PHILADELPHIA – Superstars get the benefit of the whistle – and sometimes, that means no whistle at all.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn made sure to point out that Sixers superstar center Joel Embiid got away not only with traveling violations but also three seconds in the paint violations he felt went uncalled in Brooklyn’s 121-101 Game 1 loss to the Sixers on Saturday.
“Hopefully they’ll be calling travel and three seconds on the big fella next game,” Vaughn said after the loss. “So I’ll be looking forward to that.”
The Nets’ coach doubled-down ahead of practice on Sunday when asked about his comments about Embiid traveling in Game 1.
“He only got one pivot foot,” Vaughn said at Temple University’s Pearson & McGonigle Hall. “I’ll just say that.”
Starting center Nic Claxton, however, said the Nets can’t expect officials to make those calls on Embiid.
“They’re not gonna call that. It’s not gonna be called,” he said ahead of Sunday’s practice. “You’ve just gotta guard him. I don’t see that being called. I just don’t see it.”
Asked how the Nets need to adjust to defend Embiid – who scored 26 points with 11 coming at the foul line – Claxton said: “Just taking pride in defense. I think we just need to guard up a little bit more. The double teams are good but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta be able to man up and get stops – or make it difficult.”
Starting Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith may not see extended playing time in the playoffs.
Finney-Smith projected as both a floor-spacing forward and a small-ball five capable of guarding multiple positions in Brooklyn’s first-round playoff matchup against the 76ers.
But after he played just 18 minutes on Saturday, Vaughn said this particular matchup against Embiid may leave Finney-Smith with fewer minutes than his season average.
“That was us playing big, and so that was just a byproduct of that,” Vaughn said after Sunday’s practice.
Vaughn instead opted for more size. He played starting center Nic Claxton 30 minutes and entrusted second-year backup big man Day’Ron Sharpe with a 17-minute playoff workload. Vaughn also played Royce O’Neale 28 minutes and gave Joe Harris 14 minutes, both off the bench.
Starting forward Cam Johnson played 27 minutes – a number that should increase in Game 2 given his production (18 points on four-of-six shooting from downtown), and star scorer Mikal Bridges played 34 minutes.
If Vaughn sticks to his same rotation pattern, Finney-Smith, who averaged 28 minutes per game as a starter after the trade to Brooklyn, could see more reduced playing time – even though he made both of his three-point attempts and has a reputation as one of the NBA’s more rugged three-and-D wings.
“If you’re going to play Day’Ron those minutes, play Nic his minutes, there’s only a certain amount of dudes who can be out there,” Vaughn said after Sunday’s practice. “I thought (Dorian’s) ability to pick up (James) Harden early was good, and anytime he’s making 3s for us is a plus for sure.”
Vaughn said there were some highs and lows to Sharpe’s first career NBA playoff minutes.
The big man out of North Carolina tallied six points, six rebounds and four assists in Game 1 against the 76ers. The highlight of his night was a chasedown block on Harden, a moment that sucked the life out of the Wells Fargo Center even just for a fleeting second.
Sharpe, however, also bit on a pump fake and fouled Embiid, who shot a perfect 11-of-11 from the foul line on the night.
“For his first playoff game I thought he did some good things,” Vaughn said on Sunday. “It’s a learning curve and so you stay down on an Embiid pump-fake that’s a learning curve, whether you go block James’ shot at the rim that’s great effort and that’s a learning curve so you give him credit for being ready to play and giving us some good minutes.”
The Sixers out-rebounded the Nets on the offensive glass, 14-5, and outscored them in second-points, 21-3.
Starting forward Cam Johnson explained that because the Nets are doubling Embiid and rotating to open shooters, it becomes more difficult to box-out.
“So we just have to have a continued, high attention to guys crashing, putting bodies on them. It gets physical. It’s physical, and sometimes they’re coming in clear and you just got to take a hit, give a hit, whatever it is,” said Johnson, who grabbed just four rebounds at 6-foot-8. “Definitely an area I can be better in for sure.”
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