The Nets have beaten two teams over .500 since December 25. If the team hopes to extend its season beyond April 14, it has to take down as many vulnerable teams as possible down the stretch.
Brooklyn, to the disappointment of many inside Barclays Center, failed to defeat a Luke Kennard-led Memphis Grizzlies team Monday night. It welcomed a Philadelphia 76ers squad without Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to town Tuesday night in the second game of a back-to-back set.
The Nets took care of business time around, winning 112-107.
“We just dug in, stayed together, stayed connected,” interim head coach Kevin Ollie said. “Nobody was pouting over there. Nobody was pointing fingers. And we just hunt better when we’re in a pack and not individuals.”
Similar to Monday, the Nets suffered another slow start at both ends of the court, finding themselves down 13-5 in a blink. Philadelphia led 30-23 after one quarter and led by as many as 14 points in the second. But Nic Claxton, Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. spearheaded a furious rally, powered by defense, to cut Brooklyn’s deficit to three with 4:41 left in the half.
Mikal Bridges’ second 3-pointer of the night would have given the Nets the edge at halftime, but Philadelphia’s Cam Payne was fouled by Dennis Schröder while trying to advance the ball up the court with 1.1 seconds left in the half, resulting in two made free throws and a 57-56 advantage for the 76ers at the break.
The Nets did create seven points worth of separation in the third quarter but could not build on it. The 76ers went 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the period while Brooklyn went 2-of-7 from deep and did not attempt a single shot from the charity stripe. That was enough to give Philadelphia a three-point lead entering the final frame, which set up quite the finish in the game’s final minutes.
“It was about how we respond and how resilient we could be tonight,” Dennis Smith Jr. said.
A 106-103 game with 39.2 seconds left in regulation, Schröder sliced through the heart of Philadelphia’s defense and finished with a lefty layup to extend Brookyn’s lead to five with 23.1 seconds remaining. Following a timeout by 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, Payne missed a wild layup attempt and Claxton secured the rebound. He was quickly fouled by Payne, and although he split the subsequent free throws, it was enough to put the game out of reach.
The Nets improved to 25-37 with Monday’s win but will remain 2.5 games behind the Hawks for 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings after Atlanta’s surprising 116-100 defeat of the Knicks. That is why it is imperative for this group to win the games it is expected to.
“This is our fourth quarter of our season,” Ollie said. “We have to challenge each other. We can’t let any games slip and we have to take care of business.”
“This is our fourth quarter of our season,” Ollie said. “We have to challenge each other. We can’t let any games slip and we have to take care of business.”
Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith led Brooklyn with 20 points each. Walker added 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting off the bench in his best scoring performance since Feb. 3.
Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with a game-high 30 points for Philadelphia, who fell to 35-26 this season. The Nets outscored them 32-24 in the final frame, where they trailed by as many as eight points.
Finney-Smith scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-5 shooting. Walker, who was listed as questionable entering the night, logged a career-high tying plus-29 in just under 30 minutes.
“Coach has been telling us to respond,” Finney-Smith said. “That’s something he’s been challenging us to do, sticking together when things get bad… They came out and hit us in the face first, but sometimes you need stuff like that with Dennis [Schröder] and Kyle Lowry [getting into it]. It gets guys going and it definitely got us going.”
Brooklyn has won three of its past four games, but continues to take losses on the injury front.
However, even with Monday’s win, it feels Brooklyn just keeps taking losses. Cam Johnson, who made his fifth straight start, landed awkwardly on his ankle with 7:07 left in the first quarter after knocking down his only 3-pointer of the night. He briefly went back to the locker room for a few minutes before returning to the court for a short stint but was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the game after halftime.
Johnson finished with six points and a rebound in eight minutes. The Nets were already playing without Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe Monday night. Brooklyn will begin a five-game road trip on Thursday against the Detroit Pistons.
“Since the beginning of the season, I have continuously said we’re figuring it out and we’re growing and we’re improving and we’re learning from it,” Walker said. “And this is a clear example of our growth and all the trials and tribulations that we’ve been through.”
