With the NBA in infinite quarantine, I am continuing my quarantine diary where I give my thoughts to a game whenever a game becomes accessible. These will become a bit more frequent now that all games have become accessible.
Thursday’s edition focuses on Game 5 of the 2019 playoff finale between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets in the finale of a very exciting Round 1 series.
First Quarter
- Joel Embiid turns the ball over into the hands of Jared Dudley and that brings out the boo birds. Who knew that the entire city of Philadelphia would focus all of their ire on a nondescript role player.
- The Sixers begin this game with their hair on fire. Embiid scores the first six points before Jimmy Butler gets a couple of buckets on his own and Embiid scores again. Meanwhile, the Nets can’t find a bucket to save their lives and coach Kenny Atkinson looks as frustrated as a teacher repeating the lesson for the sixth time.
- As Embiid steps to the line, the Philadelphia crowd breaks into a “Dudley sucks” chant. The big fella knocks down both free throws and the lead is 14-0 before the Nets commit a fifth turnover at the 6:34 mark of the quarter.
- At the 6:09 mark of the opening quarter, Spencer Dinwiddie throws a lob to Jarrett Allen for a slam as Brooklyn is finally on the board. That is then followed by a Tobias Harris jumper and another Nets turnover.
- Side note, Joe Harris has had so many good open looks from deep in this series and he just can’t buy a bucket. It’s strange when you consider he led the league in 3-point percentage in the regular season.
- With Embiid off the floor, it’s now Ben Simmons the show. The All-Star point guard is bullying the smaller Nets down low just as much as Embiid has and he finishes off the Sixers scoring with an emphatic slam down the lane. Philadelphia leads it 32-15 after one quarter as they look to move on to Round 2.
Second Quarter
- The Nets are continuing to struggle on the offensive end and Embiid enters back into the game to continue to cause mayhem. He drills a triple to give Philadelphia a 41-17 lead and their energy combined with the struggles of the Nets give this game the feeling that this is going to get out of hand quickly.
- With the game in a blowout state, Brett Brown turns to T.J. McConnell with a little over half a quarter left to play. He makes a jumper before the Brooklyn Harris makes his first 3-pointer of this series since Game 1. He had missed 13 straight from deep. Philadelphia still up 49-29.
- Boy, D’Angelo Russell is having a nightmare game. He misses an easy midrange look and that leads to a JJ Redick triple and he then cut for a layup for a large 54-29 lead. A frustrated Atkinson calls for time as the Wells Fargo Center crowd goes wild. I’m not one to call games “over” with 3:26 to go in the first half and it being *only* a 25-point game, but this one gets the exception. The Nets are cooked.
- The Sixers close the half with more 3-pointers by Butler and Redick and they lead it 60-31 at halftime. If Simmons would have drilled that fallaway jumper at the buzzer, the roof would have exploded at the Wells Fargo Center. It’s the largest lead at halftime of a playoff game for the Sixers in their franchise’s storied history.
Third Quarter
- Another miss by the Brooklyn Harris to begin the half leads to an Embiid triple, empty possessions by the Nets leads to a Redick 3-pointer, and Simmons throws down a slam. It’s a 68-31 lead now and Brooklyn gets a timeout at the 10:04 mark. Throw this one in the books. The Sixers should get their passports ready to visit the Toronto Raptors.
- Embiid throws down a lob from Simmons to extend the lead to 70-32 and he now has 20 points and 10 rebounds. It’s the third quarter, he has played a grand total of 17 minutes thus far, and he has 20 and 10. The big fella is as dominant as they come.
- James Ennis III, McConnell, and Boban Marjanovic enter for Embiid, Redick, and Simmons at the 6:26 mark of the quarter and you have to feel like that’s the last time we see them with Philadelphia leading 76-41.
- Interesting to see Simmons come back in with the game in hand at this point. He returns at 3:39 with Butler and Harris hitting the bench and he immediately gets a bucket and he hits up Ennis III for a dunk. Philadelphia is running away with it in this one. They lead it 95-64 after three quarters.
Fourth Quarter
- Dear God! Jonah Bolden made a 3-pointer! That’s when you know it just isn’t your night if you’re the opponent. The Philadelphia lead is up to 98-66 and on the following possession, Dudley gets called for a foul to the delight of the crowd. Jonathon Simmons also enters the game for Ben Simmons at the 10:54 mark. That must be it for Ben.
- I completely forgot about the random and pointless scuffle between Bolden and Rodions Kurucs late in this one. It caused Bolden and Greg Monroe to be ejected for Philadelphia and Kurucs and Dzanan Musa to be ejected for Brooklyn. That was incredibly pointless.
- Regardless, the Sixers cruise to a 122-100 win to eliminate the Nets. Time to prepare for Round 2.
Embiid posted 23 points and 13 rebounds in just 20 minutes as the Nets had no answer for him at all. Simmons, Redick, and Harris all scored in double-figures while Butler also added nine points. The starting lineup posted an absurd plus-104 in 66 minutes together in this series. It’s now on to the North to take on the Toronto Raptors. [lawrence-related id=27813,27808,27801]