PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are up 1-0 in their first round playoff series with the Brooklyn Nets after a 121-101 win in Game 1 on Saturday. The Sixers picked up the win despite shooting 55.7% from the floor and 13-for-29 from deep.
The Nets had a lot of success on the offensive end to start the game as they shot 63.2% from the floor in the first half and they were 6-for-12 from deep, but it was the Sixers who led by nine at halftime. Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges had 23 points at halftime as he and the Nets were scoring too easily.
“Our defense was (expletive) today (Saturday),” said Tucker. “We gotta get better. We scored the ball pretty easy. We played well on offense. We picked it up the second half. I think that’s what got us to win, but we got to be a lot better.”
Philadelphia was better after halftime. It held Bridges to seven points, and he took only two shots in the second half as the Nets couldn’t find the same rhythm. That is the type of defensive effort Philadelphia has to play with for 48 minutes in order to win in the playoffs.
The Nets were also getting open looks from deep for Seth Curry, Cam Johnson, Joe Harris and others due to them getting downhill and into the paint. When that happens, it is easier to find open shooters.
“I think it was more of they made a lot of the downhill drives. (On) 2-on-2 pick-and-rolls in the middle of the floor, they did a good job of attacking the guys in the pick-and-roll and making shots off that early on,” Tucker added. “I think that was a big deal in the first half. We gotta be more aggressive.”
Regardless, the Sixers were still able to win rather easily despite the defensive struggles. This was one of those performances that make Tucker excited about being with the Sixers for this playoff run.
“We got the best player in the league on our team,” Tucker finished. “So everybody being able to eat off that. We just take whatever they give us. Nobody can guard him one-on-one. So being able to space and be able to attack out of the double teams, being able to read where they’re doubling from and how we can be aggressive going against it.”
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