Eastern Conference Recap, April 20: Tyrese Maxey Exploded to Lead the Philadelphia 76ers Past the Brooklyn Nets

It was a crazy night for the Philadelphia 76ers to say the least.

James Harden was ejected and Joel Embiid was dealing with injury throughout the night. Still, it wasn’t enough to phase Tyrese Maxey, who had 25 points on 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range. He scored 10 straight in the fourth quarter, including the 3-pointer that put Philadelphia ahead late.

“Tonight, when our leader went out, I took that role in the fourth quarter to help us win the game,” Maxey said.

Embiid had a block on Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie, which ended up being the clincher with eight seconds left. He only ended the game with 14 points, but he continues to make his impact known beyond just scoring. James Harden’s 21-point performance gave the Sixers a boost prior to his ejection for hitting Royce O'Neal in the groin while driving to the basket.

Harden said he was wrongfully kicked out of the game.

“I didn’t hit him in the private area," Harden said. "Somebody draped on you like that defensively, it’s just a natural basketball reaction. I didn’t hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that. For a flagrant 2, it’s unacceptable. This is a playoff game. I don’t think that was a foul. That’s unacceptable. That can’t happen.”

The Sixers have all but wrapped up the series. The second round is where they’ve failed to deliver, so they will need to prepare to avoid that fate again.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.