Sixers: Positives and negatives from preseason win over Nets

Negative from Sixers’ win over Nets: Transition defense

This was something to watch going into the game: Brooklyn is designed to play fast, and the Sixers struggled mightily defending the fast break last season. The Sixers built up a big lead early, but the end of the second quarter was a disaster because the Nets pushed the tempo and generated clean look after clean look.

The Sixers were playing without two cornerstone defenders in Embiid and P.J. Tucker. So, this game is not cause for panic. That said, the supporting cast isn’t short on quality defenders. Matisse Thybulle, De’Anthony Melton, and Paul Reed is a trio that should be able to run the floor and neutralize fast breaks. There’s definite room for improvement.

With Simmons, Durant, or Irving pushing the ball up the floor and multiple plus shooters stationed around them, the Nets’ offense can be very difficult to contain. This was a challenging for matchup for the shorthanded Sixers and, on the whole, the team fared quite well.

The Nets had the obvious talent advantage in this game, so the second-quarter run (which still ended with Philly leading by three at halftime) was not all that surprising. The Sixers were also experimenting with lineups and going deeper than usual because of four rotation players being out. So, again, nothing to earnestly fret about.