"Forget what the coaches said" - Shaquille O'Neal credits Joel Embiid's unselfishness as the main reason for Game 2 victory over the Nets

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers secured a 96-84 Game 2 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Philly held Brooklyn to a season-low 84 points, including just 35 points in the second half. It was a team effort by the Sixers, who were led by rising star guard Tyrese Maxey with 33 points.

However, according to NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal, Embiid being unselfish and consistently finding the open man was the key to Philly’s win.

During TNT’s postgame show on Monday, O’Neal first explained that the Nets will probably attribute the loss to their poor shooting.

“It’s a tale of two halves, and I know you guys like talking about defense, but Brooklyn’s gonna say, ‘Second half our shots weren’t falling,’” O’Neal said.

“They had a lot of wide-open shots and they missed. And for Philly in the second half, their shots were falling. Both teams shot 31.0%, but I think in the second half, Philadelphia hit more timely threes, especially with (Tyrese) Maxey hitting six threes.”

O’Neal then explained that the Nets needed to switch up their defensive coverage on Embiid to avoid too many open looks for his teammates.

“You gotta mix it up on a team like that, especially when Embiid is being unselfish and he’s kicking it out and the other guys are starting to score,” O’Neal said.

“Now as a defender, you say, ‘Forget what the coaches said, I gotta stick with my man.’ But they’re gonna say, ‘Hey, we’re going to continue like we played, we’re going to double Embiid, force the other guys to hit it, and hopefully when we’re home we can hit some shots.’”

Embiid finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks on 54.5% shooting.

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Doc Rivers on Philadelphia 76ers overcoming first-half struggles in Game 2

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers

Following the Philadelphia 76ers' Game 2 win, coach Doc Rivers touched on his team overcoming their first-half struggles against the Brooklyn Nets. Rivers explained that it was a good test for the Sixers.

“We’re a better team than the way we played in the first half,” Rivers said.

“But this is what the playoffs are about. It’s going to test your trust at times, so that was an early test for us and we came through with it.”

After trailing by five points at halftime, the Sixers proceeded to outscore the Nets 52-35 in the second half to secure a comfortable win.

Philly is now a combined 6-0 against Brooklyn in the regular season and playoffs this year. It appears that the Sixers are headed towards a quick series victory over the Nets.

Game 3 will take place on Thursday in Brooklyn.

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