What Worked for Philadelphia 76ers Against Brooklyn Nets?
The Philadelphia 76ers went into Tuesday's match against the Brooklyn Nets as underdogs, given that they lacked their big three consisting of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and James Harden.
Despite this, they came out on top of the Nets, 115-109, with their role players on the team coming out big.
Tobias Harris showed why he is still an elite forward in the NBA, leading his team in scoring with 24 points on 47 percent shooting, with many of his buckets in the second half helping spark the Sixers' offensive fire.
Harris wasn't the only one, though, as De'Anthony Melton and Georges Niang also helped to fuel the flame.
For Melton, he ended the game with 22 points on a season-high 6-11 from deep, which beat the season record he had set merely three nights earlier against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Niang was a key part of the Sixers' offense from beginning to end, scoring 11 points in the first half, with nine of those points coming from three-point territory.
The Sixers sharpshooter was doing this while also keeping the energy up on the floor, constantly getting into jawing matches with Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons, which eventually resulted in Niang receiving a flagrant foul for a shoulder bump given toward the former Sixers guard.
While their offense was a key factor, perhaps the biggest and most surprising factor which lead the Sixers to victory was their offensive rebounding.
The reason that this is surprising is due to the fact that going into the match, Philadelphia had the league's lowest offensive rebounding average, as they only grab seven offensive boards per game.
While they had this statistic hanging over their head, the Sixers came out and nearly tripled that number, ending the game with 20 offensive rebounds, which came as a result of Philadelphia crowding the paint after someone shot.
Sixers bigs Montrezl Harrell and Paul Reed are mainly to thank for this feat, with the duo combining for a total of 11 rebounds, with Reed stepping it up on both ends as he grabbed five on defense as well.
All in all, the Sixers can take a few things away from their win on Tuesday, whether it's their resilient role players, stellar three-point shooting, or their ability to grab boards when needed.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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