Getty Philadelphia 76ers teammates Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris
The Philadelphia 76ers closed out their opening-round matchup in the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. While the 4-1 series result wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked on paper, the Sixers turned it on after losing Game 1 on their home floor, reeling off four-straight wins.
Once Game 5 wrapped up with a dominant showing by Philly, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson had nothing but praise for the Sixers. Specifically, he pointed to them as legitimate NBA title contender this season, as The Athletic’s Rich Hofman revealed.
Kenny Atkinson on the Sixers: “I think they can contend for a championship, quite honestly.”
It’s high praise from Atkinson, who led the Nets to a strong 42-40 regular season record, snapping the team’s three-year playoff drought in the process. Brooklyn jumped out to an early 1-0 series lead with a 111-102 road win, but the Sixers bounced back nicely and did showcase the upside to contend for a championship.
Philadelphia 76ers Impressive Comeback in Series
Brett Brown’s squad didn’t flinch after falling into a one-game hole out of the gate. They won Game 2 by a score of 145-123 and proceeded to grab homecourt advantage back in Game 3 with a 16-point victory in Brooklyn. The third game could have gone either way, but the Sixers caught a few breaks and won 112-108 to set up the potential to close out the series on their home floor.
Philly clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 122-100 win which was out of hand by halftime, as they held a 60-31 lead. Arguably the most impressive part of this series from the Sixers was the fact that they got the job done with Joel Embiid’s status up in the air for virtually every game.
Embiid sat out Game 3 of the series due to knee tendonitis, but the starting group and replacements for the All-Star center stepped up nicely. Ben Simmons scored 31 points with nine assists in that game, while Tobias Harris tallied 29 points with 16 rebounds and JJ Redick poured in 26 points. Greg Monroe started in place of Embiid, scoring nine points with 13 rebounds while Boban Marjanovic tallied 14 points and eight boards over 18 minutes.
Sixers’ Semifinal Matchup Set With Toronto Raptors
The Sixers have a tough road ahead as they attempt to live up to the hype which Atkinson tossed their way. After the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed in the Toronto Raptors dropped their series opener against the Orlando Magic, they also won four-straight games to advance to the semifinals. This means the top four seeds from the East moved on, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics both sweeping their opening-round matchups.
Toronto defeated the Sixers in three of four regular-season matchups, and the one win for Philly came with Kawhi Leonard sidelined. With that said, the Raptors have yet to face the Sixers since they acquired Tobias Harris just prior to the NBA trade deadline.
READ NEXT: 76ers vs. Raptors Playoff Schedule: Second Round Preview & Prediction