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Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn was none too pleased with Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid and how the referees treated him during Game 1, and he made that apparent while talking with reporters after the game was over.
“Hopefully, they’ll be calling a travel and three seconds on the big fella next game,” Vaughn said postgame. “So I’ll look forward to that.”
Vaughn also gave his thoughts on the altercation between Embiid and Royce O’Neale, believing that Embiid should have been called out of bounds
“Equal opportunity, I think it was. They wanted to give one to one guy, so they gave it to the other guy,” Vaughn said. “If they would have called the out-of-bounds first, then we wouldn’t have gotten to that play. Joel was out of bounds on that play anyway, and then we got to the altercation.”
Embiid shot perfectly from the line, shooting 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, and those made up for 11 of his 26 points on the day.
Joel Embiid Praises James Harden’s Playmaking
Sixers star James Harden had an excellent game as a playmaker, dishing out 13 assists on the night while adding 23 points of his own. During his postgame press conference, Embiid praised Harden, though he urged him to stay aggressive.
“Like I said, he’s the best playmaker in the league by far,” Embiid said. “But we don’t want him — I certainly don’t want him — to fall in love with just that. We need him to be aggressive. He was today. Just attacking. By him attacking, he collapses the defense and creates open shots for everybody else…The key is not just being a playmaker but being aggressive, going downhill, and creating for himself and everyone else.”
Harden only picked up right where he left off during the regular season, as he led the league in assists per game, averaging 10.7 assists a game. This was the first time that Harden has led the league in assists per game since the 2016-17 season, where he averaged 11.2 assists a game.
Joel Embiid Praises Paul Reed’s Performance
Embiid’s backup Paul Reed had quite the performance against the Nets as the team’s backup center, putting up 11 points on five-for-six shooting from the field, along with four rebounds – two of them offensive rebounds – and two steals. Reed also had a plus/minus of plus-five.
“He was great,” Embiid said. “Him and PJ, extra processions, and then I thought he did a great job screening, rolling, playing out of that dunker, getting easy passes, and finishing. He made a great move behind the back that we probably don’t want to see it again, I’m just kidding. He can do whatever he wants. Whatever works. I guess he got (to) keep doing it, but he was great.”
Reed has been the Sixers’ go-to option as their backup center dating back to February 10 against the New York Knicks. For years, the Sixers have had issues finding consistent play from their backup centers ever since Embiid’s rookie year with the team. Reed played well in his first playoff game as the Sixers’ backup center. The Sixers will need that production consistently to help them in their title run.
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