Tobias Harris had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame Joel Embiid’s absence to beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-88 on Saturday, completing a sweep that made them the first team to reach the second round of the Philadelphia 76ers. the playoffs.
James Harden had 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the third-seeded 76ers, who will await the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics, the defending Eastern Conference champions, have a 2-1 lead in that series.
The 76ers hope Embiid recovers from his sprained right knee in time for the start of the next series. The MVP finalist and two-time NBA scoring champion was ruled out Friday night, and the 76ers struggled to score without him.
So they turned to their defense and ended up outscoring the Nets 21-4 during a stretch of more than eight minutes in the third quarter.
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James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during Game 4 of the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs on April 22, 2023 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Tyrese Maxey finished a strong series with 16 points, and Paul Reed added 10 points and 15 rebounds after replacing Embiid in the starting lineup.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 20 points and Nic Claxton had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who were swept for the second straight year and have lost 10 straight postseason games. They went 0-8 this season against the 76ers.
Embiid went to the locker room early in Game 3 and was limping a couple of times later in the game, but had a blocked shot to preserve a two-point lead with 8.8 seconds left and then said he was fine. But coach Doc Rivers said Embiid was complaining of pain behind his knee and that he already had swelling shortly after the game. An MRI exam revealed the sprain.
Dorian Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer two minutes into the third quarter made it 53-42, tying the Nets’ biggest lead of the game. But Harden and PJ Tucker hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the Sixers began what became a 14-0 run that made it 56-53 on a layup by Reed.
Maxey’s 3-pointer extended the score to 63-57 with 1:49 left in the period, capping the Nets’ long drought that would have seemed unimaginable when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were in Brooklyn.
Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 4 of the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs on April 22, 2023 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Both were traded midway through the season, and this team fell just as quickly as the one they led last season, when Brooklyn was also the first team eliminated after being swept by Boston.
Embiid averaged just 20 points in the series, 13 below his NBA-leading average of 33.1, as the Nets largely doubled that.
But those double teams were leaving openings for their guards who weren’t available Saturday, and the Sixers went just 2-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half as the Nets led 48-40.
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But the 76ers held them to 40 points in the second half and eventually pulled away to a 14-point lead as the cheers from the Sixers fans in the building grew louder.
TIPS
76ers: Philadelphia’s eight-game winning streak against Brooklyn in the playoffs is the second-longest against an opponent. The 76ers beat the New York Knicks 10 times in a row in the early 1980s.
Nets: The Nets fell to 0-7 all-time at home against the 76ers in the postseason. … Patty Mills played for the first time in the series, going scoreless in five minutes. … Brooklyn’s last playoff win remains Game 5 against Milwaukee in the 2021 Eastern semifinals.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey gestures after hitting a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 4 of a first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, Saturday, April 22, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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Rivers said he doesn’t worry when he sees Embiid appear to be in pain, as he sometimes did during Game 3. His concerns begin when he is told the medical staff wants to do an MRI.
«As a coach, I hate that word, I hate those three letters. I mean, because it never goes right,» Rivers said. «It just feels that way every time you say to a coach, ‘Hey, let’s go get an MRI,’ it doesn’t go well most of the time and this one doesn’t.»