The Toronto Raptors are likely to win their Eastern Conference first-round series against the visiting Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, and the Raptors would face the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals if Philly ends its series against visiting Brooklyn in a tip one hour after Magic-Raptors. NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
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On the updated series exact result, the 76ers finishing the job in five games is -357. Sixers in six is +500 with Nets in seven the +1800 long shot.
Brooklyn Nets
Off back-to-back losses, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson made a starting lineup change for Game 4, opting to go with Jared Dudley over rookie Rodions Kurucs (who didn’t even play). Didn’t work as the Nets lost 112-108 and Dudley had eight points in 20 minutes before being ejected following a fourth-quarter shoving match with Jimmy Butler, who was also tossed. Neither will be suspended.
Ironically, GM Sean Marks will be suspended for Game 5 because he went into the referee’s locker room after the loss because he was upset with some of the calls. The NBA admitted after the game that a foul should have been called on Philly’s Tobias Harris in the final seconds on Brooklyn’s Jarrett Allen. That no call might have cost the Nets the game. Brooklyn is 7-2 ATS in its past nine road games.
Philadelphia 76ers
Embiid was terrific in Game 4 with 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks. However, he also was called for a flagrant foul, which is what led to the Dudley/Butler skirmish. That gives Embiid two flagrant foul points. When a player gets four such points in the playoffs, he’s suspended for a game. Just something for Raptors fans to keep in mind for a potential second-round matchup.
Harris added 24 points in Game 4 and Ben Simmons, who has become Public Enemy No. 1 to Nets fans, had 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Philly has covered four of its past five games vs. Brooklyn.
“I think it’s high intensity. Everybody knows it could possibly be our last game if we don’t come out ready to play,” said Nets guard D’Angelo Russell. “And then winning, getting a chance to come back and play in front of our fans and giving us another opportunity, I think that’s what we’re trying to achieve right now.”
A win would bring them back to Brooklyn for Game 6 on Thursday, with a potential Game 7 scheduled for Saturday.
“I think we play pretty well when the pressure is on us, when we're in a hostile environment,” said Nets guard Joe Harris. “We all just rally together in those situations. And we've been in adverse situations all year long. We have a real resilient group and we're certainly not going to just fold over and lose Game 5 just because we're down a couple of games. We still feel like we can ... obviously we're going to take it one game at a time, but we can get this next game, it'll put us in a good situation where we're going to try and make competitive the rest of the series.”
THE LINEUP SHIFT
Kenny Atkinson was in no rush to confirm he would be running out the same revised starting lineup that opened Game 4 for the Nets — “Maybe. I’m so coy, right?” joked the Nets coach — but it’s not a hard thing to envision.Over the first three games, the starting group of D’Angelo Russell, Joe Harris, DeMarre Carroll, Rodions Kurucs and Jarrett Allen was minus-35 over 25 minutes together, with an offensive rating of 82.5, a defensive rating of 141.4 and a net rating of -58.9. Philly starters — even without Joel Embiid in Game 3 — had taken control of both Games 2 and 3 at the start of the third quarter.
So Atkinson subbed in Caris LeVert and Jared Dudley for Carroll and Kurucs at the start on Saturday. The Nets took a 33-24 lead after the first quarter and led throughout the third. In 11 minutes together, the group was plus-6 with an offensive rating of 104.0, a defensive rating of 80.0 and a net rating of 24.0.
“I really liked what I saw,” said Atkinson. “Obviously Caris was all over the place. He was excellent.”
LeVert scored 25 points with six assists, following up his 26-point outing in Game 3. Dudley had eight points and five assists in 20 minutes before he was ejected along with Philadelphia’s Jimmy Butler midway through the third quarter.
Before Saturday’s game and the lineup change was announced, Atkinson spoke of the LeVert/Russell backcourt combination.
“I also think – especially at the beginning of the season – they had tremendous chemistry,” said Atkinson. “They worked really well together. So I do think the pressure Simmons is exerting on D’Angelo, that we can get that second ballhandler. And we do. You’ve got to be careful just looking at the starting lineup. What happens the rest of the game? How many minutes are we playing two ballhandlers at the same time? And you go back and forth on that. Do we need more shooting? Do we need more of a spacer out there? It’s constantly evolving, and can evolve in-game too.”
LeVert is now shooting 49.2 percent overall and 47.8 percent from 3-point range for the series, averaging 21.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, while Russell is leading the Nets with 22.3 points per game in the playoffs.
UNSURE ON ED DAVIS FOR GAME 5
The Nets were without veteran center Ed Davis, who led the team in rebounding (8.6) while playing 81 games this season, in Game 4. They were prepared to go small without him, using Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jared Dudley behind Jarrett Allen at center, but Davis was especially missed when the Nets lost Dudley midway through the third quarter. Davis made a huge impact with 12 points and 16 rebounds in Game 1 before being limited in Games 2 and 3.
“He did a little bit today,” said Kenny Atkinson after Friday’s practice. “Still questionable, but we obviously need him. Hopefully, he’s back.”
SEARCHING FOR THREES
The Nets shot 12-for-38 (31.6 percent) from 3-point range in Game 4 on Saturday and are now shooting 33.1 percent for the series after shooting 35.3 percent during the regular season.
“These highs and lows come with shooting and generally you look at our last two games, I can back it up analytically, we're getting shots,” said Kenny Atkinson. “We're not shooting it at the level we have even during the year. We're not shooting the ball well. I think that will come back. I think we're due; we're overdue so hopefully it happens this next game."
Joe Harris led the NBA in 3-point shooting this season at 47.4 percent, but he’s missed all 12 of his attempts over the last three games,
“Him being on the floor honestly - from a basketball perspective - him being on the floor is enough, spacing the floor,” said D’Angelo Russell. “Guys are eliminating him, they’re trying to eliminate him out of the game. So it forces other guys to step up and try to make plays. He’s a high priority to our offense; and teams know that, so they’re doing a good job trying to eliminate him as best way they can.”
“You got to just keep being aggressive, keep taking the same shots, because regardless if they go in or not, it's still good action for the team, good offense, helping create space, allowing other actions to take place,” said Harris. “At the end of the day, too, regardless if the shots go in or not, there's a lot of other ways to try to impact the game. So you have to keep doing those consistently and hopefully, the shots come around.”
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