Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets tries to keep the ball from James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers .
The Brooklyn Nets destroyed the Philadelphia 76ers by 29 points in one of the most anticipated games of the season. Nets All-Star Ben Simmons got booed by Sixers fans despite not playing, but the jeers were nowhere to be found in the second half since Brooklyn was blowing Philadelphia out.
Led by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets defeated the Sixers by a final score of 129-120. Not only did Irving finish with 22 points and five assists, but he also played exceptional defense on his former teammate, James Harden. The Sixers star had an awful game, shooting 3-of-17 from the field for 11 points.
During his postgame media session with Nets reporters, Irving spoke about Harden’s putrid game.
“Just taking the assignment,” Irving said of his defense on Harden, via Nick Friedell of ESPN. “And doing what I could to make it tough on him. Obviously, James is not always going to shoot like that. But I just wanted to make it tough, get in his airspace, commit to really being in the right positions often … taking the challenge. That’s fun as a competitor. I always say I relish in those moments and I’m grateful I get a chance to go against other great players. And really go at them and they go at me.”
The Nets were locked in from the get-go against the Sixers, who got booed by their fans in the second half. Irving admitted that he and his teammates were motivated to beat Philadelphia because of the emotion of the game.
Irving: ‘You Come at Anyone Else on Our Team, You Come at All of Us’
The Nets wanted to beat the Sixers for Simmons, who nodded several times on the bench while listening to “F*** Ben Simmons!” chants from the crowd. Irving has been booed in Cleveland and Boston, so he knew what Simmons was going through mentally and emotionally.
“So when we played tonight, we definitely felt like Ben was on our heart,” Irving said, via Friedell. “You could see it, he was wearing it, and we just wanted to go out there and play for him and play well. … If you come at Ben, you come at us. You come at anyone else on our team, you come at all of us, and that’s the mentality.”
Irving and Co. handed the Sixers their first loss with Harden in the lineup. The Beard shot 0-of-10 on 2-pointers and committed four turnovers. Harden, who requested a trade from the Nets, finished with a plus-minus of -30.
Harden: ‘We Got Our A** Kicked’
Harden believes the Sixers getting destroyed by the Nets was good for the team. The one-time MVP will undoubtedly have to play better moving forward for Philadelphia to have a more promising postseason than Brooklyn.
“Tonight was good for us, man. We got our a** kicked,” Harden said, via Rich Hofmann of The Athletic. “And since I’ve been here, everything has been sweet and we’ve been winning games. And so tonight was good for us and we get an opportunity to come down to reality, watch film and just continue to get better and make sure we hit the right strides.”
For one night, the Nets were better than the Sixers. Irving played great defense on Harden and helped his club escape a hostile environment with a win.
All in all, it was a fantastic evening for Brooklyn.