Joel Embiid, limping throughout the game and perhaps lucky not to have been ejected for kicking a Nets player in the groin area, blocked a potential tying basket with 8.8 seconds left as the Philadelphia 76ers beat Brooklyn 102. -97 on Thursday night to take a triple. -0 lead in first round series.
Tyrese Maxey hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining for the 76ers, who can advance to the second round with a win Saturday in Brooklyn.
With James Harden ejected in the third quarter for another groin bruise and Embiid not looking like his usual dominant self, Maxey took over on offense and scored eight straight points, turning a five-point deficit into a 99-96 lead. in his triple. -pointer.
Spencer Dinwiddie made a free throw, then appeared to have a way to the basket for a tying layup before Embiid got up and hit him. PJ Tucker made a free throw to make it 100-97, and the Nets lost it on their next possession.
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Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles against Dorian Finney-Smith #28 of the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of game three of the Eastern Conference first round playoffs at Barclays Center on April 20, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Maxey scored 25 points and Harden had 21 for the 76ers. Embiid shot just 5 of 13 but had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Mikal Bridges scored 26 points and Dinwiddie had 20 for the Nets, who have lost nine straight playoff games and are on the verge of being swept for the second straight year. Cam Johnson scored 17 points.
Embiid went to the locker room for treatment after retiring in the first quarter, then limped several times later.
The 76ers might have been lucky that he was still in the game at the time.
Nets fans loudly booed the decision not to eject him for kicking Nic Claxton’s leg into the groin in the first quarter and those not in the arena took to social media to ask why he wasn’t, since that Golden State’s Draymond Green was about to step on it. Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis in Game 2 of their series. Green was then suspended by the NBA for Game 3.
James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers looks to pass the ball during the first half of Game 3 of the team’s NBA basketball first round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, April 20, 2023 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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But the ruling came against the 76ers in the third quarter when Harden, while closely guarded by Royce O’Neale, waved his arm and hit the forward, who fell to the floor in pain.
The Nets raced to 19-11, getting an emotional boost after Embiid’s flagrant foul. But Philadelphia would rally to lead 32-28 after one, extending the lead to 51-40 on Maxey’s 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining in the half and the lead held 11 into halftime.
But Bridges got the Nets off to a quick start in the third and Johnson scored 13 points, helping the Nets outscore the 76ers 35-18 in the third to push an 82-76 lead into the fourth.
TIPS
76ers: Tobias Harris scored 15 points.
Nets: Brooklyn’s last playoff win was Game 5 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals, before Milwaukee rallied to win that series and, ultimately, the NBA title. … The Nets fell to 0-6 against the 76ers at home in the playoffs. They are 4-5 on the road, with one win in 2019 and three in 1984, when they stunned the defending NBA champions 3-2 in the first round.
Philadelphia 76ers’ De’Anthony Melton (8) dunks against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of Game 3 in an NBA basketball first round playoff series on Thursday, April 20, 2023, in New York . (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II))
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SECRET STATISTICS?
76ers coach Doc Rivers was responding to a question about how the Nets were defending Harden when he revealed something that created some puzzled looks in the room.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m campaigning, but I am,” Rivers said. “James and Joel lead the league in missed calls, foul-wise. They got the most fouled, and by the way, that’s not a Sixers stat. I’m just saying.”
When asked for more details on this stat, Rivers only replied: “I’ll just say it’s a stat that we know is there.”
