Nets crush the Sixers with a “swap deal”

Los Angeles (Archyde.com)
The Brooklyn Nets thrashed the Philadelphia 76ers 129-100 in the NBA, in the first meeting between the two teams since the big swap a month ago.
After problems that extended since being knocked out of the playoffs last season, Ben Simmons finally left the Sixers for the Nets, while James Harden moved in the other direction.
Seth Krey and Andre Drummond have also moved to the Nets in one of the most notable deals of the season.
Kevin Durant was furious that Harden was leaving the team a year following he joined.
After Durant was injured in January and Kyrie Irving only played in the Nets’ away matches due to coronavirus restrictions for unvaccinated people, Harden found himself alone in the Nets.
After his strong start to the season and topping the Eastern Conference, the Nets collapsed and fell to eighth place, so Harden decided to leave.
The Sixers won all five of Harden’s matches, but the first loss came once morest his former team and one of the title candidates.
Simmons attended the match on the field and was mocked by the Sixers fans, when he scored two points during the warm-up but was still not ready to participate in the matches.
The Nets had an impressive performance in the first quarter, with Durant and Irving each scoring 11 points to take the visitors 40-27 ahead.
The Sixers relied on Cameroonian Joel Embiid, who scored 16 of the team’s 27 points.
The Nets did not decline in the second quarter and the team seemed to want to send a message to everyone that despite its decline, it is still a candidate for the title.
Nets finished the first half in his favour, by 21 points.
The first half witnessed Harden’s personal achievement, when he jumped to third place in the list of the most recorded three-pointers in the history of the tournament, surpassed only by Stephen Curry and retired player Ray Allen.
The situation did not change permanently in the third quarter, but only worsened, following the Nets succeeded in consolidating their advantage by 32 points amid the disappearance of Harden, who finished the match by scoring all 11 points before the break.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers succumbed to the loss, and did not involve Embiid and Harden in the entire fourth quarter, while the difference reached 36 points.
Durant led the Nets scorers list with 25 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.
Cree added 24 points and snatched the ball on five occasions, while Irving scored 22 points in addition to five assists.
Embiid was the Sixers with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
The Nets remained in eighth place in the East with 34 wins and 33 losses, while the Sixers came in third place with 40 wins and 25 defeats.