Nets' Jacque Vaughn wants refs to keep a closer eye on Joel Embiid
The 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, dibbles the ball as the Nets' Nic Claxton defends in the second half during Game 1 in the first round of the NBA playoffs Saturday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Derik Hamilton
PHILADELPHIA — After the Nets’ Game 1 loss Saturday, coach Jacque Vaughn was slightly critical of the officiating on 76ers center Joel Embiid, who had 26 points and only two turnovers despite facing frequent double-teams.
“Hopefully they’ll be calling a travel and three seconds on the big fella next game, so I’ll look forward to that,” Vaughn said.
On Sunday, he doubled down on those comments. It’s something he believes should be looked at more closely for Game 2 on Monday.
“He’s only got one pivot foot, I’ll just say that,” Vaughn said, “I mean there’s only five places you can put the dudes on the court, so they had their spacing two different ways. We’ll have an answer for both.”
Embiid picked apart the Nets by finding open teammates, which led to the 76ers making 21 three-pointers, their most ever in a playoff game.
However, the Nets’ players didn’t think the officiating was an issue in the 121-101 loss to the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
Nic Claxton, who often guarded Embiid before the double-team arrived, took it on himself to do better getting stops.
“It’s not going to be called,” Claxton said about missed traveling calls. “You’ve just got to guard him. I don’t see that being called.”
The silver lining for the Nets was that Embiid took only 15 shots, five fewer than his season average of 20.1 per game. The 76ers, however, overcame that with James Harden and Tobias Harris totaling 44 points, including 10 made three-pointers.
It adds to the Nets’ dilemma of picking their preferred poison: slowing Embiid, who led the league in scoring (33.1 points per game) or the 76ers’ league-best 38.7% shooting on three-pointers.
Vaughn also noted that half of the 76ers’ three-pointers didn’t come off double-teams but other mistakes. Five three-pointers, for example, came after Nets turnovers.
“Everyone was pretty much just playing comfortable. Everyone was getting their touches,” Claxton said. “Whether it’s guarding straight up a little bit more or just being sharper on our rotations. We’ve got to come together as a team and figure that out.”
Spencer Dinwiddie took positives from how the Nets held Embiid below his scoring average. However, he knows they’ll see a more aggressive performance from him in Game 2.
“It’s a team effort to guard him and it’s not a guy who’s going to be held to zero points because he’s going to shoot 20-something times and get 10 free throws,” Dinwiddie said. “It’s just not the case, so it’s about making it hard on him and then we can limit a couple more threes from them in terms of regular percentage-wise.”
It also means fixing other Game 1 mistakes. Dinwiddie took ownership of his four turnovers, including several failed lob attempts to Claxton. The Nets also can’t allow the 76ers to take 19 more shots, as they did Saturday.
Vaughn hinted that he may continue to double-team Embiid, but if som the Nets have to close out better on open shooters.
“This is going to be a series where we have to be on point with our rotations and the instincts around when you’re scrambling a little bit in different places,” Vaughn said. “[It’s] really going to test our ability to have multiple efforts. So you have to be locked in, honed in to your responsibility while also getting the help of your teammate who sees it a little bit before you.”
As for Embiid? Vaughn may look to the officials for extra help, but Claxton said it’s on himself to show more pride on defense. It’s not easy, but it’s a better way to control which 76ers poison is less lethal on Monday.
“I think we just need to guard up a little bit more,” Claxton said. The double-teams are good, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to man up and get stops — or make it difficult.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
