NEW YORK — Tobias Harris had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame the absence of Joel Embiid to beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-88 on Saturday, completing a sweep that made them the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs.

James Harden added 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the third-seeded 76ers, who will wait for the winner of the series between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. The defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics have a 2-1 lead.

The 76ers hope Embiid will be recover from his sprained right knee in time for the start of the next series; the MVP finalist and two-time NBA scoring champion was ruled out Friday night and the 76ers struggled to score without him.

So they turned to their defense, and ended up outscoring the Nets 21-4 during a stretch of more than eight minutes in the third quarter.

Tyrese Maxey finished a strong series with 16 points and Paul Reed added 10 points and 15 rebounds after replacing Embiid in the starting lineup.