Player grades: Joel Embiid, James Harden carry past Sixers past Nets
NEW YORK–The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night looking to start a winning streak after knocking off the New York Knicks on Friday at home. The Nets are a much different-looking bunch with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant no longer in tow, but that doesn’t mean they were going to lie down.
The Nets played smart team basketball and led by as many as 12 as their new additions, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, made big impacts in their Nets debuts. However, Joel Embiid and James Harden refused to let the Sixers go down in this one as Philadelphia prevailed 101-98 after Spencer Dinwiddie made a 3 at the buzzer that was then overturned after review as it was late leaving his hands. Embiid had 37 points and 13 rebounds and Harden added 29 points and six assists with six rebounds.
Tyrese Maxey had 12 off the bench, Georges Niang added five, and Tobias Harris had three on 1-for-9 shooting. Jalen McDaniels made his Sixers debut and had five points and four rebounds.
Here are the player grades following the win:
James Harden: B+
Receiving some boos from the Barclays Center crowd in his first game back in Brooklyn since the trade, Harden seemed to be focused mostly on scoring. When he did try to set teammates up, the Sixers were missing wide-open looks as the starting unit got off to a slow start. Embiid’s scoring kept the Sixers from falling behind too much. When Embiid was on the bench, the offense was tailored to fit Harden and he had a lot of success. Overall, he was good in terms of his scoring, but he had some real defensive issues stopping dribble penetration.
De'Anthony Melton: D
There were a few weird moments for Melton on the defensive end where he looked to be out of place and that allowed Brooklyn to find open 3-point opportunities for themselves. He also struggled on the offensive end as he didn’t take advantage of the open looks he was receiving.
Tobias Harris: D
The start for Harris wasn’t great. He wasn’t engaged on the defensive end as he normally is and he couldn’t get anything to fall. He was getting to his spots and he was also able to get to the basket, but the shots just weren’t falling for him. He did finally get a shot to fall when he drilled a corner triple toward the end of the first half. Other than that, he wasn’t able to contribute in a positive way as he just had a rough night on both ends of the floor.
PJ Tucker: C
There were a few really good defensive moments for Tucker that helped the Sixers stay in the game when it looked like the Nets were going to take control. However, he missed an open corner triple as he wasn’t able to contribute on the offensive end in that way. He did eventually finally score when Embiid found him when he was being doubled.
Joel Embiid: A
The big fella got off to a good start on the offensive end as he used his size and strength to bully Nic Claxton on the low block. When Simmons entered the game for Brooklyn, he matched up with Embiid. At that point, the Nets doubled Embiid and he smartly passed out to Niang for an open triple and he then drew a foul on Simmons. He ran the floor well, he was passing well out of double teams, and he did a really good job on both ends of the floor of controlling the game. His free throws with 5.2 seconds left were the difference in this one as he rebounded Harden’s miss.
Tyrese Maxey: B
This was another good Maxey game in terms of his aggressiveness. He wasn’t converting at the same clip which obviously is the name of the game, but as long as Philadelphia continues to get this version of Maxey and they keep him engaged with what they want to do, then he will convert more often than not. He was better in the second half in terms of being able to get a few buckets to fall, but he also had more struggles on the defensive end.
Georges Niang: C+
The initial run for Niang was good. He was ready to knock down 3s when the time called for it as he was the beneficiary of the double teams Embiid received. He could have been better on the boards, but he at least was scoring the ball and providing a lift off the bench.
Jalen McDaniels: B
The debut for McDaniels was a good one. It’s obvious that he isn’t up to speed on the team’s defensive concepts and understanding of what they’re looking for on that end of the floor, but his length and his ability to defend multiple positions were helpful in making up for that. He knocked down a triple in the second half as this was an encouraging debut for him.
Paul Reed: B
The role for Reed can be so simple: just play defense and roll to the basket off screens. He was able to do that in this one as he was solid defensively and he was then able to throw down a lob off a pass from Harden. He has the ability to do this every night, and if he can, he should be able to earn the backup center spot consistently.
Shake Milton: C-
There were a few mistakes Milton made in transition defense that allowed Joe Harris to get going for the Nets. He overplayed Royce O’Neale a few times in anticipation of him going to the rim and that left Harris open to step in for an easy triple. At that point, the man they call “Joey Buckets” in Brooklyn was able to get into a rhythm. He did contribute on the offensive end which is always helpful.
