The Brooklyn Nets knew that it was going to be difficult keeping Joel Embiid under control in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. But they probably had no idea to what degree that was true. And they really didn't know what hit them.

Without a defensive stalwart to take Embiid out of his best game, the Nets hasd to go with multiple people, and they suffered from the mismatches. When you encounter the player who might be named the league's MVP, you may find yourself overcompensating, and that leaves openings elsewhere.

On Saturday, the Nets allowed the Philadelphia 76ers the whopping total of 21 three-pointers, en route to a 121-101 defeat that did not leave much hope for a reversal of fortune.

You can't cover every inch of the floor. So obviously Brooklyn's choice was that it would make Philly earn its buckets from farther out rather than give uo the easy baskets. And they ran into a buzzsaw, as the Sixers have been the NBA's best three-point-shooting team since the All-Star break. So they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

So now here comes Game 2 at the Weels Fargo Center. In the NBA playoff odds that have been posted on the game by the folks at BetOnline, Phiadelphia is laying double digits:

Philadelphia 76ers -10 (-106)
Brooklyn Nets +10 (-114)
'
Over 211.5 Points -110
Under 211.5 Points -110

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The guy who really seemed to heat up for Philadelphia was James Harden. And of course, he took advantage of the fact that sooner or later the Nets were going to leave things wide open on the perimeter. Harden made only eight field goals in the game, but seven of them were from downtown. And he was able to distribute as well, handing out 13 asissts.

You had to ask yourself how much help Ben Simmons, who came over to Brooklyn in the Harden trade, would have been in this situation, considering that he he's had a history as an All-Defensive team member.

Of course, Simmons is not available, so Jacque Vaughn is stuck with trying to come up with a way to make adjustments. How would they be able to construct anything that would still contain Embiid while offering resistance at the arc, even if we concede that Philly isn't likely to duplicate a 21-for-43 performance in triples?

That's a central theme to this story, as adjustments are a big part of NBA playoff basketball. The Nets were doubling Embiid, and while the Sixers' center didn't dominate things in the first half, he produced 16 points in the second 24 minutes. Brooklyn may try to deny him the ball. But would that work?

Everyone knows that the Nets do not bring a lot of size to the table. When they get the Sixers to miss, that does not necessarily amount to a defensive stop. Philadelphia got 21 second-chance points in the game (and we should mention that Brooklyn had only three).

This just amounts to a rough matchup for Brooklyn to contend with. Too rough. So we're more comfortable laying the points.

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