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The Philadelphia 76ers find themselves on another winning streak after taking down the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers have already notched double-digit wins and reincorporated Nicolas Batum seamlessly.
Joel Embiid posted 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Tyrese Maxey finished his night with 25 points and 10 assists. De'Anthony Melton had 21 points, five rebounds and three steals. Lonnie Walker IV scored 26 points off the bench (10 of which came in the fourth quarter when the game was mostly decided) and Mikal Bridges had 18 points.
The Nets kept it close with the Sixers in the first half before their door hinges got totally blown off. Let's jump into the film.
5. Directing traffic
One of Embiid's best highlight-reel plays was a dish to Robert Covington in the dunker spot. With how the play unfolded, Embiid actually made it happen five seconds before the feed.
Embiid pointed to Melton to get back up to the arc to fix the spacing on the floor. He follows suit and gets the pass from Patrick Beverley, but first tries to get him to swing the pass to Danuel House Jr. Melton quickly dumps it into Embiid with a bounce pass.
Once the pass comes into Embiid, it's a two-on-one because the Nets do not want to leave Royce O'Neale by himself in the paint. When the help comes, the Sixers' big man takes a dribble and wraps the pass around the defenders for an easy layup. Lonnie Walker IV is in a position to rotate over to Covington — and with his athletic pop, he could disrupt the shot. But instead, RoCo is gifted a wide-open look.
Playmaking excellence from Embiid has been a constant for Philly in his recent games. He has tallied at least seven assists four times in his last five games. The big man has talked frequently about how making the right play and sharing the ball are his desires on the court. So far, he's walking that walk to precision.
4. Brooklyn Bridges
Before allowing himself to fade out of the offense in the second half, Bridges torched Philly in the first half with 16 points on 7-11 shooting. With and without the ball, the almost-Sixer was a scoring machine through the first two quarters.
A dribble handoff with Spencer Dinwiddie showed how well he can read how the defense is guarding him. The Nets guard got the ball to the high post and set up a pindown for Bridges. But the Sixers were ready to pounce on it when Batum pointed it out and Melton stayed above the screen.
But Bridges lets the Sixers play up and instead stays back. He drills the triple from the corner, an area of the floor where he has been uncharacteristically cold to start the season. On this shot, at least, he was pure.
Bridges disappearing in the second half was revealing of the way he still has to grow into the role as a focal point of an offense and how much offensive juice the Nets lack outside of Cam Thomas, who was out for this game.
3. Wise veteran play
Although this Maxey three-point attempt ends in a miss, it's a good read of the floor from Embiid and Nicolas Batum.
Embiid brings the ball up and the Nets are bringing help defenders over early to make sure he doesn’t have a clear driving lane. Threatening to pass it to Melton on the roll brings Bridges over an additional step.
Maxey is left open on the wing and Batum makes sure he gets room to fire by setting a screen on Bridges. The Sixers' former veteran forward, P.J. Tucker, was also adept at setting impromptu screens to get shooters open. Batum has been great at doing small things that can make a big difference.
This miss from Maxey was a clunky one but he would eventually get some shots to fall. Funnily enough, the shots he ended up hitting were of a considerably more difficult degree than this one. He drained shots on the move and off of his dribbling.
2a. Reading the progressions
This two-part sequence shows how defenses will adjust to take away one thing and how that opens up something else. On consecutive possessions in the second quarter, Maxey takes what the defense gives him out of the pick-and-roll with Embiid.
Maxey goes left and with the Nets in drop coverage, he feeds Embiid. This is technically a pocket pass from Maxey but the pocket he has is so big that it might as well be called a suitcase swing. Embiid screening so high up creates more space for the speedy Maxey to attack — and because he's comfortable letting it fly from deep, his defender has to play all the way up there. After the dish, Embiid rises up to drill the jumper. Simple enough.
The next time down, the Nets make sure that Embiid won’t get such an open look.
2b. Reading them again
The Sixers go back to the Maxey-Embiid pick-and-roll going left. This time, Nic Claxton cheats over to the paint to make sure Embiid's look at the hoop isn’t clean. Maxey adjusts accordingly and passes out to the perimeter. This time, Marcus Morris Sr. is spotting up in the right corner and drains the open triple with ease.
Maxey being able to recognize the change in the defense and make the new right play — all while going at very high speeds — is super encouraging for the Sixers. He hits Morris right on the money with a clean pass, too.
1. Philly basketball fans, rejoice
Once upon a time, in circumstances much direr than a November NBA game, the Villanova Wildcats ran a very similar play to win the national championship. Highlighting Maxey's playmaking one more time, this play shows how defenses are treating him like the dynamic scorer he is.
Maxey pauses for a second as Harris trails behind him. It's reminiscent of Ryan Arcidiacono getting space for Kris Jenkins to fire away (though without a screen near halfcourt to free up Maxey even more). But here, the Sixers guard keeps the ball and darts past the defense. Dinwiddie looks ready to switch with Royce O'Neale, but there’s no vice versa here. Maxey has found a lane.
Just as he entered the inside of the arc, Maxey created rim pressure. Trendon Watford slid over to cut off Maxey — keeping Nic Claxton from a pick-your-poison situation between a floater or a lob to Paul Reed — but Danuel House Jr. was all alone in the corner because of it. Easy money.
Dinwiddie may not be the most intimidating defensive presence but Maxey gets a step on him in the blink of an eye despite the Nets guard's position closer to the hoop. His acceleration — both in terms of his literal foot speed and the rate at which he is developing — is truly special.
