Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets didn’t win because Joel Embiid looked at a cell phone

By Phil Watson

Brooklyn Nets Joel Embiid (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Brooklyn Nets Joel Embiid (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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The first controversy of the NBA Playoffs turned out to be Joel Embiid glancing at a cell phone. That’s not why the Brooklyn Nets won Game 1 on Saturday.

The Brooklyn Nets hammered the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series Saturday in a 111-102 victory that wasn’t as close as that score would indicate.

The Nets had a working double-digit lead for almost the entire fourth quarter and that nine-point final margin was as close as the 76ers got in the final 12 minutes while blowing home-court advantage in the series.

But the biggest takeaway nationally wasn’t the Brooklyn bench. It wasn’t D’Angelo Russell shaking off a slow start to score 14 points in the third quarter as the Nets took control of the game.

It was a damn cell phone.

ESPN’s cameras spotted Philadelphia big men Amir Johnson and Joel Embiid looking at a cell phone on the bench during the fourth quarter and that became the story of Game 1.

Analyst Doris Burke put Embiid and Johnson on full blast during the broadcast.

"“This is really troublesome to me. Amir Johnson is not active, but he is on the bench. That’s a cell phone. And I can’t definitively say, but all of us know what a text message looks like. What is that thing doing out, to me … [Embiid is] smiling. Like, you;’re down. That is a very bad look.”"

Johnson later left the bench and headed to the locker room and it was later reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic that Johnson was fined for “conduct detrimental to the team” after the game.

Embiid told reporters that Johnson was checking for an update on his daughter, who was ill, and Embiid looked down out of concern for a teammate’s situation.

I get it. Athletes are supposed to be laser-focused, all-out, all-the-time robots who just live for the game.

At least that’s how it seems when listening to some fans go on and on about what players do.

I’m with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green on this one.

The problem for the 76ers isn’t Embiid glancing at a cell phone on the bench. No, it runs deeper than that.

Philadelphia’s problem is Embiid’s balky knee, which obviously limited him on Saturday … and he still put up some monster numbers.

Embiid was just 5-of-15 from the floor but scored 22 points with 15 rebounds and five blocks even as it looked like he couldn’t go from the end line to the foul line without falling down.

That’s the fundamental problem for the 76ers, who went all in on Embiid as their franchise guy because of his talent — which is enormous.

More from Nothin' But Nets

When Embiid is right health-wise, he’s perhaps the best big man in the NBA today. The problem is that he’s not right health-wise very often.

He is a modern-day Bill Walton, an uber-talented big whose body betrays him over and over.

The 76ers gave a max contract and handed the keys to the franchise to Mr. Glass. And that is turning into a big problem in the second half of this season and now into the postseason.

Embiid played in 54 of Philadelphia’s 58 games leading into the All-Star break. But he sat the first eight games after the break with soreness in his left knee, missed another game in mid-March to rest the knee and then sat five of Philadelphia’s last seven games.

In the 76ers’ final 24 games, Embiid played just 10 times. Philadelphia was 8-10 this season when he didn’t play.

The Brooklyn Nets, meanwhile, had already beaten the 76ers twice this season with Embiid fully healthy and effective. The teams split their four-game regular season series and the Nets shook off some early jitters in Game 1 to win handily.

Embiid being physically limited played a big part in that.

Next. 10 best seasons in Nets history. dark

Embiid glancing at a cell phone? Not so much.