Saturday night saw a pair of upsets in the Eastern Conference. The lower seed won both games, as the Orlando Magic beat the Toronto Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets took down the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brooklyn's 111-102 victory was largely due to huge performances from D'Angelo Russel and Caris LeVert. But Nets forward Jared Dudley blamed the Sixers' lack of chemistry.
Jared Dudley on the Sixers:
"Chemistry matters. When it’s the 4th quarter and crunch time, are they willing to make an extra pass? We know Embiid wants to shoot the ball. We know Jimmy wants the ball. There’s only one ball. It’s not the Warriors where it’s a great passing team."— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) April 13, 2019
Specifically, Dudley mentioned two of Philadelphia's biggest stars, center Joel Embiid and forward Jimmy Butler. Both are great shooters with ball-hog reputations. Dudley believes the Sixers' unwillingness to move the ball late in the game led to their downfall, citing the star-studded Golden State Warriors as a team on the opposite side of the spectrum.
Dudley wasn't great off the bench in Game 1, but luckily for the Nets, he didn't need to be. He tallied just four points and four assists in his 28 minutes on the court. But his defense and toughness are respected around the game.
The 2018-19 regular season wasn't Dudley's best. He averaged just 4.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists pr game as a semi-regular. However, his plus defense made him a valuable bench piece.
Brooklyn went just 42-40 in the regular season, a full nine-games-worse than Philadelphia's 51-31 mark. But stealing a road win in Game One has the Nets poised for a big upset. Game 2 will be played on Monday night at 8:00 P.M. EST. The teams will then head to New York for the next two games on Thursday.
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