Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from a 2nd-half meltdown at Philadelphia

1. Philly’s elite starting unit played like one

In Game 1, much of the Brooklyn Nets’ success could be attributed to shutting down most of the Philadelphia 76ers’ vaunted starting five.

In Game 1, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris and J.J. Redick combined for just 18 points on 8-of-23 shooting, with Redick fouling out in just 23 minutes and Harris going 2-for-7 in 41 minutes.

In Game 2, the starters figured it out for Philadelphia, outscoring Brooklyn’s starting five by a whopping 84-43 margin.

The Nets’ bench couldn’t take up the slack. After a 59-26 edge in Game 1, the Brooklyn reserves had an 80-61 advantage, but much of that came in garbage time in the fourth quarter, when Shabazz Napier scored 13 points and Theo Pinson added nine.

Simmons had a huge turnaround from Game 1, as the second-year point guard remembered he was an All-Star and an elite ballhandler and finisher. Simmons got downhill early and often and was big early in transition as well, hitting 8-of-12 shots and finishing with his second career playoff triple-double.

Redick had 17 points after being held to just five in the opener. He hit 7-of-12 overall and was 2-for-5 from 3-point range, while also doing a much better job defensively, holding Joe Harris to just four shot attempts and four points.

Harris warmed up in the second half after going 1-for-7 in the first, hitting 4-of-5 after the break and finishing with 19 points after scoring just four in Game 1.

Those three rebounded so well from poor showings on Saturday that the 76ers didn’t need Jimmy Butler, who was just 3-for-10 for seven points after scoring a career playoff high 36 points in the opener.

And then there was Joel Embiid, who put up 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, didn’t attempt a 3-pointer after going 0-for-5 in Game 1, and grabbed 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes.

Philadelphia blew the game open with a 21-2 run to open the second half and cruised to a must-have win in Game 2.

Brooklyn got one of the games in Philadelphia to open the series and still holds homecourt advantage, but they’ll have to fix the leaks in the defense before Game 3 on Thursday night.