Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from making shambles of 76ers

2. Cooling off Embiid was a surprise

Joel Embiid came into Sunday night’s game on a run where he was cooking on all cylinders, with 110 points in his last three games.

But the Brooklyn Nets had a plan for at least slowing down the Philadelphia 76ers’ emerging superstar and it worked extremely well.

Big men Jarrett Allen and Ed Davis did what they could to keep Embiid from getting to the spots he wanted underneath and as the game progressed, Embiid’s frustration with the coverage was evident.

The Nets were also digging a perimeter defender down to try and bother Embiid a bit more. The All-Star center finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds — only one on the offensive glass — but he had to work for those points.

He had just eight shot attempts, going 4-for-8, and converted 8-of-10 from the foul line.

But after the first quarter — in which he had nine points — Embiid was just 2-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 at the line, about as much of a non-factor as he’s been rendered for that long this season.

Allen lost the statistical battle — he had 15 points and 10 boards — but outplayed Embiid on this night, going a very efficient 5-for-7, finding his stroke at the foul line with a 5-for-6 night (he came in shooting just 54.2 percent) and doing a better job communicating and directing the defense.

Embiid committed five turnovers — but, hey, which 76er didn’t, amirite? — and just spent most of the second half looking surly and out of sorts.