The Philadelphia 76ers took a gut punch in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, taking a 111-102 loss at home, where they were fervently booed throughout the course of the game.
Jimmy Butler's game-high 36 points weren't enough to catch up to the Nets, and neither was his impactful play on defense, pulling down nine rebounds, getting two steals and blocking two shots in 39 minutes of action.
“I mean, I think I can score the ball pretty decent,” Butler told reporters when asked about his afternoon, according to Moke Hamilton of Sixers Wire. “The thing that bothered me most though, tell you the truth, is the fact I didn’t have a single assist.”
Butler prides himself in being a well-rounded player and doing whatever it takes to win, but the Sixers just weren't connecting from the outside as they usually would.
Joel Embiid was a woeful 0-for-5 from deep, J.J. Redick was 1-of-4, Mike Scott could only muster a 1-of-8 performance from beyond and Tobias Harris was a relative ghost, mustering only seven shot attempts in the game, including an 0-for-2 mark from distance.
“I think if I’m getting everybody involved and getting everybody else easy shots, I think the game goes a different way,” said Butler. “I’ll go study the film and see how I can find my teammates better to tell you the truth. I think if everybody’s clicking, Tobias [Harris], JJ [Redick], it takes away from my points, so be it, I’m fine with that, but I think we have a better shot at winning.”
The Sixers took poor shots, most of them contested by the younger, more agile Nets, but some looks simply did not go down — which resulted in a night to forget after going 3-of-25 from three on Saturday.