3 observations after Harden ejected, Maxey immense in bizarre Game 3 win

NEW YORK — Chaos reigned Thursday night in Brooklyn. 

James Harden and Nic Claxton were ejected, Joel Embiid avoided a Flagrant 2 foul despite throwing a kick, and Tyrese Maxey was immense in the Sixers’ 102-97 Game 3 win over the Nets at Barclays Center.

Maxey was the Sixers’ leading scorer with 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting. 

Nets star Mikal Bridges scored 26 points and Spencer Dinwiddie added 20.

Danuel House Jr. was the first Sixer to be unavailable for a game in this series. He was scratched late with a non-COVID illness. 

Game 4 is set for Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn. Here are observations on Thursday’s strange game with the Sixers now up 3-0 over the Nets in their first-round series: 

Kick on Claxton doesn’t cost Embiid 

Exactly one year ago, Embiid’s three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in overtime lifted the Sixers to a 3-0 series lead over the Raptors.

A couple of minutes into Thursday’s contest, it seemed very possible that his night would end prematurely. With 9:34 remaining in the first quarter, Claxton finished off a lob from Dinwiddie. He then took a step over Embiid on the ground and stared down at the All-Star big man. Embiid’s response was to throw a kick between Claxton’s legs.

Upon review, the officials assessed Claxton a technical foul and Embiid a Flagrant 1 foul. 

A Flagrant 2 — which results in an ejection — is classified as “unnecessary and excessive contact.” In our view, it would not have been surprising whatsoever to see Embiid’s kick defined as such. Yes, Claxton instigated, but Embiid’s reaction was clearly nowhere close to a normal “basketball play,” and it put his status in jeopardy. 

The tension between teams always increases as a playoff series progresses. It’s also worth noting that a midseason Embiid vs. Claxton matchup was an especially testy one; both were called for technical fouls on Jan. 25. 

“He said something he shouldn’t have,” Embiid said that night. “That’s why, when I walked up to his face, I told him to say it to my face again. That’s why he looked away and he didn’t say it again because … he knows why. There’s not a lot of times where I get in those situations, but I’m not going to allow any sort of disrespect. That’s why he couldn’t say it to my face again.”

Though Embiid does not need to silently accept whatever provocation comes his way, a kick between the legs is obviously not a prudent playoff move for a player so valuable. The Sixers were surely glad that they didn’t have to ride with backup centers for the final 45-plus minutes in Brooklyn. 

Guards get Sixers on track 

Claxton and the Nets played with ample pace and energy in the first few minutes after the incident with Embiid.

Thanks to Maxey’s three-level scoring, the Sixers stayed close. The 22-year-old tallied seven of the Sixers’ first nine points and began 5 for 5 from the floor. Way back on Oct. 3 when the Sixers began their preseason in Brooklyn, he made a similarly fantastic start. 

However, Maxey sat with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter after picking up his second foul. Embiid exited a little over a minute later and the spotlight shifted to the Sixers’ second unit. Led by Harden, who drew his first foul shots of the series on the Sixers’ opening possession, that group fared well in the first half. Harden found a cutting Jalen McDaniels for a dunk, set Paul Reed up inside with a behind-the-back dish, and generally looked much more like himself as a playmaker than in Game 2. He committed zero of the Sixers’ two first-half turnovers. 

Harden also scored 12 points before intermission and used his left-to-right crossover to create space several times when Claxton switched on to him. He moved gingerly and grimaced for a few possessions after an apparent knee-to-knee collision with Bridges in the second quarter, but Harden stayed in the game. 

Seeking a spark, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn turned to second-year, shot-creating guard Cam Thomas for his first rotation minutes of the series. Seth Curry was not part of Brooklyn’s rotation. Backup center Day’Ron Sharpe returned, though only for two minutes. 

In his 11 minutes, Thomas posted six points on 3-for-6 shooting. Thomas’ impact was by no means dramatically positive for the Nets, in part because he’s a subpar defender. Tobias Harris overpowered Thomas before scoring a layup in the second quarter to put the Sixers up 48-40, and Maxey then extended the team’s lead to double digits with his third of five made threes. 

Maxey clutch in bizarre second half 

When Embiid made a smooth step-through move and laid the ball in to give the Sixers a 13-point edge on the first play of the third quarter, the team appeared to be in a comfortable position. 

That didn’t last for long. Propelled by Bridges, the Nets immediately went on a 14-0 run to retake the lead. Bridges did it all during that spurt — a tough corner three, a put-back dunk, a runner after blowing by Harden, and a fast-break slam following a Harris giveaway. The Sixers strung together a few sloppy possessions in the half court to help the Nets keep building momentum. On an after-timeout play, Maxey received the ball on an Iverson cut, drove into the middle, and threw a pass intended for P.J. Tucker in the corner out of bounds.

Embiid did not swoop in to rescue the Sixers the way he often has. After getting tangled up with Cameron Johnson following a lay-in by the Nets forward, Embiid appeared to have a limp. At the end of a timeout, he hunched over at the Nets logo for about 20 seconds. 

Stunningly, Harden was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul with 13.6 seconds left in the third quarter for off-arm contact on Royce O’Neale. He seemingly struck O’Neale in a sensitive area as the 29-year-old guarded him tightly.

Embiid’s play seemed much more likely to elicit an ejection, but the Sixers had to enter the fourth period without one of their stars. 

Early in the fourth, the game took another absurd turn when Claxton got ejected. After dunking over Embiid, he stared down the Sixers’ big man and was called for his second technical of the evening with 8:48 to go.

De’Anthony Melton was excellent at the beginning of the fourth. He stripped Dinwiddie of the ball, assisted a Harris corner three, and looked at home amid the frenetic action. So did Maxey, who stepped up with five straight points on a three and a fast-break layup to tie the contest at 96-all. The Sixers were fortunate that a few Nets jumpers rattled around the rim and out, but their defense was good down the stretch and Tucker snagged crucial late rebounds. 

Without his usual backcourt mate and with Embiid well below his best, Maxey came through for the Sixers in the clutch. He sized up Dinwiddie and drained a go-ahead three over him with 44.7 seconds left.

Maxey missed a pull-up mid-range jumper with the Sixers leading by two points and Dinwiddie tried to attack in transition, but Embiid rose to reject his game-tying layup attempt. 

The Nets ultimately had another chance to tie — down three with eight seconds remaining — but they botched a sideline out-of-bounds play and Melton jetted off for a dunk to cement a bizarre win that leaves the Sixers one victory away from Round 2.