This Saturday April 15 marks the start of the 2023 Playoffs, and the ball kicks off at 7 p.m. with the Sixers hosting the Nets. A game where Philadelphia is the favorite and where Joel Embiid has to show who is the entry boss, but which may be more complicated than expected if the Brooklyn defense pulls together.
The written preview of the series is here, the video preview right here.
Last October, our wish to see a series between Sixers and Nets in the Playoffs was real. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving against Joel Embiid and James Harden, with Ben Simmons around, the rivalry that was starting to settle around the February 2022 blockbuster trade, and seeing big stars compete at the start? Everyone would have thought that was great. But the series we are going to witness is not really what we expected. The Nets have changed a couple of things in their squad it seems, and here they are without KD, without Kyrie, but with Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith. The Star Power has dropped drastically? Yeah, but the atmosphere is much nicer.
Consequently, the Sixers enter this series and this first home game as heavy favorites. Joel Embiid is an MVP candidate, in his prime, and must prove that he can dominate anyone in the Playoffs as in regular. He will be the key to this game or rather the management of the Embiid case at the Nets will be. Who ? When ? How ? What to do against such a monster, knowing that Nic Claxton is certainly about the same height, but seems to be a twig next to the beast with three nationalities. A permanent two-man seems inevitable, especially since Brooklyn has good defenders like Bridges and Finney-Smith to help Claxton. Which will leave open PJ Tucker, Tobias Harris or… James Harden, who also has ankle problems and will surely not be 100% for Game 1.
Even though Philly is the favorite, be careful not to underestimate Brooklyn who is not going to show up in Pennsylvania to take pictures. Since the post trade deadline team has been there, with Jacque Vaughn on the bench, we have seen a great game and an unstoppable Mikal Bridges with games over 35 points. Also beware of BKN’s X factor, a certain Cam Thomas who, on a whim, can score 40 points without pressure. The Nets are a team full of snipers like Dinwiddie, Harris, Johnson, Mills, Seth Curry or Finney-Smith, and this multitude of choices can, if the right switches are made and the right screens laid, force Embiid out of the racket and thus free up space underneath.
All this is now in the hands of the coaches, and be careful that… Doc Rivers is not again outcoached by an opponent in the Playoffs. He showed us regularly that he could adjust (see PJ Tucker vs Nikola Jokic), now we expect him in the Playoffs, and This Game 1 will already give us several indications on the determination of the two franchises to do badly and the tactics put in place to this end. See you tonight at 7 p.m. to start these Playoffs… with a superb entry!