Sixers Advance to 2nd Round After Sweeping Brooklyn Nets

3 observations after Sixers pull off Embiid-less Game 4 win to sweep Nets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — The Sixers didn't need their star big man to seal a series sweep over the Nets on Saturday afternoon.

With Joel Embiid sidelined, the Sixers earned a 96-88 Game 4 victory over Brooklyn at Barclays Center to advance to the second round of the playoffs. It's the Sixers' first series sweep since 1991 and their first sweep of a seven-game series since 1985.

Tobias Harris led the Sixers with 25 points.

James Harden posted 17 points and 11 assists. Paul Reed had 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said pregame that he is not sure when Embiid might return. 

“From my understanding, they checked his knee out right after the game,” Rivers said, “because he was complaining about some soreness behind the knee, which is always a scary thing when it’s behind the knee with players. There was swelling already, which is way too early, and so we did the MRI. 

“As a coach, I hate those three letters, because it never comes out well. It just feels like whenever they tell a coach, ‘Hey, we’re doing an MRI,’ it doesn’t turn out well most of the time. And this one did not.”

The Sixers will play the winner of the Celtics vs. Hawks series in Round 2 of the playoffs. Boston holds a 2-1 lead.

Here are observations on the Sixers' Game 4 win in Brooklyn: 

Different faces from Game 3 

Reed received the fifth start of his NBA career and his first in the postseason.

The Embiid-less Sixers had a rough opening stint. Harris scored the game’s first bucket on a driving layup and Reed converted a short righty hook through traffic inside, but the Sixers’ offense struggled otherwise. Harden missed a layup and a floater. Sixers guards Harden, Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton combined to begin 0 for 7 from the floor. Harden also threw an ankle-height pass to a wide-open P.J. Tucker in the corner that ended up trickling out of bounds.

Switching remained fundamental for the Nets’ defense, but Brooklyn had less high-effort scrambling to do with no aggressive double teams on Embiid required. The Sixers only put up four three-pointers in the first quarter and hit none of them. 

Expectedly, the Sixers’ defense was less sturdy than usual in the early going with no Embiid. Spencer Dinwiddie scored eight of Brooklyn’s first 10 points and the Nets took a 14-4 lead when Nic Claxton slipped free in the half court for a dunk. 

Under 11 minutes into the game, the Sixers had already used three centers. Rivers subbed small-ball five Tucker out late in the first quarter and inserted Montrezl Harrell, who’d essentially been outside of the Sixers’ rotation since early February. In his five first-half minutes, Harrell had no points (0 for 2 from the floor) and one rebound. The Sixers played the Nets even with Harrell on the court largely due to an effective stretch of zone defense early in the second quarter.

During that run, Seth Curry came up empty on two jumper attempts. The former Sixer got 21 minutes for Brooklyn after not being part of the Nets’ Game 3 rotation. Patty Mills also played for the first time in the entire series. Soon after Mills entered, Shake Milton also made his first non-garbage time appearance of this postseason. The Sixers understandably liked the look of that matchup with Milton’s size (6-foot-5 with a 7-foot wingspan) and comfort getting to his spots against the 6-foot Mills. Sure enough, Milton went at Mills on his first touch and drew a foul.

However, Milton did not magically fix the Sixers’ offensive woes, and he also picked up three quick fouls. The Sixers had a mere 40 points at halftime and trailed by eight. That deficit would have been much worse if shooters like Joe Harris and Curry had knocked down an open jumper or two; Brooklyn’s bench was 0 for 10 from three-point range at intermission. 

Harden, Maxey work through shooting struggles 

By the 4:55 mark of the first quarter, Harden had drawn his most free throws in a game this series; he shot 4 for 4 from the line in the opening period.

Harden’s finishing in the paint was still an issue, though. He blew past Claxton in the second quarter, but the 33-year-old paid for a brief hesitation and got his layup blocked from behind. Harden only made one basket at the rim all day and shot 4 for 18 from the field. Though there's been poor luck involved with some narrow misses, but Harden's timing and instincts for which option's best haven't been sharp overall around the hoop. 

Early in the third quarter, Maxey took his time on a wide-open three, then left it short. After his stellar finish to Game 3, almost nothing seemed to break Maxey’s way. He’s made progress this year in terms of playing through contact and finding savvy methods of drawing fouls, but it would sure be nice if the Sixers if Maxey could reliably draw heaps of free throws when he’s having an off night against a high-level opponent. 

Maxey and the Sixers didn’t assume that bad shooting had to result in a loss, though, and they eventually got a few timely jumpers to do. After a Dorian Finney-Smith three gave the Nets a 53-42 edge, Harden answered with a three of his own. He assisted a Tucker corner three early in the third quarter, too. 

Harris’ scoring was valuable for the Sixers on Saturday. With Embiid out, he showed his skill in the post on several occasions, used his size and strength well, and hit several very tough mid-range jumpers. 

Reed comes up huge in second half 

Reed was certainly not flawless, but the Sixers looked excellent defensively with him on the floor most of the day.

The 23-year-old's capacity to handle all sorts of players shined in the third quarter. He consistently was steady when switched on to guards and wings, forcing contested jumpers. The Nets began to settle for a lot of threes, too. While high three-point volume is an aspect of Brooklyn's team identity, many of the Nets' attempts in the second half didn't come from drives into the paint collapsing the defense, crisp ball movement, or anything close to ideal offensive process. 

Reed featured in a game-turning 14-0 Sixers run and capped it with a layup that lifted his team to a 56-53 lead. Reed rebounded tremendously on both ends of the court, too. At one point in the third quarter, he ripped down an A.J. Brown-eque, one-handed defensive board. 

In the fourth quarter, Melton had a gigantic impact. He drained all three of his three-pointers in the fourth, including one set up by Reed after an offensive rebound. Melton tipped in his own miss with 3:58 remaining to give the Sixers an 85-76 edge. A Reed lefty lay-in extended the Sixers' lead to 13 points and a Harris corner three was ultimately the series dagger.

The Sixers have taken pride this year in finding unconventional ways to win. On Saturday, Reed was a massive reason they did.