In last night’s shock, it was finally the Nets who won 129-100 against the 76ers, the Nets breathed a little and offered themselves a small mattress in the race for the Play-In.
A victory that Brooklyn owes of course to Kevin Durant (25 points/14 rebounds/7 assists) and Kyrie Irving (22 points / 4 rebounds / 5 assists) but also – ironically – to the elders of the Sixers house. Because if Ben Simmons did not play last night, the players who accompanied him to Brooklyn in the trade against James Harden were able to show themselves at the best time.
Especially Seth Curry who came out of his box last night, with 24 points at 10/14 shooting including 4/8 at 3-pts, and 5 interceptions. His points record since playing in the Big Apple.
“It’s a big game, everybody said all week, all day, it wasn’t just a regular season game, for both teams,” Curry said. “They came in with that energy, Joel [Embiid] had that look in his eyes and wanted to dominate everything. We could see it.
“We just responded to intensity. It was a good test for us, to see where we are as a team, to see who we are as a team. You don’t really gain confidence until you win in an environment like this. It was a good step for us. »
Steve Nashthe Nets coach, adds about his new protege:
“You could see that he was really ready for the game and for this environment for his comeback against his former team. »
Besides Steph’s little brother, Andre Drummond (also arrived in February) did the job, especially in defense, where he helped limit Joel Embiid to an ugly 5/17 in shooting. He compiled 7 points/7 rebounds and 3 blocks.
But then the real X factor of this game is James Johnson.
Coming off the bench, the inside finished the match with 16 points (6/7 shooting including 3/3 from behind the arc), 3 rebounds, 3 assists and above all 5 blocks!!! Or as much as the entire Philadelphia team.
So in front Joel Embiid despite everything managed to make stats (in particular thanks to his 15/19 in free throws) by finishing at 27 points and 12 rebounds, but then in terms of James Harden, This is an other story…. The bearded man finished the match with a horrible 3/17 in shooting, for only 11 points scored… And even without mentioning the points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, it was well below his usual performance.
With this defeat, the Doc Rivers men lose their 2nd place in favor of the Bucks.
You unleash your best role players against a superstar, and in fact it’s these same role players who screw you up once you play them again, while on your side, your superstar misses his match… I think we can call that a height!
Via NYPost
