The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed the Brooklyn Nets into town on Tuesday night looking to extend their winning streak. The Sixers wanted to continue their winning ways after back-to-back wins against the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks. The Nets came in winners of two out of their last three, looking to build on their recent solid play.
The Sixers were without V.J Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow, and Quentin Grimes due to an illness that has been ravaging through the roster. Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid both missed time in the last two weeks dealing with illness. With Trendon Watford and Kelly Oubre Jr. still out with injuries, the Sixers were thin at the forward position against Brooklyn.
In the first quarter, the Sixers went to Embiid early and often in the first few minutes, trying to establish the star. After an 8-1 start for the Sixers, Brooklyn’s Michael Porter Jr. went on a heater to help the Nets to a 12-10 lead halfway through the quarter. Outside of the Sixers’ getting early touches to Joel Embiid, the offense looked really clunky in the first quarter. Maxey got into foul trouble and Paul George just didn’t have the touch.
Due to injuries some of the lineups Nick Nurse deployed included Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, who had to eat minutes especially with Maxey getting in foul trouble in the first quarter. The elder statesmen gave the Sixers a boost in the second quarter helping the team retake the lead from the Nets early on in the period. The Nets went on a run of their own after the first few minutes of the quarter and continued to take advantage of the Sixers’ clunky offense.
Porter Jr. and the Nets gave the Sixers problems on both ends of the floor. Not only did Porter score 25 first half points but the Nets played hard and got the benefit of the whistle allowing them to take a six-point lead into halftime.
On the first offensive possession of the second half for Philly, Brooklyn’s Terrance Mann ran into Joel Embiid’s knee, and he went down in major pain. Xfinity Mobile Arena was overcome with silence as the big fella laid on the floor. He eventually got up and limped directly to the locker room. He eventually returned later in the quarter. The Nets built a 12-point lead halfway through the quarter and pushed it up to as much as 17. The Sixers struggled to make a dent into the deficit, especially with their leading scorer Tyrese Maxey struggling on offense.
The fourth quarter had the same theme as the third quarter with the offense struggling and the Nets just doing enough offensively to keep the Sixers at bay. Brooklyn’s lead grew as to as much as 19 and the Sixers tried to make a late push cutting it down to nine. As soon as it was down to single digits, fouls helped the Nets regain momentum and eventually close the Sixers out. The Nets won 114-106 behind the play of Michael Porter Jr. (28 points and five rebounds) and Egor Demin (20 points). Sixers got a solid game from Joel Embiid (27 points, six rebounds, and four assists) but Tyrese Maxey had his worst game of the season (13 points and 3-14 from the floor).
Overall, Philly shot horribly including just 26 percent of from three, but the Nets just played harder than the Sixers from tip-off. After an early second quarter lead for the Sixers, the Nets just dominated. The Sixers fall to 0-3 when Embiid, Maxey, and George all play.
Up next for the Sixers
Philly travels to Chicago on Friday night to take on the Bulls. Tip-off is set for 7:30PM EST on Amazon Prime.
