Getty P.J. Tucker and Tobias Harris of the Philadelphia 76ers
Before the Philadelphia 76ers take on the Brooklyn Nets on April 20, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn singled out Sixers veteran PJ Tucker, explaining why he enjoys watching players like Tucker when they take the floor.
“I’ve enjoyed watching him his entire career,” Vaughn told Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “We had a series with him when he was with Milwaukee. You give guys like that credit where you see he feels like the ultimate teammate. He shows up, he does his work, he does his job every single night.”
Vaughn was referring to when Tucker played against the Nets in the playoffs during his time with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, in which the Bucks ultimately prevailed and would later go on to win a title. Vaughn added that Tucker deserves props for what he does on a nightly basis.
“Some things that don’t go on the stat sheet, those 50/50 balls, the physicality that he played with,” Vaughn said. “So we’ll have to match that, but you give him credit for doing his job every single night.”
Joel Embiid Claps Back at Jacque Vaughn
After the Sixers beat the Nets in Game 1, Vaughn complained that the referees were not calling violations on Joel Embiid.
“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.”
After the Sixers took a 2-0 lead over the Nets, Embiid clapped back at Vaughn for his earlier comments, referencing Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse.
“I saw after the game last time, they kinda took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees,” Embiid said per NBA Interviews’ YouTube Channel. “Then they come out and they got a lot of calls — which, I guess, is good for them. I think we didn’t play our best basketball. But what happened in the second half was we just figured out what worked, and we just kept doing it over and over and over.”
PJ Tucker Called Out Sixers’ Defense After Game 1 Victory
Despite the 20-point victory the Sixers had over the Nets in Game 1, Tucker criticized the team’s defense, believing that there was room for improvement, though he took no issue with their offensive process.
“Our defense was (expletive) (Saturday),” Tucker said, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “We gotta get better. We scored the ball pretty easy. We played well on offense. We picked it up the second half. I think that’s what got us to win, but we got to be a lot better.”
Tucker then specified how the Nets attacked the Sixers’ defense.
“I think it was more of they made a lot of the downhill drives. 2-on-2 pick-and-rolls in the middle of the floor, they did a good job of attacking the guys in the pick-and-roll and making shots off that early on,” Tucker said. “I think that was a big deal in the first half. We gotta be more aggressive.”
Though the Sixers went on to beat the Nets by 12 points in Game 2, the defense went from allowing 101 points to 84.