The Philadelphia 76ers were not in a giving mood this Black Friday. Having already squandered their 6-1 start to the season by going 3-7 since, Philly entered the Barclays Center as desperate as a shopper sleeping outside a store ahead this retail-related “holiday.”And the Nets, like many unfortunate bystanders before online shopping took over, got trampled.
Brooklyn had to handle Philly without their leading scorer as well. Michael Porter Jr sat out his first game of the season tonight. He was the one with back tightness, but it was the Nets on the floor who looked stiff.
As we all know by now, MPJ carries a rare skillset which often allows him to turn possessions going nowhere into two or three points. It’s been useful so far this year considering the limited offensive firepower the Nets have rostered, but tonight, without he or Cam Thomas, driving down the floor became like driving down a dead-end road.
Brooklyn did its best to avoid getting in those situations early on. Even with a healthy MPJ or CT out there, it’s not like Jordi Fernández wants every possession to end with a desperation heave, but the Nets seemed to make an even stronger effort to avoid those situations tonight, playing aggressive offensively and unafraid to let it fly early in the shot clock.
It was a chess move that made sense, but one that rendered no advantage. The Nets started the game 1-10 from deep, 8-22 from the field, and behind the 76ers 31-23 after the first. Their lack of shooting, spacing and ball-handling also caught up to them down the stretch of the frame, where the Nets committed five turnovers.
Egor Dëmin, forced to face Philly’s tight ball-pressure, was among the many who struggled early, giving away one possession and starting 0-3 from the field. He also faced matchup nightmares at the other end dealing with the far more athletic Quentin Grimes and Tyrese Maxey, who combined for 41 points tonight.
Dëmin would have more to say later, but things got worse before that. Brooklyn’s weak start was enough to make Philly comfortable starting Kyle Lowry to begin the second quarter, who has played a total of three minutes all season so far for Philly. He didn’t do a whole lot out there, but his teammates quickly pushed the contest into blowout territory.
You all know Paul George, who added six in the period. But Brooklyn also got beat by Adem Bona in the second, who contributed six points and outscored each still struggling Net minus Claxton and Tyrese Martin. This made it one of Brooklyn’s more frustrating quarters after putting together several promising ones over the past few weeks, even if they were outscored in them.
Roughly halfway through the second, Terance Mann didn’t crash the class with enough urgency, allowing Bona to swoop in, push him aside, and grab a rebound that he then flushed to give the 76ers a 13-point lead around the eight minute mark of the third. Mann did redeem himself a few minutes later, snatching and offensive rebound off a missed free throw to help his team put together as gritty of a 3-point play as you’ll find.
However, the Sixer advantage ballooned to as many as 20 in the period. The Philly offense benefitted significantly from Brooklyn’s poor shooting, rebounding and running to pull in 13 fast break points in the second. They reached 31 by the end of the game. The Philly guards continued to generate easy offense in the half court as well, taking turns blowing by Mann, Dëmin, and even Drake Powell, who’s already received high praise for his two-way capabilities this season. The Net offense mustered .385/.211 splits in the first half and went into the break down 63-48.
Also of note, Danny Wolf checked in the first non-garbage time minutes of his career in period two, coming off the bench around the six minute mark of it. He played alongside Claxton and Clowney, likely making that Brooklyn’s biggest lineup of the season. He played even more in the second half, eventually logging 12 minutes, five points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Our closest resemblance of a competitive contest came in the third, where the Nets enjoyed an extended 11-2 run in the heart of the period. Brooklyn matched its total output of threes in the entire first half (4) roughly seven minutes into the third.
Ziaire Williams was a big part of that run. He got his first start of the season after Jordi Fernández neglected to play him at all last time out.
“I wanted to challenge him with his defense,” Fernández said Monday. “Last year, he was elite at a lot of the things that we care about defensively, from ball pressure, to deflections, to being bigger on defense, to defending isolations, and he was huge. I haven’t felt that energy, and then I can go through the numbers, and they were not there. So, I challenged him to do it…It is not about me being right or wrong. It’s just about giving an opportunity to somebody else to refocus, to be ready for the next opportunity, and when it comes, take it, sustain it and be the best defensive player on the team.”
I can’t speak to Fernández’s satisfaction from a defensive standpoint, but that shot from Williams had Barclays Center at its loudest Friday night.
Well, not counting the ovation for Queen Latifah. Yeah, it’s just that kind of a season.
The next three came off Dëmin’s fingertips and briefly brought the Philly lead back to single digits, but the Sixers then swung back with a 5-0 jolt. They pushed it back up to as many as 19 in the period and 15 with only a few seconds left in the quarter. However, that was enough time for Tyrese Martin to get off a heave at the buzzer, which make it an 87-75 game entering the final frame.
Martin hit another one at the top of the key to begin the fourth which again made it a 10-point contest, but the Sixers did the same thing the last time Brooklyn got close — stiff-arming their comeback attempts until they reached the goal line.
In the time to spare, Fernández went the pro-rebuild route at first…
But even after putting back the starters back in, Fernández found a way to get the best of both worlds, as the final minutes were Dëmin’s best of the game. He scored 15 points in the fourth, sneaking his way into a career-high 23 points for the night after shooting 8-18 from the field and 5-14 from deep. He also mixed in five assists and nine rebounds.
It wasn’t enough to challenge for a win, but enough salvage an otherwise rough night for a team prioritizing the future above all else. While they didn’t get a bargain, they didn’t walk away empty-handed.
Final: Philadelphia 76ers 115, Brooklyn Nets 103
Injury Report
Michael Porter Jr. missed his first game of the season tonight with low back tightness. While both the Nets and MPJ have a rough history with injuries of that sort, Fernández downplayed it pregame.
“Obviously we’re never gonna rush him,“ he said. ”His health, body, is the number one priority. We’re not concerned. You know, tightness, we’ll see how he feels, and then we’ll give an update after the game.“
Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
The Nets will play the Milwaukee Bucks for the first time this season tomorrow evening at Fiserv Forum. At the time of writing, the Bucks are 8-11, having lost six straight. Uncoincidentally, Giannis Antetokounmpo missed of those with an abductor strain. The Greek Freak did play in MSG Friday night though, so unless the Bucks want to hold him out of back-to-backs right out of the gates, expect him to be there. The game tips off at 8:00 p.m. EST.