NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Barclays Center on Tuesday night to take on the Brooklyn Nets looking to pick up a win over a struggling Nets team. Brooklyn entered the contest 13 games under .500 and despite Philadelphia missing Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, and Robert Covington, this was a good opportunity for them.
The Sixers jumped out to a 14-point lead in the second quarter and seemed to be in cruise control, but the Nets fought back and handed Philadelphia a 112-107 loss. Brooklyn buckled down on the defensive end and executed well on the offensive end, and the Sixers could not recover.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 30 points and six rebounds with four assists off the bench, Kyle Lowry had 14 points and five assists, Buddy Hield had 13 points, Tobias Harris had 18 and nine rebounds, and Cam Payne added 15.
Here are the player grades following the loss:
The basketball IQ Lowry plays with is so impressive. There were a lot of moments in this one when he just outsmarted the Nets to set up easy buckets for Philadelphia. He got called for some questionable fouls closing out on 3-point shooters, but he was tough on the defensive end all night and the offense for the Sixers looks so much more fluid with him running the show. When he was on the bench, he was standing up and calling out plays and giving out direction to his teammates. He did a lot of positive things in this one.
Drawing the start for Maxey, the Sixers received some good production out of Payne. He knocked down a pull-up triple in transition and then got to the basket to finish a tough bucket to start his night and he had some good moments on the defensive end as well. All throughout the night, Payne gave the Sixers a big spark on the offensive end using his speed and herky-jerky style to get some buckets.
The Sixers received a good night out of Hield in this one. They ran a lot of actions to get him going off screens and get some open looks from the perimeter. When the Nets did close out, he did a good job of attacking the paint and kicking it out to shooters. He did have stretches where he did not contribute much on offense, but it was an overall positive night for him.
Once again, Harris was aggressive on the offensive end and played with confidence. Brooklyn had no real answers for him and he used his size and strength to get into the paint, get into his spots, and gave Philadelphia the offense it needed while missing so many key pieces. When the Nets made their run to take the lead, Harris made some big plays in order to get Philadelphia back in control of this one. With the Sixers missing Embiid and Maxey, it was on Harris to lead this group and he did so.
This was a nice night for Bamba. He did a lot of good things in the paint with his size and strength against Brooklyn big man Nic Claxton and was productive down low. After a fast start, he had some tough moments as he got into some foul trouble and then wasn’t able to be as effective as the Sixers would have liked. He also wasn’t able to finish well around the basket.
After a scalding hot second half to help the Sixers win in Dallas, Oubre was terrific in this one. He got his night started by driving to the rim which is something he has to do more of. He’s so strong and athletic around the rim which allows him to be effective on the offensive end of the floor. His success at the basket then allowed him to get going from deep as he gave Philadelphia a huge lift for the bench unit.
The initial run for Reed was solid. There were a few mishaps on the defensive end, but he was able to give the Sixers a boost off the bench and gave an honest effort for Philadelphia. When he’s bringing energy like he did in this one, then he’s doing his job.
Batum just always seems to be in the right spots on the defensive end. He did a really good job of bothering the Nets on that end of the floor. Brooklyn then had to pay attention to him on the offensive end despite not knocking down a shot due to his shooting threat. That allowed the floor to be spaced. However, his play in the fourth quarter on both ends was not good.
Martin gave some good minutes off the bench in this one. He was tough on the defensive end and gave Philadelphia a real boost there and his athleticism was useful on the offensive end as he was able to finish some tough looks around the basket. He committed a bad foul on Mikal Bridges while he was shooting a 3, but Martin contributed in this one.
Making his Sixers debut in this one, Dowtin ran some point guard in the second quarter. Brooklyn was able to make some headway in his minutes.