As it turns out, the elbow to Jarrett Allen’s face in the final minute of a firmly challenged first half wasn’t the toughest blow to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Nets 51-23 in the third quarter, transforming a one-point game at the break into a victory that saw the two groups resting their starters in the final frame. The 51 were the most by any team in a playoff quarter in more than a half-century and tied the NBA single-quarter playoff record.
Elgin Baylor’s 1962 Los Angeles Lakers were the main other team to score that numerous points in a playoff quarter, doing as such in the last edge of Game 5 out of a second-round series against the Detroit Pistons. The NBA just had nine teams back then.
This time the 51 points arrived in a crucial Game 2 of a first-round series between third-seeded Philadelphia and 6th seeded Brooklyn. The Nets pulled off the street upset in the opener, and knee injury that left 76ers focus Joel Embiid a game- time choice had the whole series in doubt. The Sixers reacted with a second from last quarter for the ages and an establishment playoff record for total points in a 145-123 win.
It was Embiid who scored the first seven of the second from last quarter, in transit to a team-high 13 points in the frame. Tobias Harris (12) and Mike Scott (10) additionally scored in twofold figures in the third. Leaving the break, Embiid lighted a 21-2 run that pushed Philadelphia’s lead to 20, and Scott’s signal beating bunny topped the 51-point punch that gave the Sixers a 112-87 lead after three quarters.
The Sixers purged their seat two minutes into the fourth quarter. Embiid completed with 23 and 10 bounce back in 21 minutes, while Ben Simmons submitted his second career playoff triple-twofold (18 points, 12 assists, 10 bounce back) after an unpleasant Game 1. The series is presently tied 1-1 entering Thursday’s Game 3 in Brooklyn.
Philadelphia’s 145 in Game 2 broke the franchise playoff record of 141, set in by Wilt Chamberlain’s Sixers in an additional time Game 1 of the 1967 NBA Finals. Those 76ers proceeded to win the title. This group has 15 more wins to go.
Per Basketball Reference, the 145 points is additionally the most by a playoff group since 1992, when the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns 153-151 in extra time. The 145 points is the most in a regulation playoff game since the Boston Celtics dropped 157 on the New York Knicks in 1990. Boston went on to lose that series.