In today's newsletter:
- About last night's 115-106 win.
- Key stats from the game.
- Stray thoughts.
- Quotes and press conference audio.
- Details on tonight's game against the Hornets.
What started off as a referendum of the past turned into a celebration of the present, as the Sixers, playing without James Harden, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, handled the unusually healthy and available Brooklyn Nets with relative ease.
Despite the Nets playing with all of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, the undermanned Sixers led for most of the night, turning a quick 10-2 deficit into a lead just a few minutes later. They did so with an impressive group effort, with huge contributions from Tobias Harris (24/6/3 on 10-21 shooting), De'Anthony Melton (22/4/4 on 7-16), Paul Reed (19/10 with three steals and two blocks), Georges Niang (16 on 6-11 shooting) and Shake Milton (16/6/5). They did so with PJ Tucker mirroring superstar Kevin Durant virtually all night, helping to prevent KD from taking control of the game.
If we're being honest, the Sixers did get a bit of shooting variance luck, with their 16-32 effort from beyond the arc a big reason why they came away victorious. But shooting luck will happen in every game, and it's nothing to apologize for. And whatever bit of luck they did have is especially easy to overlook because the second, and more important, reason that the Sixers won the game was something that was entirely in their control: they simply out-worked and out-executed a more talented team.
