76ers head coach Brett Brown was asked prior to Monday night's Game if Saturday's dreadful Game 1 loss to the Brooklyn Nets was a wake up call.
"For sure anxiety and urgency gets expedited when you lose at home in Game 1," Brown said. "And because we've all kind of been doing this a while, you learn—and you try to avoid this in a regular season where the highs and lows aren't as dramatic—in the playoffs it's hard to avoid that. Even as sane as I try to be and preach above sort of psychological stability and a balance, you're mindful tonight is a really big game.
"And so you can't deny that, and so be it. That's what you coach and you play for, and there's nothing like the NBA playoffs. And so you're verbiage, sense of urgency, or whatever words you chose, we feel it. We feel it, and I think that's a good thing. I really do. I look forward to watching us respond to our loss at home from the other night."
The Sixers did just that in Game 2 of their first round playoff series, blowing out Brooklyn 145-123 thanks to a 51-23 third quarter, which included a 21-2 run to start the second half.
"'Ok Brett, I see you,'" Jimmy Butler told reporters. "Yeah, he came in here. Said a few cuss words. Shocked me a little bit, to tell you the truth, but I like it. That's that type of energy I love. He was making sure everybody did their job, letting them know, 'you can't have it. It's not winning basketball.' And we came out and did what we were supposed to do."
So far, I'm on point with predicting this series. You won't like what I have to say about Game 3 coming up on Thursday, but in the meantime, here are Game 2 observations for you to enjoy.
1-Ben Simmons Came To Play
Whether it's because he heard the noise, was flat out embarrassed by his Game 1 performance, a combination of both or none of the above, Ben Simmons was ready for Game 2, compiling his second career postseason triple double of 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in 30 minutes. He was aggressive from the jump, driving downhill to the hoop, hustling for second chance opportunities and playing inspired defense. When he wanted to be, Simmons was the best player on the floor. It was a refreshing site.
"He's was our bell ringer tonight," Brown said. "And the fact that he had 10 rebounds, 12 assists, (18) points was fantastic, but I thought he defensive effort on D'Angelo (Russell) was spectacular—his aggression especially."
Even more encouraging was Simmons playing to the crowd like a pro, urging them to make noise in the opening minutes, and eventually cupping his hand to his ear, just like Allen Iverson used to, in the third quarter after the Sixers went on a big run.
"I was thinking about the boos from last game," Simmons admitted. "But, I got a lot of love for this city, the fans here and every time I step on this floor, I try and play as hard as I can, and I was just showing that. The hustle I try to give each and every game is not only for my teammates, my family, it's for the city.
2-Embiid Unstoppable
Joel Embiid is clearly on some sort of minutes restriction, but he made the most of his time on the floor in Game 2, whether it was defensively or on offense.
After jacking up low percentage shots in Game 1, Embiid played his game Monday night, going to work on the block against Nets big man Jarrett Allen. The big guy finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in just under 21 minutes.
"Missing so many games, it's hard to find a rhythm, and also being on minute restrictions, it's hard to find a rhythm, so whenever I'm out there I just kind of forget about pain and just play through it and just try to do the right things," Embiid said.
3-Bobi Jumpers
Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson didn't hide the fact that the Nets were going to keep letting Simmons and Embiid shoot perimeter jumpers. I guess that strategy also existed for Boban Marjanovic.
Bad idea. Marjanovic was sensational when he filled in for Embiid, constantly hitting wide open mid range jumpers, as well as being effective on the block. He finished with 16 points on eight-for-14 from he floor, to go along with eight rebounds in 18 minutes.
4-Tobias Bounce Back
If the Sixers want to make this series easier on themselves, they need to figure out how to get Tobias Harris going. Harris continued to struggle early on Monday, then showed improvements from his slump by reaching double figures scoring, in addition to a game high plus-30. He scored 19 points on five-for-12 from the floor and two-for-four from three-range.
At first glance, you saw more of a slump. But he, like others on the Sixers, turned things around in the third quarter.
5-Spreading The Wealth
76ers finished with six guys in double figures scoring, including reserves Mike Scott and Marjanovic. It's important that multiple players contributed, which wasn't the case in Game 1. Butler carried the Sixers Saturday afternoon, which was an ineffective recipe.
Monday, Butler was the only starter not to reach double figures scoring, which is not something you want, but shows how well the ball was moving. Once again, the Sixers won the assists battle. This time, it resulted in a win.
6-Sixers Took Advantage off Brooklyn Turnovers
One of the Sixers weaknesses this season was turnovers resulting in points for the opposition. It was the other way around Monday, with the Sixers scoring over 29 points off 14 Brooklyn giveaways.
7-Russell, Dinwiddie, LeVert Neutralized
After combining for 67 points in Game 1, talented Brooklyn guards D'Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert finished with 48 points between one another. Good job the by the Sixers.
8-76ers Fans Instantly Into The Game
A lot was made over the weekend and Monday before Game 2 how Sixers fans were booing loudly in Game 1. The negative, yet justified, atmosphere was a topic of debate.
Things were completely different this time around though, as fans were extremely encouraging from the opening tip, showing tremendous support for a team trying to even this series as one.
Sixers players weren't the only ones on the same page Monday night. The team and their fans were as well.
9-Nets Took Care Of Business In Philadelphia
Kudos to Marc Zumoff and Alaa Abdenalby for bringing up on the NBC Sports Philadelphia telecast that the Nets did what they needed to in Philadelphia by splitting the first two games. Even though the Sixers won easily in Game 2, they now need to take care of business themselves in enemy territory. If they play like they did Monday, that won't be an issue.
