By Dylan MacKinnon
For the Sixers, getting out to a slow start has been a recurring issue. But before tonight they were able to shoot themselves out of them. That was not the case tonight. A night that was supposed to be about the return of Ben Simmons, quickly became about the Nets running right over the Sixers. They ended up losing 129-100.
On the night Harden finished 3-17, Maxey 2-7, And Embiid 5-17. The starters had 15 combined turnovers. Two starters, Maxey and Thybulle, scored only 4 pts on the night. On the other end, KD had 25pts on 10-17 shooting, Kyrie 22 on 8-17, and Seth Curry 24 on 10-14.
Kept Getting Uglier
The Sixers found themselves down 40-23 after one quarter. Embiid had 16 pts, vs the rest of his teams 7. In the quarter, Embiid drew more fouls than his teammates had points. While the MVP showed off why he is the betting favorite, the rest of the Sixers struggled. Seth Curry cooked Tyrese Maxey. James Harden started 1-6. And no one else even managed to score in the first quarter. Meanwhile, The Nets couldn’t seem to miss.
In the second quarter, Embiid had to ride the bench to start after playing almost the entire first quarter. And it didn’t get much better. Harden continued to struggle with his shot, while KD and Kyrie seemed to hit every shot they took. Despite outrebounding the Nets, and drawing way more fouls, the Sixers found themselves in a 21pt hole at halftime. Even worse, The Nets had 11 3pters to the Sixers 13 total field goals.
Things didn’t get prettier for the Sixers in the second half. Any small run they got out on was busted by KD, Irving, or Curry hitting a shot. Maxey never found his shot, nor did Harden. It often felt like Embiid vs the Nets. Embiid gave his best effort, but one man can’t beat an entire team. Especially not one like the Nets, without help. By the end of the 3rd, they trailed 102-70. On a night where everyone talked about Simmons return, it was a different former Sixer making waves. Seth Curry had 24 by the end of the 3rd and finished with ??.
It did not take long into the 4th to empty both benches. The game got away from the Sixers, and they never got back in it.
What’s Next?
The loss drops them to 40-25 and they remain in the 3 seed. Sixers get a couple of days off before traveling to Orlando to play the Magic on Sunday. It will be a game where they hopefully don’t get off to a slow start again.
