Joel Embiid says Philadelphia 76ers must continue to 'bring it' after Game 2 rout of Brooklyn Nets
Sixers level first-round series at 1-1 after trouncing Nets 145-123 in Game 2
Tuesday 16 April 2019 14:06, UK
Joel Embiid urged every Philadelphia 76ers player to continue to 'bring it' following a resounding Game 2 rout of the Brooklyn Nets.
Embiid scored a team-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Sixers bounced back from a disappointing 111-102 Game 1 loss with an emphatic 145-123 triumph in which six players scored in double figures.
"Everybody's got to bring it. We need everybody," said Embiid. "We need them to be aggressive, to follow the game plan - play together, share the ball and just dominate."
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Embiid shook off another game-time decision to play through tendonitis in his left knee and delivered, scoring 13 points in the third quarter as the Sixers outscored the Nets 51-36 and raced to a 29-point lead. "Whenever I'm out there, I kind of forget about the pain and just try and do the right things," he said.
Embiid received support from team-mate Ben Simmons, who recorded the second postseason triple-double of his career, racking up 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to make amends for a sub-par Game 1 outing in which he and his team-mates were booed by their home fans on numerous occasions.
The Sixers busted the game open with a 14-0 run to start the second half and then stretched the lead to 20 on a Simmons steal and fastbreak basket. With a packed house standing, Simmons got a massive ovation when he cupped his hand to his right ear, just like Sixers legend Allen Iverson, who was in attendance at the Wells Fargo Center, did in his prime.
"I was just trying to be me," Simmons told Associated Press. "I was thinking about the boos from the last game. I have a lot of love for this city."
Sixers coach Brett Brown was effusive in his praise for Simmons and hailed the defense the Australian point guard played on Brooklyn's star guard D'Angelo Russell in the third quarter.
"[Ben] was on bell-ringing duty tonight," said Brown. "The fact that he had 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 18 points was fantastic but I thought his defensive effort on D'Angelo [Russell] was spectacular."
Reflecting on the Nets' heavy defeat, Russell agreed that Philadelphia's third-quarter run was the turning point in the game. "They got multiple stops and we couldn't stop the bleeding," said Russell. "It was a snowball effect. We looked up and [the game] was out of reach."
Nets coach said the defeat was a good lesson for his young team. "Ben was excellent, he really picked it up," he said. "It was a great experience for our guys to understand what playoff basketball is all about. I know this, we have to respond."
