Courtside with Aaron is a regular column featuring the perspective of Sports Editor Aaron Rigby.

The Philadelphia 76ers will head to Brooklyn tonight with a 2-0 series lead after winning their two home games.

Heading into the series, the 76ers were heavy favorites to win the series in no more than five games, due to the Nets being a young team, one which was not assembled until after the trade deadline. During this year’s trade deadline, the Nets traded away both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who had one of the best records in the entire league when they played together.  Since being traded to the Nets, Mikal Bridges has averaged 27.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. 

In game 1, Bridges’ progress was apparent as he put up 25 points in the first half for the Nets. However, the Sixers still held a nine-point lead heading into the half. For the remainder of the game, the Sixers went on run’s and held the Nets to multiple scoring droughts, which allowed them to pull away and end the game with a 20-point victory. 

The Sixers defense did a fantastic job guarding Bridges coming out of halftime, holding him to only 5 points in the entire second half. The Sixers also set a franchise record for most threes made in a playoff game with 21 made threes: 13 in the first half and 8 in the second half. 

James Harden performed pretty well in game 1, considering his history of dissipating when the playoffs came around. Harden notched 23 points and 13 assists, as well as shooting 7 for 13 from deep range. However if the Sixers want a chance at making the finals or even the conference finals, Harden is going to half to be more efficient, as he shot 8-21 from the field. 

The Nets came into game 2 with the same defensive scheme that they had in game 1, which is to double team Embiid whenever he touches the ball, forcing the “others” on the team to beat them. This strategy has been historically successful in the playoffs, more specifically last season when the Dallas Mavericks doubled Devin Booker in the WCF last season. It was a successful strategy for the Nets in game 1, holding Embiid to 26 points shooting under 50% from the field, and 25% from three. 

The Sixers entered game 2 with the mindset of shutting down Bridges and making his teammates beat them, which worked for them in the second half of game 1. The Sixers were successful in executing their game plan, they held Bridges to just 9 points in the first half, shooting a horrid 1-6 from the field, and 0-4 from three. However, while doing this, they were allowing Cam Johnson to step up and have himself a huge half, similar to the half Bridges had in game 1. Johnson had 22 points in the first half on amazing efficiency, shooting 9 for 13 from the field, and 4-7 from three. 

While their defense was allowing Johnson to cook, their offense was atrocious. Playoff James Harden finally revealed himself in game 2, shooting a horrendous 1-7 from the field in 18 minutes played in the first half. Embiid only had eight points, but was making up for it on the defensive glass, grabbing 15 rebounds in the first half. The Nets began to pull away late in the second quarter, going up by as much as 10 points. It seemed as if the Sixers had a chance to lose this game and head to Brooklyn tied at 1 game a piece. 

It wasn’t until Tyrese Maxey decided he had to take the game into his own hands that the Sixers began to fight back. The Sixers ended the quarter on a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 5. 

The Sixers turned up the intensity in the second half, outscoring Brooklyn 52-35, which helped them win the game 96-84.

The Sixers will play the Nets in the Barclays Center tonight with a chance to take a 3-0 series lead if they can clean up their defense to shut down both Bridges and Johnson. They should be able to close out the series in game 4 if they do not play lackluster; and if they can focus on getting back on defense rather than having a terrible offensive possession and then staying back complaining to the refs about how they missed a call. 

That is the main concern when it comes to the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs. They are a team that is successful because of their ability to get to the free throw line and knock the free throws down in the regular season. This is especially true of Embiid, who is a 280 pound seven-footer who cannot be guarded in the paint and attempts 12 free throws per game and makes at least 10 of them. When the playoffs come around, the refs will swallow their whistles and let the teams play without there being a foul call or stoppage every 10 seconds because of a defender grazing your arm or lightly touching your fingertips. Unless the contact is blatant, the refs are not going to call it. That is what playoff basketball has been and always will be.

If the Sixers handle business and close out the Nets, and the Celtics handle their business by continuing to blow out the Atlanta Hawks every game, then the second round matchup for the Sixers will be the Boston Celtics, a team that the Sixers have struggled against in the playoffs almost every season they met. If this is the case, the Sixers are going to need to wake up fast and up their intensity, because the way they are currently playing, some of the mistakes they are getting away with, like Harden shooting 3-13 from the field, and Maxey being the most valuable player for the Sixers in the series thus far, is not going to slide against a team like Boston.