With the NBA in an indefinite hiatus due to COVID-19, we continue our day-by-day look back at the history of the Philadelphia 76ers. We continue down our path into Sixers history every day as we look to fill the void left by the absence of basketball.
This edition winds the clock back just a year with Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs with the 3 seed Philadelphia 76ers hosting the 6 seed Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers had entered the playoffs with a ton of expectations a lot of hype after acquiring Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris in the season to join Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and JJ Redick and they were looking to fulfill them. Then, they realized how tough this was going to be.
April 13, 2019
The Sixers entered the playoffs with home-court advantage on their side against a young, yet talented, Nets team and it was assumed that Philadelphia would be able to get through them fairly easily. They did have issues with D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie in the regular season, but that was expected to be fixed in the playoffs.
They were wrong.
Russell had 26 points and four assists and Dinwiddie had 18 points off the bench as they were able to overcome a big game from Butler in a 111-102 shocking win for Brooklyn. Butler had 36 points and nine rebounds while Embiid had 22, 15 rebounds, and five blocks, but Simmons and Redick struggled and Philadelphia was not able to overcome it.
Afterward, Embiid told reporters:
We all got to do a better job. Us. The fans. We have to bring the fun.
The Sixers were able to recover and win the next four games and disposing of the Nets. The Game 1 loss was the definition of a wake-up call for them and even though Brooklyn was feisty throughout the final four games, the Sixers were the better team and it showed. [lawrence-related id=29321,29315,29307]