The Sixers handled the Nets once again and closed out the series.
Now most of the media and the majority of the writers on this site would have you believing that the Sixers struggled to beat the Nets….well that is a false as the Sixers blew the Nets out in 3 of their 4 wins. After some reflection I have come to one conclusion…. THANK YOU JARED DUDLEY.
The Sixers have looked disjointed for most of the season, this is to be expected when adding two star players and restructuring your bench but more importantly this team was not lovable. This team looked like they did not mesh at all. Too much your turn my turn took over the Sixers offense, this team has not looked like one unit at all this year. Well along comes Jared Dudley, 9th man of the year, talking reckless about Ben Simmons and unleashing a beast as well as unifying a team. Since Game 3 the Sixers have looked more cohesive on offense and defense, with their true potential really showing. The true testament of this team becoming one is when Jimmy Butler did not take kindly to Jared Dudley’s unnecessary “tough guy” shove.
The Sixers preceded to dominate Game 4 from that point on and carried that into a dominant Game 5 performance. The Raptors scare me and they should scare all Sixers fans, but the way the Sixers played in Games 2 – 5 has to have you excited. For this I think we need to take a moment and thank Jared Dudley for his contributions to uniting this team. I will end this article with a burning hot take….if the Sixers win the title Jared Dudley needs to be invited to the parade (to get booed endlessly) and he also deserves a ring. This 9th man of the year brought a team of stars together and for that I say thank you.