Playoff Preview: Brooklyn Nets vs Sixers
After the James Harden and Ben Simmons trade 14 months ago a Sixers-Nets playoff series was a dream series. There is no Ben Simmons (out for the season) and there is no Kyrie Irving or Kevin Durant. Harden will be facing a different team than he played with and Joel Embiid is clearly the best player in the series.
After the trade deadline, the Nets went 13-15 holding on to the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. With KD and Kyrie leaving, the Nets are now led by the NBA’s ironman Mikal Bridges. Over Bridges’ first 23 games with the Nets, he averaged 27.4 points. Since he got to the Nets he has hit a different gear offensively.
He is not usually an iso player only averaging 2.1 iso possessions with the Nets. Most of his points come off of assists he is good off the ball, cutting to the basket and finding an open spot on the perimeter. The Nets are going to have to find a way to score on the half-court, after the trade they rank 23rd in the offense. Spencer Dinwiddie is an up-and-down iso player and if he can get going the Nets will have a better shot at this series.
Embiid is the leading candidate for MVP averaging 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. He will be by far one of the toughest to guard in the playoffs. Nic Claxton will have to guard him most of the time and can bother Embiid to a certain degree with his length.
In their one post-trade deadline matchup Embiid had 37 points on 12-of-18 shooting and 12-of-13 from the line. His effective field goal percentage (57.3%) and true shooting percentage (65.5%) are both career best and he is shooting 63.2% in the paint. An efficient big man all over the floor.
One thing to watch for with the Sixers is how they are without Embiid on the floor. They’ve been outscored 0.6 points per 100 possessions with Harden on the floor and Embiid off. It might not be something that hurts them in this series but moving on it could have an effect. Watch Doc Rivers’s rotation to see how deep he will go in his bench to keep the team afloat.
A big X-factor for this series will be the Nets’ 3-point shooting. After the Irving/Durant trade, the Nets’ 3-point rate went up from 37.6% to 43.7% which is fifth in the league. They will more than likely lose the battle in the paint and at the free-throw line so don’t be surprised if their 3-point rate goes up. After the deadline when the Nets make 15 or more 3s, they are 9-1 and 4-14 when they don’t.
Embiid has lived at the free-throw line all year. He is averaging at least 10 free throws per game, he is the seventh player in NBA history to do that. His free throw rate of 58.1 attempts per 100 shots from the field is slightly down from last year’s rate (60.2). He is shooting 85.7% from the line, his career best.
Most of the Nets’ wins came with Irving and KD otherwise they have a losing record. The Nets are a good team but they have nobody for Embiid. Sixers in five.
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