maybe he didn't trust his knee early on. Maybe it took him a while to get loose. Either way, if Embiid was 100 percent healthy, the Sixers would've swept this series, because once Dudley shoved him in the back, the big guy took over—playing more minutes anyone expected with 32.
Simmons Reverted To "Game 1 Simmons" Before The Dudley Incident
The 76ers won Games 2 and 3 because Simmons was on a mission to take control.
For some reason, Simmons level of assertiveness went down significantly in the first half Saturday afternoon, only taking one shot after the first quarter and three by halftime. That's not a recipe for success. But again, Simmons decided to take matters into his own hands much more after Dudley and Butler were tossed.
He ended up finishing with 15 points (7-12 FG) and eight assists.
Redick Neutralized
Kenny Atkinson and the Nets haven't hid their desires to take JJ Redick out of this series. They accomplished that Saturday, as Redick wasn't nearly as effective offensively as he was the previous two games.
But, the sharp shooter made a huge three in the fourth, so at least there was something positive from the 34-year-old.
Another Big Game From Tobias
While Embiid, Simmons and Redick were up and down, Tobias Harris probably played the most complete game of any Sixer. He racked up a game high 43 minutes, scoring 24 points on 10-for-20 from the floor. The Long Island native certainly didn't disappoint in his homecoming this past two games at Barclays Center.
LeVert Too Much For The Sixers
Atkinson made the no brainer decision to insert Caris LeVert into the starting lineup, and it paid dividends. LeVert got pretty much any look he wanted—whether it was something off a pick-and-roll, a healthy three-point attempt or a lob for whoever became open as a result of the Sixers help defense.
Simply put—no one on the Sixers could stick LeVert, and their team defense was extremely ineffective against him.
He's the type of player in which the 76ers should take their best defenders—Butler, Simmons or Ennis—and tell those guys to never leave LeVert if you're assigned to him.
At the same time, Spencer Dinwiddie and D'Angelo Russell were just as difficult to cover, which was expected.
The Sixers aren't going to stop those guys. They may slow them down at times, but the key is to simply out score them. It's not complicated. That being said, the Sixers defense down the stretch was excellent, as evident from the 18-7 run.
Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers
The 76ers had been doing an excellent job protecting the ball in this series prior to Game 4. Then all of sudden, it felt like one of those regular season games in April when the Sixers couldn't take care of the ball to save their lives.
There were way too many turnovers in the first half that turned into a bunch of Brooklyn points. The Sixers cooled things down in the second half, until the closing moments when Embiid made a couple of very costly passes.
In the end, it didn't matter in terms of the bottom line. But 20 turnovers resulting in 25 points is simply unacceptable.
