January 04, 2025
Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images
The Sixers had plenty to celebrate as they blew out the Nets in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
BROOKLYN, NY — The Sixers returned to the East Coast for the final leg of their six-game road trip, a Saturday night battle against the undermanned Brooklyn Nets. After disappointing losses against Sacramento and Golden State to end their West Coast swing, the 13-19 Sixers were suddenly desperate to get back in the win column before returning home for three consecutive games on their own floor.
For approximately 100 seconds, the Sixers looked like they did not realize a sense of such desperation should exist. For the remaining 2,780 seconds, they had complete control over everything that happened on the floor. The result: a stress-free win that the Sixers needed badly. Here is what stood out from their 123-94 victory in Brooklyn:
Joel Embiid, who was a game-time decision due to his left foot strain, was eventually upgraded to available, while Kelly Oubre Jr. missed his third straight game due to a left hand strain. After starting veteran guard Kyle Lowry in Oubre's place twice in a row — with shaky results — Sixers head coach Nick Nurse moved Lowry to the bench and went big, sliding Guerschon Yabusele into the starting five.
Nurse's full starting lineup: Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Caleb Martin, Yabusele and Embiid.
Meanwhile, old friend Ben Simmons was a late scratch for Brooklyn due to left calf soreness.
In the blink of an eye, Nets guard D'Angelo Russell had given Brooklyn the lead with a three. After 100 seconds of action, the Sixers were already trailing Brooklyn 11-0. Embiid was issued an early technical foul for not letting go of guard Keon Johnson during a dead ball:
Joel with an early tech, wrapping up Keon Johnson here: pic.twitter.com/3BKqAbBuq2
— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) January 4, 2025
Coming off their worst loss of the season against an inferior Brooklyn team missing its two best players, the Sixers had no business being in an 11-point hole within 1:40 of the game tipping off. Embiid looked disengaged before being whistled for the technical, too, often an ominous sign early in games.
Whether it was the brief skirmish or the reality of a potential three-game losing streak staring him in the face that did the job, Embiid quickly woke up and took complete control of the game. He totaled 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists in the opening quarter alone as he attacked Brooklyn defenders without relenting.
big a̶p̶p̶l̶e̶ fella. pic.twitter.com/njTso1BQJD
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 4, 2025
George once again struggled as a shooter to begin this game, but played the entire first quarter alongside Embiid, collecting four assists and three rebounds. Luckily, one of his teammates on the wing helped shoulder an early offensive burden — and it was not someone who is ever expected to do so.
Martin gave the Sixers a significant offensive punch in this one — George kicked off the team's scoring with his lone early triple, then Martin followed up with one of his own before converting an acrobatic and-one at the rim. He finished with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field in the first half. Before the game, Nurse said he felt Martin was playing close to his best basketball, and in the first quarter it was taken to another level. Martin cannot be expected to serve as a self-creation scoring option on any sort of consistent basis, but it was encouraging to see him show the ability to do so in a pinch.
The Sixers quickly turned an 11-point deficit into a 10-point advantage, leading Brooklyn 29-19 after the first quarter. Embiid and Martin were terrific offensively, but the team's intensity on the defensive end following Brooklyn's opening haymaker is what made the difference. The Nets scored eight points in the final 10 minutes and change in the quarter. They admittedly have very little quality offensive personnel right now, but the Sixers' focus on shutting down Brooklyn's offense was evident.
Things only got better for Martin as the half progressed — and he still could not miss. Martin's first half in Brooklyn might have represented his best all-around half as a Sixer to date — including his brilliant three-point shooting display in the second half off the team's win over the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day. Martin made every shot he took prior to intermission, and gave the Sixers stellar defense against Russell on top of it all.
yessirrrr c. mart! pic.twitter.com/Mx95hPhE9k
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 4, 2025
Martin's line as the teams returned to their locker rooms at halftime: 17 points in 17 minutes, 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc, three rebounds and three assists, a steal and a block. His primary defensive assignment, Russell, managed just five points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. Russell was ruled out for the second half due to a right shin contusion.
As terrific as Yabusele's play has been on both ends of the floor for the Sixers this season, the most impressive aspect of his first year with the team might be the sheer joy his teammates express every time he makes a highlight play. The Sixers staged a quick run to close the half and bring their lead to 64-47, and George notched his fifth assist with a pass to Yabusele, setting up a slam which — somehow — generated an entire team's worth of hysteria:
*CUE THE CHEST POUNDING* pic.twitter.com/bqirmREkLX
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 5, 2025
Embiid pounded his chest with a particular ferocity which was incredibly amusing.
Yabusele starting over Lowry was not the lone rotation tweak from Nurse worth mentioning. Rookie two-way wing Justin Edwards rejoined the rotation for the second time in three games. Nurse said before Saturday's game that he had gone to Edwards in Sacramento because he felt the team needed an infusion of athleticism on the wing. On that night, he joined Ricky Council IV in the rotation, but on Saturday, he replaced Council, who was completely out of the picture.
Despite Embiid and Maxey's two-man game bordering on unstoppable at this point, Nurse indicated before the game that his goal was to pair Embiid with George more often, allowing the two of them to continue building on-court chemistry which Nurse hopes can create a separate lethal two-man game. This also enables Maxey to have the offense completely revolve around him as the operator of lineups comprised of depth pieces and role players (Martin's explosion in the first half helped him out a great deal in this regard).
Once the Sixers surged ahead in the immediate aftermath of Brooklyn's opening run, it became clear that they simply had too much talent for the Cam Johnson- and Cam Thomas-less Nets to handle. That only became more evident when Russell, the Nets' only player with any feasible chance of getting hot, went down before the start of the second half.
For the Sixers, this was a game in which they just had to show up and avoid beating themselves. They did both of those things, and a dominant victory ensued.
Up next: The Sixers will finally return home, with the first of three games in Philadelphia coming up on Monday night against the sputtering Phoenix Suns.
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