Philadelphia 76ers: The Brooklyn Nets never had a chance in Game 5

With a Round 2 matchup against those pesky Toronto Raptors on the horizon, the Philadelphia 76ers took care of the Brooklyn Nets once and for all in Game 5.

Welp, it looks like Jared Dudley is going to have a lot of free time over the next few weeks, as his Brooklyn Nets have officially been eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers once and for all with a commanding final score of 122-100.

But really, the game was over before it even began.

With the Wells Fargo Center packed to the rafters with feverish Philly fans out for blood, and the Toronto Raptors on their way to their own commanding victory over Markelle Fultz‘s seventh-place Orlando Magic, Lil Dicky rang the Liberty Bell to get the festivities underway, and begin a night of pure fun for fans in the 215.

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After suffering an ugly Game 1 loss, the Sixers made sure to give people their money’s worth in what would go on to be the final game of their First Round showdown.

Right from the jump, the 76ers breezed out to a commanding 14-0 lead; the Nets didn’t score a bucket until 6:08 left in the first quarter. From there, the Nets never even came close to the Sixers’ lead, falling to 32-15 at the end of the first, and 60-31 at halftime, 13 points more than the Raptors’ 16 point halftime margin.

With Brett Brown presumably encouraging his team to keep it up while also directing an eye to the future, the team started to pepper in their reserves more and more with each passing minute, icing out Joel Embiid six minutes into the third after an impressive 23 points in 20 minutes performance.

Now granted, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, as Jonah Bolden and Greg Monroe somehow got into a physical altercation with Nets reserve forward Rodions Kurucs that resulted in even more technicals and a trio of ejections, which required Boban Marjanovic to return to the court after presumably closing out his night, the 76ers’ lead never dropped below double-digits and the team finished out the contest with a 122-100 win, vindicating the team’s Game 1 folly in an impressive fashion.

Less than an hour after the Raptors closed out their own series to secure a one-way ticket to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, the 76ers did the same, guaranteeing a Round Two showdown next week between two of the more interesting teams in the NBA.

Will the 76ers be able to overcome their regular season issues and finally surpass the Toronto Raptors once and for all with as many of seven consecutive games against their north-of-the-border foes? For our sake, I hope so, but on this night (or the following day, depending on when you read this) the 76ers are victorious, and no matter what happens next week, this was a vital hurdle that had to be cleared.

Next. Monty Williams is being targeted by the Phoenix Suns. dark

Maybe Jared Dudley can use his early vacation to learn how to ‘Trust the Process’.