The Philadelphia 76ers began their postseason run with a home loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, and they once again played poorly for stretches in the first half of Game 2 on Monday night. With his team clinging to a one-point lead at halftime, Sixers head coach Brett Brown had seen enough.
After Philly allowed the Nets to attempt 23 three-pointers in the first half, Brown was so disgusted with his team’s defensive effort that he unloaded on them in the locker room. Rich Hoffman of The Athletic says five Sixers players agreed it was the angriest they had ever seen their coach. Jimmy Butler had nothing but positive things to say about the rant.
“Yeah, he came in here, said a few cuss words, shocked me a little bit to tell you the truth. But I like it, that’s the type of energy I love,” Butler said. “He just made sure everybody did their job, letting them know you can’t have it, it’s not winning basketball.
“I love the s—. I love when people get cussed out, yelled at and say, ‘You can’t do it, it’s your fault.’ I’m all for it.”
Mike Scott said cussing players out and holding them accountable is “good basketball.” Tobias Harris, who made a defensive mistake that led to an open three-pointer for Spencer Dinwiddie in the first half, was also all for it.
“We came out and we responded to it and that was a big step for us as a team, coming out of the locker room responding (to) what coach had to say,” Harris said. “Get stops on the defensive end and get that to fuel our offense. And that was the key to the game for us.”
Whatever Brown said, it worked. The 76ers tied an NBA playoff record with 51 points in the third quarter and completely took over the game. Between the poor defensive effort and the cell phone incident he had to deal with in Game 1, Brown obviously reached his boiling point. It’s a good thing he did.
