Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers were in Brooklyn to face the first place Nets. Doc Rivers was not with the team after testing positive for COVID-19 and entering health and safety protocols. Assistant coach Dan Burke took over head coaching duties, and notched one hell of a win, with the Sixers taking down the Nets 110-102.

It was the Sixers third straight win as they improved to 19-16 on the season to close out the 2021 calendar year.

Joel Embiid the Road Warrior

Joel Embiid dominated yet again on the road and set the tone early for the 76ers, scoring 16 points in the first quarter. Embiid finished the night with 34 points, seven rounds, and three steals, adding an assist and a block to the stat sheet.

Late in the game with the Sixers up 108-102, Embiid closed the door on the Nets with an And-1 put back off a Tobias Harris missed shot to put the game out of reach.

Embiid has been has been playing at an MVP level throughout the month of December, and has basically been unstoppable over his last six games.

32 PTS | 9 REB

41 PTS | 10 REB

23 PTS | 10 REB

36 PTS | 13 REB

36 PTS | 11 REB

34 PTS | 7 REB

Tyrese Maxey Responds

After Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors, Embiid had some words to say to Tyrese Maxey in their post game press conference, calling Maxey’s 2-for-11 shooting for a miserable five points “trash”. Of course, it was all in good fun, but Maxey took it to heart and entered Brooklyn looking to respond.

Maxey caught fire in the fourth quarter for the 76ers and finished the night with 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. He was 10-for-18 from the floor and 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.

After the game, Maxey said he wanted to show out tonight since Embiid told him he was terrible. The two joined each other for what has now become must watch post game media availability and talked about how Maxey responded tonight.

“That’s how you respond to criticism.”

The Supporting Cast

As for the rest of the Sixers, Andre Drummond returned from health and safety protocols, adding 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Outside of Drummond, Georges Niang was the only other bench player to score any points, adding nine points off three second half shots from beyond the arc.

Matisse Thybulle brought his signature elite defense, finishing the night with six points, three steals, and two blocks. Seth Curry added 17 points, six assists, and two steals, while Tobias Harris continues to lack consistency, scoring nine points and adding six assists and six rebounds on the night.

We have to mention the broadcast crew

Tom McGinnis and Marc Jackson were on the call for the game, with Matt Murphy taking over radio duties since both Kate Scott and Alaa joined Rivers in health and safety protocols.

They absolutely crushed it.

Finally, there was energy back on the microphones and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Not to insult the other combinations, but if I were NBC Sports Philadelphia and the 76ers, there’s no way you could ignore or deny how much better last night was across all platforms.

Embiid and Durant

If you remember, the last time these two faced off in Brooklyn, the 76ers got beat up pretty bad by the Nets and Durant went off in the 4th quarter.

As usual, that’s something that Joel Embiid took to heart and certainly did not forget last night. Here’s the full exchange at the end of the game between Embiid and Durant.

Of course, people will try to make this more than just two generational basketball players being competitive, but Durant assured everyone after the game, there was zero issues. You gotta love the energy and rivalry with two titans of the NBA.

Here’s what Embiid and Durant both said postgame to wrap things up:

And with that, the Philadelphia 76ers wrap up 2021 with three straight wins. They will be back in action on January 3rd against the Houston Rockets at home.

Happy New Year Everyone. Cheers.