NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers had a chance to win on Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets despite missing Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and other key pieces.
Philadelphia held an eight-point lead in the fourth, but the Nets went on a 13-0 run to take a 95-92 lead and held on for a 112-107 win. Brooklyn scored 16 points in the paint in the fourth; Dorian Finney-Smith had 12 points in the final quarter including two putback buckets.
The Sixers went small for most of the quarter: Nic Batum and KJ Martin handled the minutes down low while Paul Reed played 2:53. The Nets took advantage of the small lineups as Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton made a big impact.
“We didn’t have no bigs in the game to protect the rim and help us out defensively for the whole fourth quarter,” Reed said. “I mean, I think that was kind of one of the key things that kind of hurt us.”
The bigs for the Sixers didn’t have a big game. Neither Reed nor Mo Bamba dominated, but their activity level on the defensive end and on the glass would have been welcomed as the Nets paraded to the basket.
On the flip side, the Sixers weren’t able to get going much on the offensive end. That was a big reason Philadelphia couldn’t close this one in Brooklyn.
“Yeah, I mean it was a combination of our offense wasn’t — they were playing in transition a lot,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We weren’t scoring enough of a little. We got a little stagnant down there as far as continuing to move and cut and things like that. Then we just had to guard the ball a little bit better or help a little bit better on the defensive end.”
The Sixers led by 14 in the second quarter and were in control. Unfortunately, Brooklyn stormed back. While both teams went back and forth with runs, the Sixers missed an opportunity to get a win over a struggling Nets team.
“We have to watch the film together as a group and learn from it, but I do know Nico (Batum) told me after the game they went on a 19-0 run (it was 13-0) I think in the second half,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “So you know, we got to stop that. Like that’s not acceptable. Especially, when we’re trying to win and play for a bigger purpose and get better for the next game and then also the next months so you know, it’s something that’s unacceptable from our group. We just had to play defense, one, and take it personal.”
The Sixers take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday at home.
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