Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from big Game 1 win at Philadelphia

1. Nets not overwhelmed by the moment

The Brooklyn Nets do not have a lot of playoff experience, but they started making up for it fast against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

It was something coach Kenny Atkinson — a first-timer himself as a head coach — was concerned about going in, as he said in his postgame comments.

"“We weren’t rattled. You’re afraid with this crowd and the team they have, they’re going to knock you out of the box quick. I thought that we kind of took a couple of punches from them, took a couple of runs, and still kept our composure. That’s a big part of this for us. “Like I said before, earlier in the season we just wouldn’t have the composure to close a game like that out.”"

D’Angelo Russell got off to a slow start, missing his first six shots and going 2-for-11 from the floor in the first half, but the rest of the club seemed ready for the moment and kept Brooklyn surging until Russell caught fire in the third quarter with 14 of his 26 points.

This was the Nets’ first road playoff win since beating the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of their first-round series in 2014.

But in their first playoff meeting with the 76ers since 1984, Brooklyn gave the franchise its fourth consecutive win at Philadelphia, where they are now 4-1 all-time in postseason play.

We won’t get into that whole 0-3 at home … thing.

Indeed, it was the 76ers who appeared to have the playoff jitters for much of the game. Philadelphia hit just 3-of-25 from 3-point range — they were eighth in the NBA at 35.9 percent this season — and made just 69 percent of 42 free throws.

The 76ers were also eighth in the NBA in field goal percentage this season, shooting 47.1 percent, but shot only 33.3 percent (16-for-48) in the first half and 40.7 percent for the game.

Joel Embiid played 24 minutes and scored 22 points, but was 5-for-15 from the floor and did most of his damage at the foul line, where he was 12-for-18.

Philadelphia also made a tactical error when the Nets opted to go super-small, with 6-foot-7 Jared Dudley at the 5. The 76ers didn’t get the ball inside to Embiid nearly enough in those situations.

Embiid was noticeably slow getting up and down the floor and the 76ers appeared to rush into their offense instead of waiting for Embiid to get into place down low.

But the bottom line is that the Nets got a big Game 1 victory and have taken home court advantage away from the 76ers.

With Embiid obviously limited, Brooklyn has put itself in position to take a commanding 2-0 lead back to Barclays Center on Thursday.