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Tim BontempsESPN
Before the Philadelphia 76ers played the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night to see who would finish at the top of the Eastern Conference at the end of the night, Sixers coach Doc Rivers was asked if he has converted in priority its first position in the East. team this season.
“We haven’t really talked about it much,” Rivers said. “We’re just talking about winning games.”
Then the truth came out.
“Of course it would be nice to have it,” he said.
Not to be confused with the importance of Philadelphia’s 123-117 victory over the abbreviated Nets Wednesday night, one that firmly placed the Sixers in the driver’s seat for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia made it much harder than it took to get that win, almost with a 22-point lead with eight minutes to go to win against the Brooklyn reserves, but eventually the Sixers got the win, one that went to them. move. a game ahead of the Nets with 17 games for both teams. He also consolidated the season series for Philadelphia, making that one-game advantage a two-game advantage.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” said Joel Embiid, who had his last dominant performance of the season with 39 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots in 33 minutes. “We’ve turned the ball upside down defensively. We haven’t had the focus we’ve had all night. That can’t happen if we’re a team that wants to compete for a championship.”
Aside from the frustrations for the end, the Sixers got what they wanted. And, along with the Nets facing an assortment of injuries and also facing a much harder remaining schedule (the fourth toughest) than the Sixers (the seventh easiest), the path is now officially clear for in Philadelphia to control its destiny to the East.
“[It’s] “It’s very important,” Ben Simmons said. “We want a seed.”
The most significant reason is due to the much simpler path he sculpts to escape the East, something the Sixers hope to do for the first time in 20 years. With three elite teams in the East (Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Milwaukee Bucks) holding that top position means just having to beat one of those teams to reach the NBA Finals.
And, when they faced them, it would also mean taking advantage of the local track in the Eastern Conference finals. On the contrary, finishing second or third probably means having to knock down two of the best teams to reach the finals, as one or both series arrive on the court without an advantage.
But specifically for this Philadelphia team, there’s an added meaning to keeping that advantage on the home court: the Sixers play better at home than any team in the league.
Since Embiid and Simmons started playing together in the 2017-18 season, the Sixers have gone 111-28, 79.9% of the win, in the Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center games.
The next best team in the league in this time period, the Denver Nuggets, have won just over 75% of their home games and have the advantage of playing these games at a higher altitude.
“When you play Philly, [the fans are] it will push you, “Embiid said.” And posaran. They’re going to kiss you. You have to go out, give 110 percent and play really hard and give them everything you have. I feel like since I’ve been here in Philly, this has played a huge role in the dominance we’ve had at home. “
And while voracious Philadelphia fans have certainly played a role in this success, and have clearly fueled Embiid, in particular, who has always been fueled by his energies, the Sixers have still been a leading team in the Conference. the East in the 23-5 season this season. at home, even with these fans largely away from the building.
“I think we feel comfortable at home,” Rivers said. “I guess it’s amazing this year without the fans. I can understand that with the fans, but without the fans we’ve also had a lot of success.”
That success continued Wednesday night, though it’s hard to get away from a game that saw Kevin Durant, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin all dressed in street clothes for Brooklyn. Kyrie Irving (37 points on 13-for-21 shots, plus 9 assists) was brilliant, and DeAndre Jordan played as well as could be expected against the Embiid.
Embiid was dominant and continued his parade throughout the season to the foul line going 10-11 from the charity strip. It was a reminder of the dominance Embiid has had against everyone when he’s been on the court this season, and of how perfectly suited he is to attack Brooklyn’s soft defensive belly.
But Embiid, no matter how good he has been, isn’t the only one who drove Philadelphia’s success, nor was he the only person who drove him Wednesday night. Tobias Harris had another high-impact, high-efficiency game (26 points on the 11-on-17 shootout), both constants of him in what has easily been his best NBA season. Simmons remains one of the league’s elite defenders and Seth Curry and Danny Green have provided everything Philadelphia had hoped to replace Josh Richardson and Al Horford for them, respectively, in the offseason.
As a result, that five-man drive is now 20-4 this season after Wednesday’s win, and has outscored its opponents by 14 points for every 100 possessions in about 500 minutes on the court. Meanwhile, George Hill, picking the deadline for the team’s key trade, has yet to play due to a broken bone in his hand suffered before making the deal.
All of this gives Philadelphia the confidence it can end up finishing and returning to the league championship round. Wednesday night took a significant step toward that goal.
“We just have to run our business all night and night,” Harris said. “We have to be prepared for the challenge every night.”