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Tim BontempsESPN
Before the Philadelphia 76ers joined the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night to see who would reach the top of the Eastern Conference at the end of the night, Sixers coach Doc Rivers was asked if he had made the top spot in the East a team priority in this. season.
“We really didn’t talk much about it,” Rivers said. “We’re just talking about winning games.”
Then the truth came out.
“Clearly it would be nice to be,” he said.
The significance of Philadelphia’s 123-117 victory over the Nets on Wednesday night cannot be understood – one that firmly put the Sixers in the driver’s seat to get that top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia made it much harder than they should have to get that victory, almost bringing a 22-point lead, eight minutes before winning against the Brooklyn reserves, but in the end the Sixers got the win – one that moved them a game before the Nets with 17 games left for both teams. He also won the season series for Philadelphia, which turns a one-game advantage into a two-game advantage.
“I made a lot of mistakes,” said Joel Embiid, who had the most recent dominant performance of the season with 39 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes. “We turned the ball defensively. We didn’t focus all night. That can’t happen if we’re a team that wants to compete for a championship.”
The frustrations of the end aside, the Sixers got what they wanted. And, along with the Nets who deal with an assortment of injuries and also face a much more difficult schedule (the fourth heaviest) than the Sixers (the seventh lightest), the way is now officially clear for Philadelphia to control its destiny in the East.
“[It’s] very important, “said Ben Simmons. We want that seed. “
The most significant reason is because of the much simpler way he cuts to escape the East – something that the Sixirs hope to do for the first time in 20 years. With three elite teams from the east – the Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Milwaukee Bucks – holding this top spot just means defeating one of those teams to reach the NBA Finals.
And when you face them, it would also mean taking advantage on your own ground in the final of the Eastern Conference. On the contrary, finishing second or third probably means that you have to eliminate two of the top teams to reach the final, either one or both series come without a home advantage.
But, especially for this Philadelphia team, there is additional significance to having that home advantage: 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 won 111-28 – a 79.9% winning percentage – in games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The next best team in the league this time around, the Denver Nuggets, won just over 75% of their home games – and they have the advantage of playing those games at a higher altitude.
“When you play in Philly, [the fans are] will push you, “Embiid said.” They’re going to push you. They will boo you. You have to go out and give 110 percent and play very hard and give them everything you have. I feel like since I’ve been here in Philly, it’s played a huge part in how dominant we are at home. “
And while voracious Philadelphia fans undoubtedly played a part in that success – and clearly fed Embiid, in particular, who always fed on energy – the Sixers were still a team of leading the Eastern Conference to 23-5 this season. at home, even with those fans mostly kept away from the building.
“I think we’re comfortable at home,” Rivers said. “I think it’s surprising this year without fans. I can get along with fans, but without fans we were also very successful.”
The success continued Wednesday night – though it’s hard to stray 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 shooting, plus 9 assists) was brilliant, and DeAndre Jordan played as well as might be expected against Embiid.
Embiid was dominant and continued his parade throughout the season to the foul line, passing 10-for-11 from the charity. It was a reminder of how dominant Embiid was against everyone when he was on the field this season and how perfectly suited he is to attack Brooklyn’s soft zone defensively.
But Embiid, as good as he is, isn’t the only thing driving success in Philadelphia – and he wasn’t the only person to drive it Wednesday night. Tobias Harris had another high-impact, high-efficiency game (26 points in 11-for-17 shots), both of which were constant from him in what was easily his best NBA season. Simmons remains one of the league’s elite defenders, and Seth Curry and Danny Green have offered everything Philadelphia hopes to do in exchange for Josh Richardson and Al Horford out of season, respectively.
As a result, that five-man unit is now 20-4 this season after Wednesday’s victory and outscored its opponents by 14 points in 100 possessions in nearly 500 minutes on the field. Meanwhile, George Hill – the team’s key takeover for the trading deadline – has not yet played due to a broken bone suffered before the transaction was completed.
All of this gives Philadelphia the confidence he can finally reach and return to the league championship round. Wednesday night took a significant step toward that goal.
“We just have to do our business overnight,” Harris said. “We have to be prepared for the challenge every night.”