PHILADELPHIA — Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson has been in the playoffs before when he was a member of the Phoenix Suns. Being a part of six separate playoff series has shown Johnson what it takes to win in the postseason. That makes what he said on Saturday important for the rest of the team to know if they are going to pull off the upset.
“O-boards, three-point attempts, and three-point makes,” Johnson said when asked after Saturday’s 121-101 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers about where Brooklyn lost a game in which he scored 18 points. Philadelphia made a franchise playoff-record 21 threes out of 43 attempts (48.8%) in the game and they grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. The 76ers also scored 31 points off of 19 Brooklyn turnovers in a sloppy game by the Nets overall. “They (the 76ers) shot 19 more times than us. It’s hard to beat a team when they shoot 19 more times than you, they make 21 threes and come away with 14 offensive rebounds. It’s just, it makes it (winning) a lot harder,” Johnson said.
In a game where Brooklyn was primarily focused on not letting Joel Embiid get any easy looks, the Nets ended up letting three 76ers make at least three three’s, led by James Harden’s seven made three-pointers. The Nets’ strategy worked for the most part as Embiid had just 15 shots, but he was still able to score 26 points because he generated 11 free-throws. Brooklyn has to find a way to make the double-teams on Embiid and Harden more effective or think of a different defensive strategy.
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